Patriot Rail has scooped up a couple more lines. The Sierra and Sierra Northern will be operated as the Sierra & Central Pacific RR. STB pdf file: http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all....05d3f9b9bdba85257488007cd013/$FILE/222955.PDF or main page at: http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all....2d0505d3f9b9bdba85257488007cd013?OpenDocument
I'd wondered, when they acquired the lines of that McLellan Business Park. It's interesting they mention Rarus RY. I thought that was renamed to the Butte, Anaconda & Pacifc RR upon it's acquisition. Boxcab E50
Dont quote me on this but as far as I've heard discussed or have read, Sierra will still be allowed to run passenger trains on both lines. This would be the Dinner Train in Oakdale and the River Train in Woodland. Also I'm not sure weather the deal included the Mendocino RR (aka California Western). I've heard both yes it does include the freight ops on the Cal Western and no that it doesn't. I would think that if it does, Sierra would still be allowed the Skunk Train just like the other two. Who knows. This is not supposed to affect the deal with the V&T either supposedly. I will keep my ears open for more.
Need / have more Sierra-Patriot info Hi folks, I just joined, I wanted to get more info on the Sierra Railroad sale. I follow the Virginia & Truckee Reconstruction Commission very closely, yesterday at the Commission meeting I mentioned that it looked like Sierra was sold. There's a Nevada Appeal article about the meeting here: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080909/NEWS/809089957. My info is at renorailfans.com. Now, if Sierra still gets to operate trains, I want to know how much of their MOW crew goes to Patriot. Also, I heard the Skunk Train ROW is up for sale. The reason for these questions is that Sierra is supposed to be the operator of the Reconstructed V&T if and when it ever gets finished. We wonder, are they totally out of the picture? Back to square one? Seems like if many of Sierra's MOW assets go to Patriot they will not be qualified in the same way as they were a couple years ago to run the V&T. Thanks in advance for any help, Jim Lohse, Comstock Historical Society and Train Arts:tb-wacky:
From what I understand, and this is only my understanding, The Sierra will be allowed by Patriot to continue their passenger ops as always. I don't know how the crews will be divided nor how long the arrangement will last. There is even talk that the deal has not been finalized now. Hmmm? Also, I've heard that this original deal did NOT include the California Western aka Skunk Train. Now, there is some talk goin round that it is up for sale now too. Hmmm? Anyhow, if Sierra still exists as an entity running passenger trains then I think they would still be able to run the V&T. However, I've heard some waves about the Grays having some kind of contract to run on all the line and that they are starting to use the new trackage as well. Will this keep Sierra from operating the V&T???? I have no idea. If not, will Sierra have to give up the #18 sooner rather than later? Got me. I'm not an expert on any of this so all I can do is post the reports and wait till all the dust settles to find out who really gets to run what and where. I can't wait to see it all wring out. If there are changes, that just means more photos and roster stuff for me to keep track of.
The deal with the Grays vs. Sierra This gets interesting. For about twelve years the Grays have had a contract with the V&T commission to operate the railroad once it's done. It's still at least two years and about $25 million dollars away from completion, with no funds in sight. The contract says the Gray's operate the new railroad for two years and see how it goes. In 2006 the Commission decided to throw the Grays overboard and searched for a new operator. The final three applicants were the Grays, American Heritage (Durango & Silverton) and Sierra Railroad. In my humble opinion Sierra was the least realistic and most optimistic of the three and that's why they were chosen. But the contract with the Grays has never been invalidated! The Sierra has no formal agreement or contract. And by pushing the Grays out now the Commission must spend millions extra to acquire the Grays railroad. This has been going on for awhile, there's talk the State will use eminent domain to acquire the Grays property as negotiations are going nowhere. You can imagine how popular the State would be if they take a family owned railroad away to build a state owned railroad, just because the State wants to break their contract with the Grays. This just gets better. From the start the Commission built from Gold Hill DOWN to Carson City because for over ten years the Grays were supposed to operate the line. So it made sense to build from the top down. Now that Sierra is the "choice," they can't start operating until the Commission builds a yard and depot in Carson City, or in Mound House to get the line started sooner. So with hindsight being 20/20, the Commission should have either stuck with the Grays or started building from Carson City up, they'd have the Carson River canyon done, a depot in Carson, and something to run today. Now, to finish this off, the reason the Grays get to run on the new track, in my opinion, is that Federal funds have been used in the project. Once you use that Fed money the nature of the project changes for the whole project. They have to run something on the new track to keep the Fed funding, so the Grays are the logical choice. The Commission also benefits from testing and settlement of the track. What's funny to me is the official explanation of the switch away from the Grays. According to the Nevada Appeal from a couple years ago, "the project had grown beyond the Gray's ability to manage it." Nothing changed about the project, I think it was a new set of Commissioners in 2005 who decided the Grays were not up to snuff.
One more, the #18 In short, the #18 Lease Agreement is a joke, in my humble opinion. If anyone wants to see a copy I should have it in PDF format soon. It says Sierra must pay the Commission $2 per passenger for each trip it's used on. There are no distance limitations. In theory, you and I could ride the #18 to San Diego and back, and only owe the Commission $4. There's also no expiration date on the agreement! The only expiration is when the V&T tracks are "fully reconstructed between Gold Hill and Carson City." Depending on how a judge might interpret that, the next phase of track where construction might start as early as October-November will get into Carson City briefly before turning back into Lyon County. So based on that we could get the #18 back sooner than later. The other move going on is that Commissioners John Tyson and Ron Allen would like to push any private operator aside an have the Commission run the train with them as fireman and engineer. John Tyson reps the Feather River shortline whose #8 is under repair in Virginia City. Tyson has been pushing to start running the #8 on the new tracks, but the cars he wanted (in Portola) are now being sold by the Commission. It reads like a soap opera, doesn't it? There's more info (claims) about the #8 at the new Gold Hill Historical Society webiste, Gold Hill Historical Society
another news article... Company proposed to operate V&T may be for sale By Karen Woodmansee Appeal Staff Writer A sale of the company chosen to operate the V&T Railway may be in the works. Sierra & Central Pacific Railroad Co. Inc., was chosen in 2006 by the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway to operate the tourist train when it opens. Chris Hart, a representative of the company, confirmed that documents on a proposed sale have been filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board, a required precursor to any sale. He declined to comment on whether a possible sale to the Patriot Rail Corp., of Boca Raton, Fla., would affect the operator’s relationship with the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway. The company owns Sierra Railroad, Sierra Northern Railway and the Skunk Train in Northern California. Sierra Railroad and the Skunk train are passenger trains. The Sierra Northern is a freight operation. On July 16, Sierra & Central Pacific filed a motion to keep any information on a sale confidential due to commercially sensitive terms and conditions of intent to sell some or all of the railroad’s entities to Patriot Rail Corp. The protective order was approved Aug. 1. Jim Lohse of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Historical Society told the V&T commissioners at their meeting Monday that he was 99 percent sure a sale was complete and added that Patriot Rail Corp. has no interest in passenger service and the Skunk Train was up for sale for scrap value. “Sierra has been trying to sell themselves since January or March,” Lohse said. No one from Patriot Rail Corp. returned calls seeking comment, and Bob Hadfield, chairman of the V&T commission, declined comment. Gold Hill land In other business, the commission voted to authorize the chairman to present a counter-offer for two parcels of land along State Route 342 in Gold Hill that provide access to the beginning of the commission’s tracks. The property, owned by Robert and Virginia Svetic of Virginia City, is to be listed at $80,000, but the commission will counter for $65,000 on the conditions that the property appraises at or above that amount, that a survey be completed and the full commission approve. The property is to be used for an access to the beginning of the commission’s track to be used for track maintenance, Rowe said. Rowe said he obtained an estimated value of the property at $60,000 to $65,000, but it wasn’t a full appraisal. The commission also amended a track agreement with the Virginia & Truckee Railroad owner Tom Gray that allows his train to use commission track with the approval of Granite Construction Co., which is building the track, to the end of the year, when a new agreement will be negotiated. Free train tickets Kevin Ray, project manager for the V&T, said he was working with the Carson City Convention and Visitors Board to provide free train rides to Carson City residents in the month of October to show what the commission has been doing. He will be working with Gray to provide the tickets. More seats Hadfield did not comment on a question by Kim Fegert that an amendment would be proposed to add two seats to the nine-member railway commission, one for the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation and another for a Carson City supervisor. • Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.
More V&T Recon info at renorailfans.com I attend the meetings and write up reports for the last few months. They are posted at http://www.renorailfans.com, here's a quote from the home page: [SIZE=+1]Biased and subjective information about the Virginia and Truckee Reconstruction Project! Blow-by-blow meeting notes, project docs and maps and more![/SIZE]
