At one time, Watco did indeed own all of the PCC trackage in this discussion, all of the trackage in Washington State was sold to the WSDOT minus most real estate that Watco has been selling separately. The P&L portion of the package had a good deal of valuable real estate with it, mainly in the Moscow and Pullman area. The BNSF package also included the abandoned, but in place, Moscow to Arrow portion of the P&L that contained a large amount of heavy rail and good ties that Watco sold to A&K Railroad Materials. After WSDOT acquired the lines, it selected operators to operate the various portions of the PCC lines.
Watco was selected to operate the former UP lines (Minus the Colfax to Pullman line) Washington and Idaho was selected to operate the former BN P&L Branch and a short portion of the WI&M in Wash.State.(I believe W&I purchased the Idaho portion of the WI&M and the McGregor Co. purchased a short portion of the P&L in Moscow, Idaho to allow switching of their plant at Wilson, WA). And the Eastern Washington Gateway was selected to operate the former BNSF CW Branch between Cheney and Coulee City. The contracted operators are to oversee the upkeep of the lines and the work on the lines prescribed by the WSDOT done by WSDOT contractors. The operators are supposed to be operating and marketing their respective lines. I believe the operating contracts are for 5 year periods.