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If Mayo is going to stop this, I don't think preventing the CP buyout will be the successful tactic.  Their strongest tactic is simply making CP look so bad that they (CP) decide the PRB deal is not worth the damage to their brand.  But even that may not be strong enough to stop the deal.  I would think that the economic attractiveness of the PRB connection is not a constant over time, but rather, varies with a host of market conditions.  So the timing of these conditions will have a correlation with the amount of resistance Mayo is able to mount at any given time.  A lot has been invested in the deal so far, so if it can be toppled now, it may be harder to re-start.However, if the force of the PRB connection proves to be simply irresistible to all detraction, then Mayo will likely demand concessions.  As far as I know, Mayo has not stipulated any terms under which the railroad upgrade would be acceptable.  The seemingly most probable solution has been a possible bypass, but I am sure that is fraught with problems.  The most effective solution to Mayo's concern would be a tunnel with some kind of elastic roadbed.  The roof would need to be deep enough or strong enough to be explosion proof.  And there are some watercourses to deal with.  But still, a tunnel is doable.  All it takes is money.  Mayo won't spend that much money, and neither will CP.  But the State of Minnesota loves to spend money.  If the rail objective were perceived as being green, and it was coupled with the mission of protecting Mayo from physical peril, the state would probably pay for a tunnel.  Of course there is the little problem of coal trains being decidedly un-green.    But there is another way to introduce a green attraction into the objective.  A tunnel would have the added benefit to Rochester of liberating the area now occupied with the DM&E line.  This strip of land could be converted into a wonderful bicycle, pedestrian, wildlife greenway with amenities galore.  This green vision would truly be candy to the ones who resent coal trains.   They would just have to forget what is going on beneath the surface.  It would be like a bad subterranean carbon footprint with a green roof.
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