Mitsy.
Is it your assumption that the freight line will be open to Eureka? If it is, then your reasoning is flawed. The environmentalists will never, never, never let anyone touch the Eel River or it's environs. Period. No matter what you think or what you want. Irrespective of what it would cost to construct a structure that will stand up to the environmental elements (unstable sub-grade, mud and rock slides during heavy winter rain storms, river erosion, material floating down river in flood damaging the support structure and the riff rap damming up the river at the structure base, etc.) historic to that area and you can look-up the decades of history on that subject. In case people are still in denial, the Southern Pacific Railroad had a damn good reason to get away from that railroad. One of which was the astronomical cost of maintaining the right of way after mother nature has her way with it. And she'd do it to spite you on a regular basis. And in case you didn't get it the first time, she's make it a little worse the next time. The other reason is that there wasn't enough revenue to make it pay it's way. Again. Look at the history. This is why one of the operators went bankrupt. Several short line operators and a former executive who was in charge of divesting S.P.'s interest in that railroad have written extensively on this site, and others of the true facts concerning the inviability of such an enterprise. These people know railroad. Rail fans don't. Rail fans are in it for the emotion, not fact and they don't have a dime invested. They just want to see excursion trains running through the bucolic Redwoods no matter what the cost. And there-in lies the difference.
R.E.Rail