DECEMBER 2007: AROUND THE STATE
Rail line’s woes and foes
COOS BAY
After unexpectedly shutting down traffic on a rail line between
Eugene and Coos Bay this fall, the Boca Raton, Fla., company
RailAmerica wants to form a public and private partnership to
fund as much as $30 million in repairs to three of the
line’s 125-year-old tunnels — a suggestion that
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) slammed as an attempt to
“extort” millions from the Port of Coos Bay and
Oregon taxpayers.
The 126-mile Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad is a critical
link for shippers such as Georgia-Pacific, Roseburg Forest
Products and Reedsport’s American Bridge. According to
estimates from the Port of Coos Bay, the line carries about
7,500 cars a year. After RailAmerica stopped traffic on Sept.
21 with no warning, Georgia-Pacific laid off 120 workers from
its Coos Bay sawmill, and the Port of Coos Bay filed a $15
million lawsuit against the rail company for not giving the
port enough notice of the closure.
State senators and representatives blasted company officials,
going so far as to accuse RailAmerica of trying to pressure the
state to fund the repairs. DeFazio held meetings with the U.S.
transportation secretary and the director of the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA).
Company CEO John Giles is part of an investment group that
bought RailAmerica, which owns 43 short-line railroads around
the nation, last February. A few months before he took over,
RailAmerica had spent $2 million in repair work on a single
tunnel on the Coos Bay line. “It’s important for
everyone to know that this problem didn’t pop up [this
year]. The history is that there have been chronic
problems,” he says.
The latest inspection report from RailAmerica’s
engineering firm, which is dated July 16, strongly suggests the
company make immediate repairs in three tunnels where support
timbers — some of which are an estimated 95 years old
— are rotten and rocks are falling. Giles says that
report, which was reviewed by the company’s own engineer
for several months after it was generated, was the impetus for
the sudden closure. A subsequent inspection performed by the
FRA in October validated RailAmerica’s findings,
reporting that, “All three tunnels need immmediate
repairs to permit the safe resumption of railroad
operations.”
Marin Callery, the director of freight mobility at the port of
Coos Bay, says no one is questioning that the rail line needs
work. The port’s immediate concern, he says, is that
shippers have a way to move their freight. DeFazio’s
office is looking at the long-term economic impact; chief of
staff Penny Dodge says there are worries the company may be
trying to abandon the railroad.
Because there are multiple stakeholders, Giles says, there
should be shared fiscal responsibility for its repair.
“If you want us to open tunnels, we’ll put up our
hand and offer our pro rata share, but you have to be prepared
to step forward, state of Oregon,” he says. “You
have to be willing to step forward, shippers. You have to be
willing to step forward, Coos
Bay.” ABRAHAM HYATT
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