It was announced today that Union Pacific Railroad Police will no longer cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Police when they come across undocumented migrants. In 2019 the BBCRC joined the ACLU and other civil rights organizations in advocating for the change, which has now been made!
News
-
Closure Extended Through at Least August
At our annual board meeting today, the BBCRC decided to extend its closure past the previously announced end of June. This closure will extend at least through August and then will be reconsidered. We do not anticipate having any organized events this summer. Any visits need to be arranged and approved in advance and are mainly for people with a specific need or purpose to be at our site. We know this is difficult for many of our friends and supporters who would like to stop by. However, we remain concerned that if we open up too soon we could easily be overwhelmed. Our boxcar is just too small of a space to have a music event and ensure social distancing. Also after being very rare in March through May, COVID-19 cases have been spiking up in our county in the last few weeks. We believe it is wise, for both our resident caretakers and our community of friends and supporters, to hold off on reopening the Center for the time being. Thanks for your understanding.
-
Statement in Response to the Murder of George Floyd
In response to the murder of George Floyd and the widespread and growing concern over police violence in the US, the BBCRC board and resident collective issued a statement which you can read and download.
-
A Classic K-Line Shipping Container Arrives
The BBCRC today took delivery of a classic 40 feet “K-Line” shipping container. This is historic — red K-Line containers were a well known sight on doublestack container trains in the US from the 1990s until recently. It is also practical and will provide some much needed storage on our site, allowing for an expansion of wood working tools and equipment in our shop building.
-
Updated Pages for SP #109 “Shasta”
Re-designed and added content to the pages describing our work on the SP #109 “Shasta” car.
-
COVID-19 Update from Black Butte
We hope all our friends are doing OK in this stressful and difficult period. We are still very much in winter here (low 20s last night and a foot of snow in the last week), which means that our facilities and capacities are very limited in comparison to the warmer months. All structures/heated spaces are spoken for and our small indoor kitchen is already over capacity. DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK AND NEED FOR QUARANTINE, THE BBCRC IS NOW CLOSED AND WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING ANY SHORT TERM OR LONG TERM VISITORS. PLEASE DO NOT SHOW UP AT BBCRC WITHOUT INVITATION OR ADVANCE NOTICE AND CONSENT.
California is now under “shelter in place/stay at home” orders. It is not a good time to be rambling around for the fun of it. We recommend, for the good of yourselves and everybody in our community, that you stick close to your own main home/community/family as we work together to get through and resist this.
All planned events at BBCRC through June 30, 2020 are cancelled or postponed. The End of the Line moniker show planned for Railroad Days in June has been rescheduled for Dunsmuir Railroad Days next year (June 11-13, 2021).
Love you all and thanks for understanding!
BBCRC board of directors and resident collective
-
Announcing the End of the Line Moniker Show
We are excited to announce a major collaboration between BBCRC and a group of amazing people who have been living and breathing railroad culture and documenting monikers, some for many decades, some more recently. In collaboration with the Historical Graffiti Society and the Siskiyou Arts Museum. This large show, featuring hundreds of photos and items collected from around the country, will be on display at both the BBCRC and at the Siskiyou Arts Museum June 13 – July 31. We are planning lots of related activities — films, zine releases, and live music, it is going to be an action-packed weekend. Other collaborating artists include North Bank Fred, Photo Bill, Toby “Flange Squeal”, Shemp, Brad W, Sparkledazy, Pete, Southbound Smith, Andy, and others. Please be in touch with any of these organizers if you would like to contribute material.
-
2019 Year in Review
In 2019 we had some great events and progress on our projects and also some setbacks. In April a sign-painters convergence, organized by Heidi Tullman of Handsome Hand Signs, brought a dozen talented artists to Black Butte to paint and letter a number of our railcars and signage around the property. We hosted a larger than normal number of music shows and events this year. Those, as well as our Spring and Fall work parties, were very well attended — the BBCRC’s central function as a community-building meeting place was reaffirmed as we hosted hundreds of visitors over the year.
We saw work move forward in many ways. Restoration work began on the exterior of our PFE reefer car, which houses the BBCRC library and art space. The ambitious project is replacing all of the cars exterior siding after which it is being repainted and re-lettered into its original 1920s appearance. We also did some exterior work on the boxcar, replacing deteriorating boards and other spot repairs. Painting and some interior restoration work took place on “Dorris”, our 1926 ex-Great Northern caboose. Painting, lettering and additional roof work took place on the Shasta car as well.
We had a very successful Railroad Days event in June which included an art show opening of Fiona Bearclaw’s amazing linocut prints, participated in the Dunsmuir RR Days parade and festivities, and hosted a tribute for Guitar Whitey, a long-time friend and well-known hobo who passed away last year. In late July we hosted another art show — a collaborative photo show curated by Beau Patrick Coulon, “Nowhere Near”, which featured over twenty photographers. Other BBCRC projects flourished as well. Our library received many donations and our online hobo bibliography, the most comprehensive one anywhere, was expanded considerably, with many additional listings. Much effort was put into ecological restoration work, with invasive weeds put on the run, many native tree seedlings planted, and ongoing fuels reduction work in our forested areas.
On November 26th an extreme weather event, what the National Weather Service called a “bomb cyclone”, hit the BBCRC — with winds of 70 to 80 mph and over two feet of snow dropping within a few hours. The wind ripped the metal roof right off of our PFE reefer car, the car housing our beloved library and art space, an ironic development given all the ongoing restoration work put into the car this year. This left the car vulnerable to moisture with another huge storm on the way. There was also damage to other BBCRC structures including busted windows, the destruction of our greenhouse, destroyed fencing and more. Fortunately, a group of friends were able to come to the rescue and were able to make emergency repairs. The reefer car, and its irreplaceable contents, are safe for now. However, a permanent roof rebuild will need to take place next Spring.
The repairs required by this weather disaster, at a time when we are already in the middle of an ambitious program of renovation for our fleet of unique and vulnerable wood railcars, adds up to serious logistical challenges and financial needs for us in 2020. In December we also lost our long-time caretakers, Lauren and Logan, who after five years at Black Butte, during which they made invaluable and long-lasting contributions, decided to move on and get their own place. Great thanks to Lauren and Logan, and to all who helped make our project flourish in 2019! For some photos of our activities this year see our Images 2019 page.
-
New Roof for the Utah Phillips Flanger Car
Over the Labor Day weekend supporters, friends, and family members of the Utah Phillips Library/Flanger Car gathered at Black Butte to put a sorely-needed new roof on the car, play music, and socialize. On Saturday evening Dawn Riding, Mark Ross, and others entertained in the boxcar.
-
Thank You for the Merle Haggard Tribute in Asheville
The BBCRC would like to thank to the 200+ people who came out to our very successful Songs of Merle Haggard tribute and BBCRC fundraiser at the Grey Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina last night! Especially to all the awesome musicians who donated their time, the Grey Eagle which provided the perfect venue, and our BBCRC boardmember Brody Hunt who organized the whole thing and belted out some great songs! We raised a significant chunk of change which will go towards the ongoing restoration of Southern Pacific car #109, the “Shasta”.
