Watco buys Camas Prairie RailNet PITTSBURG, Kans. – Watco Companies, Inc., a shortline portfolio firm headquartered here, has purchased the 177-mile Camas Prairie RailNet from North American RailNet, Inc. of Bedford, Texas. Operations under the new owner are expected to begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday, March 1. Gone will be the name Camas Prairie RailNet, which harks to the earlier name Camas Prairie Railroad, which was half-owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe (Northern Pacific) and Union Pacific until sold in April 1998 to North American RailNet. The new name for the line, primarily in northwestern Idaho, will be The Great Northwest Railroad. The line runs from Riparia, Wash., and a connection with UP and BNSF, east along the Snake River to Lewiston, Idaho, and then 74 miles farther east to Kooskia, Idaho, as well as 31 miles from Orofino, Idaho, northeast to the Jaype, Idaho, area. The Orofino-Jaype segment between is out of service. In a separate transaction, Watco announced another of its railroads, the Timber Rock (TIBR) in eastern Texas, has leased an additional 30 miles of track from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe between Silsbee and Kirbyville, Texas. Service began last Monday. The Timber Rock was created in 1998 from cast-off BNSF secondary routes of Santa Fe ancestry in eastern Texas and western Louisiana, and today operates between Tenaha and Silsbee, Texas, with interchanges on both ends with BNSF, and from Kirbyville to DeRidder, La. and connection with Kansas City Southern. The line hauls more than 30,000 loads annually, primarily wood and rock products. The recently acquired BNSF trackage will allow TIBR to service customers in Call, Le Verge, Bessmay, Buna, Evadale, and Hayes, Texas. Watco has seven short lines in the U.S., in Kansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, Washington, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
Some of the new RR names sound rather grandiose. "Great Northwest Railroad?" Oh well. I sure hope they can keep the old CSP going. There have been some on and off plans for companies relocating into the area. But so far not much has happened. Boxcab E50
