Who salvages track?

[Boyd]

The last I read the Minnesota Zephyr line behind the house I live in will be pulled up in september for a bike trail. I think most of it is 60 pound rail & the line is 5.9 miles. In an email the DNR told me a contractor will do the work. There is so much grass along the line you wouldn't know there are tracks there. Are there any contractors that specialize in salvaging tracks?

[mudchicken]

Plenty are out there, including:

The ethically challenged A&K Materials

LB Foster

Progress Rail

Klammert

TYO/ Tie Yard of Omaha

R J Corman

K W Reese

Sperling

Atlantic Track

and about every small general contractor trying to make a buck...

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Hyman Michaels (Azcon) has long been in this line of work.

[Deggesty]

MC, this may be off-topic, but can you give a little detail on A&K?

Thanks,

[mudchicken]

Deggesty

MC, this may be off-topic, but can you give a little detail on A&K?

Thanks,

As in why the Surface Transportation Board (and the State of Mississippi, among others) refer to them as "scoundrels"?

[Mookie]

I think I smell a good story....

[edbenton]

Here are 2 I found real fast on the STB website with a Yahoo.search  .

 

http://docs.stb.dot.gov/?sGet&Dl5cTH1WXw1zAA0AXBdWV0x6Sw1xfAUDXAECCW4DFnYBf3cKWAIADGgGHggHfhNQAlxCcUsOS1FELBNDO1RAS0ZcQQ0AfQEGS1dbVEpdTl1VcAcBWAMACQoBamB0C20xMjgvMy8wME01Mww%3D 

www.utu.org/worksite/newspdfs/2002/UTU0211.PDF

[mudchicken]

Ed: You got two of the cases, including one of the two where the word "scoundrel" was used. You've got at least a dozen additional cases to go.

[Falcon48]

mudchicken

Ed: You got two of the cases, including one of the two where the word "scoundrel" was used. You've got at least a dozen additional cases to go.

  Perhaps I've missed something, but I'm not aware of any cases where STB referred to A&K as "scoundrels".  It's, of course, possible that other parties have used this term, since many of its transactions have proven to be controversial. 

A&K seems to have a business strategy of buying very marginal rail lines obstensively for continued rail operations, apparently on the idea that if they don't pan out as operating entities, A&K will get its money back by salvaging the lines.  Given the marginal nature of these properties, they often don't pan out.   There's a case like this currently before STB  -  AB-1074, Lassen Valley Ry - Abandonment.  This involves a rail line which UP got authority to abandon a couple of years ago. An A&K affiliate then bought the line, assertedly to see if there was any possibility of developing rail traffic.  After a year of no traffic, they filed to abandon the line.  While this may seem a little nefarious, I don't think A&K ever hid its involvement or what its intentions were if traffic didn't develop. 

Naturally, these activities have created controversy. But I don't think it's fair to treat them as a grim reaper, since the lines they buy and later abandon would have been abandoned if there had been no sale.  Also, I'm pretty sure that there are several A&K properties which have been in operation for some time and in no immediate danger of abandonment.