Sierra Pine of Martell has stopped operation of a commercial rail line between Martell and Ione, Sierra Pacific Industries Land and Timber Office said Friday.

The particle board branch of the company terminated its option to lease the Amador Central Railroad, with the latest lease running out March 31, said Ed Bond, public relations officer with Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI).

Bond said that SPI owns the railroad and parts of the tracks between Ione and Martell and that the railroad would be open to lease.

According to information at www.trainweb.org, the railroad incorporated April 12, 1904, as Ione & Eastern Railroad. It operated on rails between Ione and Mountain Springs in 1904 and extended to Martell in 1905.

Amador Central Railroad (AMC) took over operations of the line on January 1, 1909, then AMC was acquired by Georgia Pacific Corp in June 1988.

The last revenue freight run of AMC was March 28, 1997, and the line shut down, the Web site said. The property was then sold by Georgia Pacific Corp to Sierra Pacific Industries in 1997.

The site www.uprr.com, an online “Short Line Directory,” said the Martell to Ione track is 11.79 miles, with a maximum load limit of 200,000 pounds.

The Web site www.cencalrails.railfan.net describes the Ione Branch, which “runs from Galt California to Ione California where it connects with the Amador Central.”

The Web site www.amadornet.net lists part of the history of the AMC:

“In the beginnings Amador Central and its short lived predecessor (Ione & Eastern) hauled gold ore down from the mountain mines,” the site said. “As the ore began to yield less and less gold, concentrates from the mines were shipped to an enormous smelter at Selby, about 20 miles north of Oakland.

“The huge quarries outside Ione were another source of business for the (AMC), shipping out car loads of fire brick used for lining furnaces and chimneys,” the site said. “Eastward traffic included mail, groceries, clothing and animal feed for the foothill towns. The towns people also moved by rail.”

The site credits Highway 88 with hurting the economics of the AMC, and wonders, “What is going to happen in the future? No one really knows at this writing, but the hopes of the future are always there.”