It's not quite as simple as that. First, CORP has to file for abandonment of the line citing a miriad of facts and figures. They also have to certify that no traffic has moved over the line for two years. The state or any "financially qualified" shipper then can make an "offer of financial assistance" to buy the assets at NLV (net liquidation value) which is what A&K or another scrapper would pay for the rights to salvage the line which is the value of the materials less the cost of removal. Any purchaser under these circumstances must then agree to operate the line in its entirety as a common carrier for a minimum of two years before they can file for abandonment should their business plan not fly. They then would have to go through the abandonment process all over again in order to rid themselves of the common carrier obligation, find a new buyer and get their investment back, which, depending on the scrap market, could be less than what they paid as a NLV previously.

This process is what has allowed the McCloud to hang on so long.

With todays very high scrap prices look for the Coos Bay line to have a very high NLV in that the salvage costs to remove the line are somewhat near the bottom of the scale compared with, say, the Port of Tillamook Bay line which is much more remote.

Shortline Sammie