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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by bobwilcox [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe Perhaps the abandonment of Deer Lodge Pass is closer than we expect. Apparently UP is interested in selling the line but has doubts anyone would buy the line account the legal climate in Montana regarding injuries to railroaders. http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2005/09/23/newsbutte_top/newsbutte_top.txt [/quote] Didn't MRL once make a bid for the Silver Bow line, but BN blocked it? Obviously, MRL would be the logical takeover entity, but if BNSF is set on keeping MRL and UP from having interchange, then I cannot think of any other buyer ('cept maybe BNSF itself, and that would mean an invader into UP's sole territory of Southern Idaho.) Maybe BNSF and UP have made one of those "smoke filled room" backdoor deals: BNSF stays outa UP's Southern Idaho and UP exits from BNSF's Montana. [/quote] What the UP does with their line in S. Montana is pretty simple. If it does not make an adequate return on investment they will dump the line. It is easier to do if a shortline operator is interested. If an operator is not interested the line gets scrapped. Montana can scream about an abandoment all they want but the money talks. The line probably should have been dumped when Butte shut down many years ago. [/quote] Aye, there's the rub. Certainly a shortline outfit would be willing to invest in the line if they were allowed to maximize it's revenue potential acting as a bridge line between UP and MRL. The whole I-15 corridor has great potential to be a major NAFTA rail route. But of course neither UP nor BNSF will allow that to happen. One or the other will bottleneck it to death, and utlimately the line would be scrapped. Now more than ever this nation needs anti-trust laws to be applied and enforced against the rail oligarchy. Otherwise we'll lose everything that makes Class I's useful to the nation, and all we'll be left with (in terms of railroad competitive pricing) are the Chinese import corridors.
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