Kramer Paper Gets new Publisher; Future of Print Newsletter Limited

Essex, MT- For the first time since the Kramer Paper Company was dissolved, the Kramer Paper will be operating as its own entity: a blog-running and publishing service known as the Kramer Paper Digital Publishing Org. The name, stylized as "KPDigital" will specialize in operating the Kramer Paper's blog, and will publish the limited printed copies for subscriber requests. The "company" will not operate for profit like the KPCo, but rather for recreation, as a hobby.

The newsletter has not existed as its own entity since the Kramer Paper Company was dissolved in 2012. At the time, the KPCo. operated over ten miles of bike routes, the newsletter, and limited fiction publishing as well. While successful in its day, a loss of interest in the newsletter, and irritated family members spelled trouble for the company. A last ditch merger was attempted with the Christmas letter. When this was declined, the KPCo was dissolved. while its belongings found themselves in a variety of places.

 The newsletter itself was transferred to Bear Creek Press in Ashland, Oregon, and later acquired by Montana-based Rambler Publishing. As of July 1st, Rambler Publishing will transfer the newsletter to KPDigital.

Headquarters will remain in Essex until Mid September, then will likely transfer back to Ashland where the Chief Editor is going to school. Headquarters will be transferred accordingly, as long as the KP remains, which will likely be on and off for many years to come.

"It made sense to me," said Steven Kramer, "The KP is being reborn online. As it grows a bit more prominent, it should be its own entity. All the tongue-in-cheek parent companies are fun, but for an operation lik ethe KP, it seemed unnecessary."

KPDigital is expected to cease production of printed newsletters altogether following fullfillment of its obligations to printed newsletters, with the blog serving as its replacement. The Kramer paper historical Society has placed orders for newsletters as long as they are printed, with orders ceasing with production.
  -KP

Obituary: Natasha Kramer

Natasha Kramer, our last surviving family cat, died this spring at the ripe old age of 14 years old. Natasha, or Nat, as she was called in her later years of life, was one of our two resident cats. She arrived with her Brother in October of 2000, and got herself a headline in Issue 1 of the Kramer Paper. She was named after the villains in Rocky and Bullwinkle, due to her aggressive behavior upon arrival. We originally intended her to be an indoor cat, but several pieces of broken pottery later, the cats changed our mind for us. Nat was disabled in her later years of life, but managed to get her own cat patio, or "Catio" and was a common sight on movie nights. She was fond of Catnip, and other human-intended delicacies like ice cream and canned tunafish. She rests in the Southeastern corner of the property beneath a Red Oak. She will always be remembered.
-SK

Life as a Night Audit

                     Sp. 15                                                      

We recently sat Down with Steven Kramer, the acting night audit at the Izaak Walton Inn, in Essex, MT.  The night audit is a hotel's night position, with shifts stretching from 11pm to 7am. With the unusual hours, and exciting location, we decided to check in with him, and see how he likes his summer job so far.  

KP: Essex seems like a rather remote location: How did you find out about it?

Steven: When I was young I picked up a magazine about Railroading at a used book store. It featured an article about a worker who spent the summers of 1992 and 1994 at the Izaak Walton Inn. It sounded like fun, and I thought I would give it a try myself. I've also toured the area with my family, and taken the train past it as well, so it's not my first visit to the area.

KP: Does the remote location have any drawbacks?

Steven: Shopping.I suppose entertainment as well, but that hasn't really been an issue for me so far. Finding things to do in the wilderness of Northwest Montana isn't too difficult. Getting supplies however can be areal headache. The nearest city is about an hour away. The inn does weekly trips into town if you sign up, and coworkers will pick things up for you as well if you ask them. Being this far from civilization certainly takes some getting used to.

KP: Do you like working at night?

Steven: It really depends on the day. I don't mind it so much. It is fun being out with the stars, and having the building to myself. That's part of the drawback though. For a good five hours of my shift, I am completely alone, and I sleep during the day so interacting with other people can be a bit of a challenge as well. I've managed to get used to it by now, but if I had the chance to work during the day I would probably take it.

KP: What is the most challenging part of the position?

Steven: Again, it really depends on the day. I would say getting into the grove of resetting your clock to sleep during the day is challenging. The audit itself can be a beast as well. It's fine when all of the numbers line up but when they don't it can be a major headache.

KP: What is an average night on the job like?  

Steven: I get to work about 11, and hang around the desk until the bar closes. Then I set about cleaning, doing laundry, basic chores that need to be done. Around 3am I run the audit (which takes about five minutes on a good day) then I take care of cash going to the bank, and finish the night by folding all of the laundry. It's really not very exciting on a slow day. And excitement isn't always a good thing.

KP: What do you do when you are off duty? 

Steven: I spend a lot of time outside. There are trails leading around the forest, and if you walk along US Route 2, there is a river access point that gets you close to the Flathead River. I also watch trains go by when they do, I have a few "scavenger huts" of railway equipment to keep myself busy.

Southwestern Road to Reorganize Bike Route-Map

Ralph Stevens
Schollsdale--The Portland, Oregon bike route system, "The Southwestern Road," and its parent, Greenway Holdings Co., have decided to take another look at the trailroad's operations, seeking to streamline the route-map as much as possible.

While the Southwestern Road remained vibrant and overall successful, with bike routes stretching throughout the Portland Metro Area, including an interurban mainline connecting Hillsboro in the west, to Gresham, a run of almost 20 miles, management in both Greenway's Ashland, Oregon offices, and local executives were questioning the necessity of such a massive system. The Interurban mainline, while impressive on a map, was rarely used and under-explored, and so expansion en-route was difficult at best. The Portland-Gresham main via the busy Springwater Corridor bike path received less than one run a year from Southwestern Road traffic, and the route, unlike local Beaverton routes which saw rapid expansion to parks and neighborhoods as they were discovered, saw little traffic, and no expansion.

"It all seemed excessive," Steven Kramer said, when asked to comment on the status of the company, "All of the routes look impressive on a map, but if you take the traffic into consideration, the active trailroad was about half the size it appeared to be on paper."

The trailroad had previously been considering several mergers that would have expanded the system further in these little-explored areas, but walked away from all of these upon a second examination, and instead turned to a reorganization plan. Greenway holdings executives, as well as officers from the trailroad  met at the Izaak Walton Inn, in Essex MT to discuss how the trailroad should best be laid out.

In the end, following a plan known as the Essex Decision, the Southwestern spun off all routes west of Beaverton into a new company called the "maillink System" after the Kramer Paper subsidiary that originally operated them. The fabled Springwater Corridor Route was removed from the route map as well, seeking instead to further its understanding of the area it serves, and developing new routes in areas that are likely to receive more traffic. An early draft of the Essex Decision called for the system to be entirely localized in the Beaverton area, but the final document retains the temporarily-embargoed line into Downtown Portland.

"If this were an actual railroad, then redundant trackage might be a concern," said a Southwestern Road executive, "But since these are bike routes, we could have one on every street if we wanted. The point of the new route map is to maintain routes that are both enjoyed and utilized. The routes we will retain are routes that either fit this category, or that soon will. And those that are not retained may still be ridden-- just not under the Southwestern Road banner."

The  "Maillink System" will hold less used routes, as well as routes operated by Mark Kramer during the summer months. Runnign rights were traded between the Southwestern and Maillink, granting southwestern Road access to the Beaverton Farmers Market and Garden Home, and Maillink bicycles access to Southwestern's Church Creek Line and to Hyand Woods as well as certain local traffic.

Following the re-organization, the Southwestern Road has been re-named the Willamette, Fanno Creek, & Bull Mountain Trailroad.

Ralph Stevens is the Kramer Paper's business editor.