>Heard some rumblings that WATCO might get out of their lease with the UP on the Weston branch.. Walla Walla to Weston.. Anybody know...??

There's lots of RUMORS flying around the NW these days. WATCO has Wallula-Walla Walla-Weston, plus the grain shuttle and contract switching at the paper plant, and I believe the Arlington trash train is part of the same business unit. There may be some traffic changes coming that would change the dynamics and economics of the whole thing.

It sounds like Kettle Falls International (Omnitrax) is in trouble too - they were potentially failing before recent high water and flooding is supposed to have caused damage. Also hearing rumors another NW shortline may be changing operators.

Lumber/wood products traffic has been shaky since the spotted owl days, and now unless you're loading shuttles and far enough away from a navigable river terminal, it doesn't matter how many grain elevators are on your line or how much grain used to move on it.

Recent spikes in fuel prices will help increase rail traffic. While fuel is a substantial portion of rail costs, trucks are far less fuel efficient and it is a much greater percentage of their costs. Due to the economy doing fairly well the labor market is getting tight - too many in the potential employee pool are either not qualified, can't pass the drug test, won't relocate or won't even consider many of the available jobs, including the rail and trucking industry. If the increase in oil prices sets off another oil boom - where are they going to find employees this time, considering the current competition for workers and how many got burned at the last boom-bust cycle? If intermodal and general traffic is booming for rail, can the railroads (BNSF comes to mind) handle another oil boom?