Hood River Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So assuming that out of the ashes the Mt. Hood RR
> emerges, who will buy it? Back to local control?
>
> Tourist trains require expensive insurance and
> track maintenance and not much commercial traffic
> comes on or off the line so would not think any of
> the short line operators will be running to the
> table.
>
> Trying to figure out who is owed what and how many
> liens are against the property(et.al) might be
> difficult, but one would think prices will be
> reasonable as the creditors want to be cashed out
> and done with it you would think.
>
> Grab the popcorn, sit back and see what happens.

OPR has been looking at it and talking with Hood River County who has the real estate lien against it. The only way it could ever be viable without the passenger traffic (which has caught the FRA's attention over a couple of Christmas train derailments) would be to abandon everything past the last customer and salvage the track materials.

Shortening the total mileage would reduce future property taxes. The new owner(s) could possibly dispose of the excess right of way to the county for a recreational trail...maybe for forgiving some of the back taxes. Taking out the track and just letting the right of way sit would still create a property tax liability if the railroad still was the owner so owning less is better. If it were on separate tax lots that were marketable it would be a different story but the Oregon Department of Revenue "centrally assesses" all of the railroads assets as a single item (divided in the counties in which it operates) so the trackless right of way would still be assessed.

As the old saying goes..."the only thing certain is death and TAXES" and I'm afraid it's all over for the Iowa Pacific empire as we knew it...DEATH has come...TAXES remain.


For power a single remote controlled switcher (RCL unit) would suffice for a one-person operation and the same person could perform the weekly track inspections and fix anything minor. Without the passenger operation and with little or no hazmat there is no requirement to have the track in anything but "excepted" status. Just be sure to keep gauge on curves within Class I tolerance for the FRA insprctor.

Now that I've shared my secrets and babbled on...someone go make a go of it...I'm too old for a new adventure of this magnitude ! ! !


Dick Samuels aka Sammie
Oregon Pacific Railroad