Critics of Rail America’s handling of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad's embargo of the Coos Bay Branch line to the coast and curtailed service to California are having a heyday over this one.
Rail America’s parent company, Fortress, is spending some 24 million dollars to bail Michael Jackson out of losing his Neverland Ranch.
Meanwhile, the Coos Bay branch line sits idle, in need of approximately 24 million dollars in repairs, And Rail America is asking the stakeholders in Oregon to help pay for those repairs.
On Thursday, Fortress Investment Group signed a “confidential” agreement that allows the pop singer to retain ownership of his famed property in Los Olivos, Calif.
Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio, already a sharp critic of Rail America, blasted away, telling the Roseburg "News Review", “Fortress has claimed they do not have the money to invest in the CORP rail line that provides essential service to the Southern Oregon and Northern California economies, but somehow they’ve found the resources to invest in Neverland Ranch.”
While the line sits idle, Roseburg Forest Products is spending an additional 125 to 167,000 dollars per month in transportation costs. Other companies have also been devastated by the embargo.
DeFazio added another comment regarding Fortress and Rail America, “I am told they run a small toy train at Neverland, perhaps that is the most rail capacity they are capable of handling.”