FORTRESS & NEVERLAND

So they are going to abandon trackage from Vaughn all the way to Coquille? They will still service Veneta. Right? Just checking the map.

 

Great conversation! Nice to hear some good solid questions put forth (Ken, Bill) and a different view (CAPFlyer). This is getting interesting.

I understand Fortress is the parent company and probably (does) have other interests that lie totally out of the railroad industry. It just seems that Fortress and Railamerica went about things the wrong way thus frustrating not only the shippers using the line but also us fans. Not that us fans opinions are necessarily worth much.

I think we'd all like to hear more on the specifics and what if anything Fortress, RailAmerica or CORP are goin to do, what they were required to do and what they did. All sides of the story are welcome, thats why we call this a discussion board. I'll continue to post any articles I run across including STB filings or such.

 

Fortress, RailAmerica and CORP specifically may have had very excellent reasons for doing what they did (the Line to California was closed for Economic reasons, not safety per press releases)
They may be concerned with safety above all else, but if that is the case, then their public relations are beyond terrible. They could have spun this much better and didn't.

 

Sorry, but this is false. RailAmerica ceased public trading the day that Fortress took over. I have the pay-out from the stock buy-back to prove it. RailAmerica is (and will remain for the forseeable future) a privately-held company.

Also, had you taken 10 seconds to check the NYSE website, you'd find that RAIL is the symbol of FreightCar America, Inc. RRA was RailAmerica's symbol when we were a publically traded company.

 

The Coos Bay line shutdown was due to safety and is the point of contention, not Siskiyou. Siskiyou was economical and was not really contested by the shippers other than the time delay in receiving cars. As has been posted elsewhere, a proposal has been put forth by CORP to the shippers to make the line economically viable to maintain the direct connection to California instead of running north, but they are not budging on the Coos Bay line.

 

This sounds really suspect. If the safety inspection was six months before the shutdown, and the problems were uncovered then and were a significant safety hazard, why did CORP risk the life and limb of their workers as well as their rolling stock for several months before shutting down. Did it just take that long for CORP's attorneys to figure out some justification for reneging on their agreements with their shippers.

I hate to sound so cynical, but CORP's record for providing service to shippers has not been all that great. I am glad that the State of Oregon yanked funding for their Roseburg yard upgrades when CORP summarily dumped the Coos Bay line.

 

If you read all of my posts, you will note that the closure occured within a short period of time of new management being announced at the railroad. I find it puzzling why that public announcement of a new GM and several other managers at the line just prior to the closure seems to miss the radar of others. I am not claiming a coverup was underway prior to the new management, but I am saying that there's a reason those people were replaced and then the line closed shortly thereafter and to believe that they are not connected would be to ignore the majority of the evidence.

 

It's all well and good that it should have been closed earlier for safety reasons and wasn't and I wouldn't fault them for shutting it down, but that does NOT absolve them of their duties to their customers. They didn't give the notice they had to by the rules of their contract. They need to account for that They're getting the political whupping they deserve for reniging.

 

Actually, if you read the full stories, you'll note that their contract specifically allows for an immediate closure for reasons of imminent safety. The FRA went in at the request of the State and the Customers and agreed that the CORP's immediate shutdown of the Coos Bay line was for a legitimate safety issue and did not levy a fine. Any public flogging going on is simply that - public flogging, which few really pay any attention to because it holds no real business weight and the public has a short memory. If CORP had really done something wrong, you the FRA and/or STB would have done something about it.

 

I tried to keep out of this, but if you go back and objectively read the sequence of events, you will find out that CAPflyer is correct. The line was checked, and was a source of immediate danger. They could have kept running, and given their shippers adequate warning, but that would have endangered the train crews and the merchandise of the customers.

Are lives worth a paperwork commitment? Apparently the new management thought not. We are free to disagree, and we want the line restored. To be honest, it looks like the politicians, who expressed such concern, are more interested in posturing than reopening the line. Costs them nothing, and makes them look good around election time. You might want to consider adding them to the list of villains, if the line is finally closed. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Frank

 

Of course the politicians are villians! LOL!