As a common carrier Class II or Class III railroad, in business prior to Dec. 31, 2005, the California Western is eligible for the 45-G Short Line Railroad Maintenance Tax Credit. This provides a credit of 50 percent of maintenance expenditures for items like the tunnel repair. If the railroad does not have sufficient Federal tax obligations to use the credit, it can be assigned to the contractor that is doing the work, or to some other vendor in exchange for a reduction in the invoices they submit.