Ongoing: In general we will be trying to have community gatherings/events every Tuesday afternoon and evening (weather permitting). This will include opportunities to help with our gardening and other projects in the afternoon as well as music, potlucks and campfires well into the evenings... Call us at (530) 938-3856 to confirm specific weeks when we will be active.
September 9: Zine Release Party for Sir Robnoxious' new zine "Shut Up and Love the Rain". Also this night there'll be a show in the boxcar featuring: Frozen Teens (Minneapolis), Hello Shitty People (Chattanooga, y'hear!), and The Nature Boys (Kansas City). Punk Show starts at Dusk.
September 17-19: This is the planned date for a Fall Work/Music Party for our friends and supporters. We'll be working on various projects, doing rehab work on the boxcars/reefers, tree-planting, trail maintenance, light construction and repair, etc.. Bands playing will include Agatha, Speed of Darkness, Tesseract, and Scott Mcdougal.
September 26th: Hand Car Regatta in Santa Rosa, Ca. We will be racing the Black Butte 6-person railbike in Santa Rosa's annual human-powered railcar race.
Saturday, October 23rd: *Saturday, October 23rd*: Fall Fundraiser Music Show. 8pm. Legendary
rockers *Pierced Arrows* will be playing in our boxcar, along with
*Dirty Marquee* and *Ivy and Erick*. We will have more info about this
show on this site as of approximately October 1st. There are no advance
tickets or reservations available before that time.
If you want more information on any of these shows, please write to bruce (at) bbcrc.org. Note that our 'main' website email "info (at) bbcrc.org" is not being checked on a regular basis right now.
To
get to the BBCRC, from the I-5 South Weed Exit #745, go east one block
to Black Butte Drive (by the Taco Bell). Turn right (south) on Black
Butte Drive and go 1/4 mile. Turn onto the well-travelled dirt road
going to your left (east). Go 3/4 mile east to the end of that road by
the railroad tracks. Turn left (north) on the dirt frontage road
running alongside the tracks. Go a few hundred feet to the gate on your
left. Note that the BBCRC is only open to the public for listed events
or by appointment. Please call (530) 938-3856 in advance to make sure it is a good time if you are thinking of stopping by.
News
August 18: After a very long winter, summer finally reared it's head around the butte. A foot of snow fell on May 31st, and the Black Butte Cinder Cone was not free of snow until halfway through June. It was indeed a long, cold, and wet spring, and many tomato plants were lost (AH!). Finally now it's 95 degrees again during the day and humidity's back down to 25%... Summer at last! We've got a good number of events coming up in the fall, and have a steady crew of dedicated people keeping things up during the summer and waiting for the cooler weather to arrive. Luckily we had been doing a good amount of fuel-reduction in the surrounding forest and old pine-plantation before the weather got so hot and dry. We'd like to thank everybody who has helped us recently ad look forward to seeing more of you around here soon...but be careful, it's hot out there!
May 17: We'd like to thank everyone who participated in our May 13-16 Spring Work and Music Party. We had well over 100 people attending, our largest event yet. Great music in the boxcar and bus on Friday and Saturday nights. We also made huge headway on a large number of projects. We'll be posting photos of the gathering on the Images section of our site soon.
2009 SummaryThe past year was very successful for the BBCRC, both in serving as a gathering spot and resource for our community and in moving ahead with many of our infrastructure and other projects. After moving our historic wood boxcar and reefer car to our site in late 2008, we began a process of extensive rehabilitation of both cars. Then early in 2009 a second caboose arrived on-site. By May we had the boxcar fixed up to the point where it was able to function as a show space during our Spring Music/Work Party. Over the weekend nine bands played. This launched a new role for the BBCRC as a venue for traveling bands coming through the area. By the end of 2009 we had hosted almost 20 bands for shows in our boxcar or outdoors on our kitchen stage. In July we even hosted a play about water issues on our outdoor stage. We also saw the development of a substantial garden able to help feed our supporters and volunteers this year and the initiation of a related greenhouse project built around the re-use of an old cinder block structure adjacent to our barn. BBCRC members participated in a number of local community events as well, including the Weed Carnivale town parade in July. We accomplished further fuels reduction and forest restoration work and planted many new tree on our site. We also had a late summer music/work party that brought many new people to our place helping to increase our network of friends and supporters.
November 4: A very rare fern, "Pumice Moonwart" (Botrychium Pumicola), thought to be extinct in California (a small population exists near Crater Lake in Oregon), was recently discovered near treeline in Diller Canyon, on the slopes of the Shastina side of Mt. Shasta. This location is only about 4 miles or so east (and another mile up!) from the BBCRC. Apart from lumber company land, our site is one of the closest private pieces of property to the area where the fern grows. This discovery is further evidence of the unique ecology of this area. Read the article in the Mt. Shasta Herald.
October: The BBCRC now has it's own My Space page, in part to help stay in touch with bands and musicians who may be coming through and able to play some music at Black Butte. Check it out at www.myspace.com/bbcrc.
October 2: Added several new entries to the "Films, Videos, DVDs" page in the Bibliography section.
September 24: Added the new Images 2009 section and also added more shots to the Tattoo pages and updated the PFE reefer and SNRY boxcar pages.
September 3: Over the last week we had a very successful work and music party with over 50 people visiting, helping out with projects, and playing music. Traveling bands that played in our boxcar included GRUK (from Chico), THE HOBO GOBBLINS (from the Bay Area), SHAKES and THE WALK HOME (from Seattle), as well as BAD BLOOD REVIVAL and STUPID PARTY (from Brooklyn, NY). Unfortunately MOTHER OF FIRE had to cancel its planned show but a couple members visited later in the week. During the week we got both the boxcar and the reefer weather protected, built skylights for the reefer hatch openings, started building a greenhouse for the garden, and did more work on both cabooses. Thanks to everyone who helped out!
May 20: Over the extended weekend of May 14-17, the BBCRC hosted our first major Spring work/music gathering. Over fifty supporters and friends came together and helped out with many projects including rebuilding and upgrading our bicycle shop space, initiating rehab activities on the reefer car, working on our garden, and many other activities. Nine bands played including Dirtyard from Minneapolis, Dandelion Junk Queens (Port Townsend), Fat Sack of Bluegrass (Weed), Fugitive Kind and Living Daylights (Bay Area), Brody Douglas Hunt (Port Townsend), and Pipsqueak and Glue (both from the Pacific Northwest). Thanks to everyone who helped out over the weekend!
March 27: Today a second caboose, ATSF #999028, arrived at Black Butte. This is the fourth historic railroad car to come to our site. Check out pictures of the caboose, our site preparation work and the move on these pages.
February 10: We now have the ability to accept online Paypal donations on this site. And if you contribute $10 or (preferably) more, we'll send you our new BBCRC patch! See our "Helping Out" page for details.
2008 Summary
2008 was another year of accomplishment at Black Butte, we initiated projects that exceeded all of our expectations. It was again a huge group effort. Among the many projects that moved forward during the year:
Most interior rehabilitation work on ex-Great Northern X746 caboose was completed, including a new ceiling, new sub-floor, re-upholstery of interior seats and benches, cabinetry, insulation, interior wall repairs, and the re-installation of a caboose stove.
We acquired two additional historic rail cars, a boxcar and a reefer
car, did site preparation, and moved the cars into place. These cars
will house a future library/resource center and an art space/gallery.
We proceeded with forest restoration work, removing fire hazards and restoring a more natural and diverse forest to the areas around the compound. A variety of other environmental projects were also initiated.
We experienced a major loss with the unexpected passing of our caretaker "Gonzo" in November. From the beginning he was a central figure at Black Butte and he will be greatly missed by all of us.
Among the many people and organizations who helped us out in 2008 and whom we'd like to thank are: Gonzo (R.I.P!), North Bank Fred (jack of all trades and webmaster), Jacquelyn, Rick and the dog pack, Hobo Lee, Wrong Way Dre, Coffey, "Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra": Jason, Wes, etc, Broke Toe Rezo, Toby "Flange Squeal", Kurt, Leonie S, "Billy Gott Craig", The "Grinch", Photo Bill, Josh, Quentin and the "Bike Church" in Santa Cruz, CA, Baltimore Red, Shade, Jared, "Polka Madre", No Doubt Dave, Bob Miller (sound system), Angela, Aralia, Waffle, Roseville Melissa, Crazy Angel, Silver Miner Larry, Kimberly, Dutch, Cat, Sara Rose, Elyss, McKenzie, Chris R, Widerstand, Jeff from the trailer park, Carltons, Matteapolis, local crew from the "Central Oregon and Pacific Railway", Michael I "Train on Fire", Vanessa R and Montana from PDX, Swash, Lark and Sam from NYC, Cherry, Erick, Darby & Chevy, Sophie, Dumpy, Trainman Mark, Lily, No Nuts (R.I.P!), Stephanie, Boots, Billy, John and Reggie ("Fat Sack of Bluegrass"), Jeff Forbes and the "McCloud Railway Co"., Dougie, Joey Alone, Derek and "Made For Glory" signs"," Safe Trails Chris and his buddies, Don, Ian, "Golden West Service", "Something's Wrong", Vanessa S, Molly Molasses, Gnell, Shannon, Meredith, Leann, Bill, Buddy, "Heritage Junction Museum" in McCloud, Jack Flash, Dr. Ed, Cody "the Hub City Kid", "Black Bear Ranch" crew: Justin, Mouse, Jaxon etc, Eden, Britt, Alex, Potter, Joe, Poio, Josh, Croatian Mike, Holly from Cambodia, Espee Riders Josh, Elvis and his fisherman buddy, Feral, Grace and Pepper, Brakeshoe, C-Line, Amy from "Freewheelin' Farm", Nora, Pondscum Matt, Xarik, Keeeth, Bogus Rendition Justin from Maine, Auberry Steve & Linda, "Uncle Pete", "Weed Arts Council", Jack Flash, the Bechans, Meg, Z Wooden Spike, Liz, Patrick, Rob Menzies, "Ray's Market", "Weed Building Supply", Valerie, Dave Wall (welding), Max, and, as always, the "Black Butte Dump". And anyone else we might have missed - let us know who we've forgotten to include!
November 4: Today we had sad news at Black Butte. Our caretaker, Walter "Gonzo" Lemanski passed away of natural causes. He was 54 years old, a retired tramp who loved the Black Butte area. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he lived in Odgen, Utah, Roseville, CA, and Santa Cruz before coming to the Dunsmuir/Black Butte area where he was our caretaker for the past two years. He was a good friend to us all and will greatly missed. An informal memorial service was held for him on Saturday, November 15 at noon at Black Butte.
October: This month we successfully moved our two newly acquired historic railcars to Black Butte. We have located these steam-era wooden cars right in our main compound on some newly laid track segments. The cars will form the basis of a library/resource center/info shop project that we plan to develop in 2009 and beyond. See our boxcar / reefer project page for more details.
August 15: Added a page showing caboose rehab work done during our second summer, 2008.
August 6: Added numerous revisions to the "Bird List", "Tree and Shrub List", "Small (Non-woody) Plant List", and added a new "Black Butte Critter List" to the "Local Ecology" page
July 27: BBCRC makes agreement to acquire historic railcars in McCloud
In mid-July the BBCRC made an arrangement with the Heritage Junction Museum in McCloud to acquire two historic pieces of rail equipment - an ex-Sacramento Northern wood boxcar and an ex-Pacific Fruit Express iced refrigerator car. Both cars date from around 1912 and are in reasonably good condition. We plan to move both cars to Black Butte later this year. The boxcar is intended to become a resource center/library/info shop and arts/project space for visitors to Black Butte. To make this happen, we need to raise several thousand dollars over the next 2-3 months.
May 20: Added a page devoted to Railroad Tattoos!
April 6: In early 2008 the Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture received our official designation as a US government recognized 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. This means we are now eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions from the public, corporations and other grant-making institutions. Let us know if you have any potential contributions (books, films, 'zines, artwork, historical photographs, cash, etc.) related to our mission of documenting nomadic railroad culture and the railroading history and local ecology of the Black Butte area. Also, we are looking for a boxcar or similar railroad car that could be brought to our site for use as a resource center/art space.
January 31: Bad news on the local railroading front. In mid-January the CORP line began phasing down its south end operations. By mid-April the plan is to completely shut down the route over the Siskiyous from Black Butte to Medford. This follows on CORP's shutdown of its Coos Bay line late last year. It's all due to CORP being taken over by the greedy "Fortress" investment company, a company that appears to have as its only agenda squeezing out short-term profits for its investors. It is a blow to the workers who have worked hard to keep the CORP line going as well as to our local community. Hopefully another operator, one with a little more integrity and a longer term view than Fortress, will be able to take over the south end and resume operations. In the meantime, we will see CORP reduce its operations (local customers around Weed will still be switched) and, most likely, fewer UP trains stopping for work at Black Butte.
January 1: Added a page showing photos of the rehabilitation work done on the caboose during the Summer of 2007.
2007 Summary
December 15: A unique six-person railbike, donated to us by the WP Museum in Portola, has now arrived at Black Butte. Thanks to everyone you helped facilitate this donation. Check out a photo and description on our bike project page.
December 12: During our first year of operations we had an large turn-out of volunteers and contributors from our extended network of friends, local people around Black Butte, Dunsmuir, Mt. Shasta, and Weed, and some folks who just sort of came out of the bushes (literally)... and ended up helping out for a while. Thanks to everyone for making it happen!
Over the course of the year we rebuilt the main fence and cleaned up the site - going a long ways toward turning what was a local eyesore into a positive addition to the area:
We built track:
moved the caboose:
...and started its rehabilitation process including completely replacing the roof:
We built a large outdoor kitchen for feeding visitors and volunteers:
We completed rehabilitation of the yard shack:
...fixed up the barn and added a tool shop, got our stable of loaner bicycles going, did a lot of basic infrastructure work:
...adding plumbing, electrical connections and environmentally friendly recycling and greywater systems:
We acquired the semaphore and other historic items. We did restoration work on our pond and Black Butte Creek and did major trash pick-ups in the area. We removed invasive non-native vegetation from our site and planted some new trees. We drank buckets of beer, swapped tons of stories, played music, hosted lots of visitors and had a great time!
Even trying to put together a list of everyone who contributed something or helped out in 2007 is daunting, but, in no particular order, here it goes:
Thanks to Gonzo (our caretaker and spiritual advisor), Jimmy (our caretaker's caretaker), North Bank Fred (jack of all trades and webmaster), Jacquelyn, Hobo Lee, Wrong Way Dre; Coffey, Henry from Portland (hey we didn't get your contact info, get in touch!), Cricket from Portland; Broke Toe Rezo and Toby "Flange Squeal" (wouldn't have a new roof on the caboose w/o you guys!); Photo Bill; Emilyn, Quentin, and the Bike Church in Santa Cruz (the bike project and bike tools among other things!); Emrys, the Black Butte Dump; Rattlesnake Avery, Glenn Shoe, Railhed, Jason and The Curse is Cast band, Angela from Santa Cruz; Claryss; Larkin; Niko, Roseville Melissa, Crazy Angel, Silver Miner Larry, Bert, Jeff from the trailer park, Rick (for the drumming... yeah man!); Tigger; Joe; Josh; Rabbit, Ed from San Jose (t&g for the caboose!), Carlton Crane, Jim and Marty Nile; Rabbie; Free Tacos Melissa; Peggy Baltar (the semaphore!); local crew from the Central Oregon and Pacific Railway; Matt Shuman and the Shasta-Cascade Rail Historical Society; Michael "Train on Fire"; Okra P. Dingle; Tall Paul the Bike Pirate; Moss; Brian Bubbles; Forest Ranger Deb; Holly (caboose sketch/tattoo inspiration!); Train Doc; Bruce Petty (Black Butte historical info and photo); Joe, Josh and Ron from the other side of the tracks; McCloud Railway Co.; Luke; Joey Alone; Jason the 12 oz. Prophet; Julianne; Western Pacific Railway Museum over in Portola; Cody the Hub City Kid; Croatian Mike (bad jokes and good plaster work); Points West and Gerri (east side jungle clean-up!); Jenna; Dritz; Jet Set; Baltimore Red; Ryan; Feral; Brakeshoe, Sarah (Slaughterhouse Sal); Sin, Yarik, Keeeth; Auberry Steve & Linda; "Uncle Pete"; Widerstand; Chaos Krista; Banjo Fred; David E (who never made it there but we watched "Long Gone" at least a dozen times); the Grinch; Z Wooden Spike; Nicolas and Laura from the beer city; Mt. Shasta Fish Hatchery; Rob Menzies; Griffin; Ray's Market; Bob Morris (historical photos on website); Larry Tuttle (semaphore advice) and ???? Let us know who we've forgotten to include!