From the Surface Transportation Board website, this release concerning the Coos Bay Line: SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD ORDERS SALE OF 111-MILE CENTRAL OREGON & PACIFIC RAIL LINE TO PORT OF COOS BAY, GRANTS RAIL-LINE ABANDONMENT WITH CONDITIONS The Surface Transportation Board announced today that it has ordered the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad Inc. (CORP) to sell a 111-mile railroad line running from Danebo, OR to Cordes, OR ("the Line") to The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay (the Port). In a separate decision, the Board granted CORP authority to abandon a 94-mile segment of the Line in the event that a sale of the Line is not completed. In reaching its decision in Oregon International Port of Coos Bay—Feeder Line Application—Coos Bay Line of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc., STB Finance Docket No. 35160, the Board found that the Line meets the five "public convenience and necessity" criteria for a forced sale under the "feeder line" provision of the agency's statute enabling shippers and communities to acquire rail lines where inadequate service is alleged. The Board also found that the Port is financially responsible as a governmental entity and thus eligible to purchase the Line. The Board ordered CORP to sell the Line to the Port at a price to be determined by the agency after it reviews further filings from the Port and CORP regarding the value of the Line's steel. Those filings are due by November 7, 2008, and the Board expects to issue a decision promptly thereafter. When a selling price is stipulated by the agency, the Port must decide whether to accept the terms of sale established by the Board's decision. Additionally, the Port, or its chosen operator, will be required to offer employment on a priority basis to qualified CORP employees who previously worked on the Line. The western 94 miles of the Line are the subject of a CORP application for authority to abandon and discontinue service over that portion of the Line. The Board granted this authority in a separate decision issued today in Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc.—Abandonment and Discontinuance of Service—in Coos, Douglas, and Lane Counties, OR, STB Docket No. AB-515 (Sub-No. 2). The Board approved the application based on a finding that CORP's financial loss operating the western segment warranted approval, but ordered that CORP must not abandon the western segment unless and until the feeder line proceeding in STB Finance Docket No. 35160 ends without a sale. The Board also conditioned its grant of authority by directing CORP to comply with employee-protective and various environmental conditions and to ensure that the abandonment will not create stranded segments of rail line. CORP may, however, discontinue service over the segment, effective November 30, 2008. The Board issued its decisions in STB Finance Docket No. 35160 and in STB Docket No. AB-515 (Sub-No. 2) today, October 31, 2008. Those decisions are available for viewing and downloading via the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under "E-Library," then under "Decisions & Notices," beneath the date "10/31/08."
It's nice to see this moving forward. It's been a bad couple years for shortlines in Oregon. Hopefully, the Port of Coos Bay can make a go of it. I look forward to modeling their paint scheme should they develop one!
From : KQEN Radio Roseburg, Oregon Port & CORP An Official with the International Port of Coos Bay says the haggling has begun for the Coos Bay Rail Line. Martin Callery, Director of Communications and Freight Mobility for the Port said it was to early to comment on the Surface Transportation Board’s decision until they know the exact price for the line. But he did say that the Port will submit to the STB and updated estimate on the value of the rail tomorrow. Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad officials will have just a few days after that to object to the new price estimates. The STB will take those estimates, come up with a price for the rail and combine those figures with the $6.7 million dollar land value. The Port will then decide if they accept or reject the STB set price. If they reject the offer the entire Coos Bay rail line then could be abandoned.
