Unlike the NWP, the POTB is considerably shorter, has considerable traffic and has seen large expenditures for maintenance to keep it viable. The shippers also pay a surcharge of several hundred dollars per car so they "put their money where their mouth is" in order to keep the line viable, and; the POTB is relatively well managed. Another plus is that it is owned by a public agency, the Port of Tillamook Bay, which makes it's properties tax exempt and eligible for public funding not available to a private operator.

Contrast this with the CORP Coos Bay line which has been embargoed partially due to greed on the part of its new conglomerate owners who have "pitched a fit" to get money to bolster their BOTTOM LINE with the shareholders and to Hell with the shippers.

It will be easy to figure out where ODOT Rail Division will put their efforts in the near future; the POTB has always been ODOT's "baby" and you can expect it to be restored in lightning strike time.

Shortline Sammie