and less need for oil and gas drilling pipe. Canadian National, which serves Minntac through its 2004 purchase of DM&IR, expects to continue movement of nearly 700,000 tons of stockpiled ore currently at the plant to its docks at Du- luth and Two Harbors in addition to the lower planned production amount. In late March, Gogebic Taconite no- tified the
Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources that the company is withdrawing its pre-application notice related to a proposed iron mine in north- ern Wisconsin. Gogebic was considering development of a taconite mine along a four-mile stretch east of the community of Mellen. The letter follows the Feb- ruary closing of the company’s Hurley, Wis., office. CN would have served the new mine.
REGIONALS/SHORTLINES WEST GARLAND MCKEE
Fillmore & Western STB Request Denied
On March 10, the Surface Transporta- tion Board denied a request that it issue a declaratory order finding that actions taken by the Ventura County Transpor- tation Commission (VCTC), the City of Santa Paula, Calif., and the Santa Pau- la Branch Line Advisory Committee in- terfered with the railroad operations of Fillmore & Western Freight Service. On March 31, Fillmore & Western Freight Service, Inc. filed a petition for declar- atory order asking the Board to resolve a dispute involving the use of the Santa Paula Branch Line, a 31.73-mile line of railroad that extends between milepost 403.34 and milepost 435.07 in Ventura County. The western portion of the line, from milepost 403.34 to milepost 414.95, is referred to as the Santa Paula Seg- ment. The eastern portion of the line, from milepost 414.95 to milepost 435.07, is referred to as the Fillmore Segment. The tracks were acquried by VCTC from Southern Pacific in 1989, and leased to Shortline Enterprises in 1991. The Fill- more & Western Railway (FWRY) was organized in 1993 to operate the line. Since then, the railroad has been used in more than 300 television and motion picture productions.
On May 14, 2013, VCTC notified FWRY that it would terminate the Di- rect Lease in December 2013. Also, on May 14, 2013, VCTC notified the FRDA that it was terminating the FRDA Lease in December 2013. In turn, the FRDA no- tified F&W that it was terminating the FRDA Sublease in December 2013. The specific issue of whether termination of
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the Direct Lease and the FRDA Sublease was wrongful is the subject of two law- suits currently pending in the Ventura County Superior Court of California. A flurry of suits and countersuits fol- lowed the sudden termination notice. On March 6, 2014, VCTC filed an unlawful detainer suit against F&W. In its suit, VCTC seeks to evict F&W from the ter- minated FRDA Sublease. On March 17, 2014, F&W filed a suit against VCTC, arguing, among other things, that VCTC breached its contracts with F&W by terminating the Direct Lease and the FRDA Sublease. On March 31, 2014, F&W filed a pe- tition for declaratory order asking the Surface Transportation Board to find that VCTC, the City of Santa Paula, and the Santa Paula Branch Line Advisory Committee have unlawfully interfered with F&W’s railroad operations. F&W maintains that it has authority to pro- vide both freight operations and intra- state passenger excursion operations over the entire line and that cancellation of the Direct Lease and the FRDA Sub- lease, without subsequent approval by the Board, is ineffective. F&W argues the law preempts VCTC’s attempt to terminate F&W’s rights under the series of agreements at issue in the two state court cases. Thus F&W requested that the board issue a declaratory order find- ing that VCTC has unlawfully interfered with F&W’s operations. On April 11, 2014, VCTC responded to F&W’s petition, arguing in part that the Board should decline to initiate a proceeding because the issues raised by F&W are state law contract issues that should be resolved by the state court. In the alternative, VCTC contends that the Board should hold this proceeding in abeyance pending the outcome of the two state court proceedings. Negotiated in 2001, the FWRY lease was supposed to end in 2021. In July 2014, the Ventura Couty Superior Court evicted the railway from the property, but stayed the decision pending the out- come of the railroad’s appeal.
Central Oregon & Pacific Reopens Siskyou Line
Central Oregon & Pacific (CORP) con- tinues on pace to reopen the southern portion of the Siskiyou Line by the end of this year. Funds for the track repair are coming from federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Re- covery (TIGER) funds, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. The line extends from Ashland, Ore., to Weed, Calif., and has been dormant since 2008 following a dispute between
shippers and CORP. The $7 million grant will get work started on the need- ed rehabilitation of the track and the re- pair of Tunnel 14 along the route. Bids for the work were being let in March and April with work expected to be finished by fall.
Britton Rail Project
The Britton, S.D., rail project, among others, is still in a holding pattern. The Britton Line runs 78 miles from Aber- deen, S.D., northeast to Geneseo, N.D. Plans for the stretch called for replacing 29 miles of light rail with heavy rail to enable the line to handle heavy, modern traffic. The $11.5 million in funding in- cluded $5.25 million from the Dakota, Minnesota Valley, & Western Railroad, $5.25 million from a state loan, and $1 million from a state Future Fund grant. The upgraded line would serve a new $40 million grain terminal to be built at Britton.
Dakota Southern
Bids for the reconstruction of the next segment of the Mitchell–Rapid City line west of Chamberlain, S.D., came in $11 to $13 million higher than expected and was being rebid in April.
Upgrading the 42 miles of state-owned
line as far as Presho would cost an es- timated $29.9 million and would pro- vide access to a new $40 million grain terminal planned by Wheat Growers in Kennebec, S.D. The funding was coming from $12.7 million in a federal funding TIGER VI grant, $7.2 million from the Legislature a year ago, $7 million from the railroad trust fund through grants and loans, $1 million of local support from the Rails to the Future consortium, $1 million from operator Dakota South- ern Railroad, and $1 million from a state Future Fund grant.
Keokuk Junction
A dispute between the Fort Transfer Company located in Morton, Ill., and To- ledo, Peoria & Western had brought the Keokuk Junction Railway into the pic- ture as a possible operator of the Morton Industrial Lead on which Fort Transfer is located. Fort Transfer is engaged in the transportation and bulk liquid stor- age of chemicals and agricultural prod- ucts, including herbicides, and is located at the end of TP&W’s 4.3-mile Morton Industrial Lead. The branch was embar- goed on March 16 due to unsafe track.
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