> Why would that make a bit of sense? Why should the state divert funds from
> a project that has economic need and benefit for a viable railroad and give
> them to a not-even-in-existence yet railroad that has little to no viability?
>
> I realize most of us are upset with how the CORP has operated from a railfan
> basis, but from a business basis they have been logical.

It's not about railfan politics. It's about public benefit. Connect Oregon is meant to be a counter-balance to exactly the sort of "logical" business decisions as CORP has made.

> Connect Oregon was intended to benefit the state and its transportation infrastructure.
> The Winchester Yard was deemed to do that.

No, Connect Oregon is intended to benefit the *entire* state (and especially under-served areas)
by subsidizing projects that the private sector would not finance due to uncertain, low, or no financial return on investment. As such the port's project is precisely what Connect Oregon is for.

> Just because we there is a bit of a cat fight with CORP means that the benefit of that
> project no longer exists?

The public benefit may still exist, however CORP has demonstrated bad faith, making them an unsuitable partner for such a project.

> I think pulling the funds serves as punishment to the COPR but would be short-sighted
> on the part of the State of Oregon and the long term vision of the transportation network.

Hardly. CORP can continue to operate even without this yard. Whether it is built today or ten years from now is not critical. It's a public betterment and a good project but not a pressing one, and has become even less pressing given the state of the forest products industry. Coos Bay, on the other hand, may simply disappear entirely without this funding.

Nobody is (as yet) proposing the yard money be diverted to the Coos Bay line, however a very strong case can be made that doing so would be of far greater long term benefit to the state's transportation infrastructure. Matters such as rural job creation and transportation equity alone make it a more worthy project.