Greg Stiles Wrote:
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> Who ultimately makes the decison?

Management of Rail America/Fortress.

> What will be the economic impact?

Depends upon your point of view. If the line over the hill is closed, Rogue Valley rail traffic that is routed south will have to go north to Eugene. As a guesstimate, this will add two to three days transit time.

In addition, the veneer traffic moving from the Yreka Western shortline to Grants Pass will be lost to trucks. This will make it difficult for the YW to continue as a viable railroad, and additional truck traffic will be going over I-5.

In the overall scheme of things, the impact will be minimal. Some railroaders will be out of work. Jobs will be created for some truck drivers. There may be two or three more trucks crossing Siskiyou Summit on I-5 each hour during the day.

> When would this happen?

Ask Rail America/CORP. Probably fairly soon, if it is really going to happen.

> Who will be put out of work?

An operating crew on CORP, initially.

> Why wasn't this resolved prior to the tunnel
> work?

In a way, it was resolved in 1993. That year, Southern Pacific stopped operating trains over Siskiyou Summit. Logging restrictions had decimated the amount of rail traffic moving south out of the Rogue Valley, and SP could no longer justify operating the line. Siskiyou Summit is a very expensive rail line to maintain and operate.

When CORP took over at the end of 1994, the shippers in the Rogue Valley demanded that the line over the hill be reopened. CORP reopened the line a few months later. In all likelihood, it is probable that rail traffic volumes have fallen significantly since then. My guess - and this is just a guess - is that the value created if the line were abandoned and salvaged is now significantly greater than the value the line generates as a going concern.

- gb -