Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

A reward may be offered for the return = of this=20 sign, stolen last month from a locked building owned by Sierra = Pacific=20 Industries.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch

A hole was cut through the wall of the = building=20 that once housed the last two Amador Central locomotives and the=20 historical sign, now possibly gone forever.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
One of the last remnants of the = vanishing=20 Amador Central Railroad was stolen from the wall of a locked building on = Jackson=20 Gate Road some time last month.

The stolen item was a bright blue = sign=20 with letters a foot high, which read: "AMADOR CENTRAL RR."

The = violated=20 building served as the terminus of the railroad system that was used for = 100=20 years to haul lumber, plywood and particle board from the old mill in = Martell to=20 the switching yard in Ione. The building and all the property that once = belonged=20 to the Amador Central is now owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. SPI is = in the=20 process of divesting itself of the railroad system and = equipment.

Removal=20 of this large piece of memorabilia was made possible by cutting a = 4-by-8-foot=20 hole in the side of the frame building, perhaps needlessly. "The power = was on,"=20 said SPI spokesman Dave Brown. "They could have rolled up one of the = roll-up=20 doors to get the sign out, but they cut a 4-by-8 hole in the wall=20 instead."

Negotiations have been under way for donation of all = railroad=20 memorabilia to the Amador County Museum. Brown said that the donation = agreement=20 had been approved by county supervisors two weeks ago and was scheduled = for=20 finalization by next week.

SPI has had previous experience with = theft and=20 looting at the old mill site, as well as along the dormant tracks of the = old=20 Amador Central. "People used to come to steal the railroad ties," Brown = said.=20 "It was always small stuff. We've had kids caught, but no one was ever=20 arrested."

Brown conjectured that the thieves must have known = that the=20 resident caretaker, Bill Stewart, wouldn't be there at the time of the = break-in.=20 Stewart lives on the property in a modular home, keeping an eye on=20 things.

On a tour of the crime scene, Stewart pointed out the = clear trail=20 through high weeds leading to the large hole in the wooden siding. He = told of=20 finding evidence of the use of a yellow reciprocating saw blade to cut = through=20 the hasp of the inner door, allowing access to the sign. He showed the = likely=20 egress point in the back wall of the building, safe from view by anyone = who=20 happened to be driving by on Jackson Gate Road.

"This was = carefully=20 planned," Stewart said. "I've only been away from the property a couple = of=20 times."

Stewart provided a vivid description of the sign: steel = letters,=20 each one a foot-and-a-half high, with baked-on blue porcelain paint, all = bolted=20 onto 8-foot long steel cross members attached to the wall with lag = screws. "It=20 must have weighed a lot," he said. "It had to take two people to remove = it from=20 the wall."

"Nothing else seemed to be missing," Brown added. = "They just=20 wanted this one piece."

Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner = informed=20 the Ledger Dispatch that SPI representative Alicia Brenner had reported = the=20 theft and had estimated the stolen sign's value at $1,500. Brenner said = she was=20 last at the warehouse approximately two months ago, when she was one of = the=20 participants in the final ride of the last locomotive down the rails of = the=20 Amador Central.

Brown hinted at the possibility of a reward, = "somewhere=20 in the range of $1,000 to $1,500," but wasn't specific. Anyone with = information=20 should call Brown at the SPI office: (530) 644-1759.

Jerry = Budrick