Thinking like a robber baron ... the holding company (Fortress Investments - FIG.N) has a responsibility to its investors to generate maximum return on their investment. They've had a few problems, their stock is down, and they need to cut some losses. RA's more backwoodsy lines are losses, because they don't generate reliably large (double-digit) returns and sometimes (Coos Bay tunnels and keeping Siskiyou patched up) real losses. If I were them, living in FL and NY and not really caring much about anything but my investors, I'd do exactly what they SEEM (perceptions here) to be doing now, except that having read things on this board for a few years I'd have a better idea of how to do it right and which lawyers to hire to get proper advice. They do seem to have stumbled a couple of times recently, but as a big rich company they will eventually get it right from a financial, not necessarily a railroad operating, standpoint.

Fortress' and other recent investment company involvement (Warren Buffett + BNSF?) with RRs might be a good subject for a Trains article. Lots of potential for some investigative reporting here. Fortress is involved with more than just RA, too - they also own Florida East Coast (recently merged into the RA group) which is a much bigger deal trafficwise than pretty much anything else in the RA group.