SP, in order to rid the property of all of the branchlines in preparation for sale to UP, made some "sweetheart deals" with prospective purchasers/lessees in order to make the deals go through.

The ugly situation at Eugene has been a pissing match in the making from day one in 1993 when the spinoffs occured. As long as the existing physical plant could handle the business, everyone was happy. Once the FRA started finding defects on what was supposed to be Class I track (within 25 ft of a main track or that operated at speeds in excess of Class I-10 mph frt/15 mph passenger) they suddenly rewrote the agreements to require their "interchange partners" to perform maintenance they were responsible for. In the case of P&W interchanging at Eugene vs Albany, it would be to P&W's benefit to upgrade their own Albany yard (assuming it's big enough to handle the interchange) rather than sink money into Eugene.

FRA recently found some 35 defects in the Canby siding (UP/OPR interchange) which must be kept to Class I standards. They send three mofw workmen from Albany with a backhoe and get a WHOPPING 10 ties changed (on a GOOD day). Up on the OPR, the 3-man crew changes 45 ties in the same period of time. If the OPR does the work on the UP-owned interchange, the UP crew timeslips us. As a result, UP takes the track out of service preventing us from serving our customers until thay can diddle-patch it.

The latest wrinkle is that they want the OPR to interchange at Clackamas or Hito to provide "more consistent service" which would naturally lead to the OPR taking over maintenance on the siding!! That was a VERY short meeting to say the least!!

Regards,

Sammie
www.oregonpacificrr.com