UP Being Taken to STB Over Tennessee Pass

NotYou wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 5:35 pm There were two interested railroads, seems pointless to sit on it if there are multiple interested parties.

Interest in operation is nice, but then you have that pesky repair bill. I still don't see the benefit of dumping a quarter billion dollars for a through route that is boxed in on both ends.

Colorado Pacific would still have to go through UP to reach the line anyway, and the other outfit doesn't even have actual traffic to haul, let alone anything beyond a RR on paper.

Agreed the economic fundamentals don't look too good. However as Warren Buffett's mentor Benjamin Graham wrote: the market of value of something is only what someone else is willing to pay for it now, not it's actual value. Since the two railroads were putting in time and and money on it, I would not be surprised if they still see the line as a viable business.

Anyone else think this is going to come up again in 2022? Stefan Soloviev is feisty and UP had a chance to lease the line for $$$$ and they are in PSR mode ($$$$), I can't imagine everyone is going to sit still.

I don't think so but crazier things have happened. Maybe Soloviev will settle on Raton Pass for his western outlet!

Looks like the deal wasn't turned down by the STB, the request for an expedited approval was turned down.

https://denvergazette.com/news/environm ... 7c93e.html

eolesen wrote: ↑Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:01 am Doubtful. What makes anyone think STB would change their mind after turning it down?

UP just announced record profits for FY2021. They don't need the money that badly.

"Without prejudice" meaning they can resubmit via the usual route, which hasn't been done yet. UP and Royal Gorge could agree to something if the price is right.

I don't know where you sit, and not going to ask as that is a personal geolocational matter. Can say "you had three tries and none panned out so good riddance," but I don't know enough about the STB board make-up of those 3 hearings. If it was the same board that had a particular opinion those three times, then there wasn't much difference.

Not saying Colorado Pacific getting the Tennessee pass line is a given, but don't think the fight is over.

https://railfan.com/colorado-pacific-gi ... ssee-pass/

Colorado Pacific Gives Up Bid for Tennessee Pass

The billionaire developer and landowner who tried to buy the former Denver & Rio Grande Western over Tennessee Pass from Union Pacific has apparently given up, according to a report from Colorado Newsline.

Stefan Soloviev’s Colorado Pacific Railroad kicked off a battle with short line operator Rio Grande Pacific — which is currently trying to build a brand new railroad in Utah’s Uinta Basin to tap into oil reserves there — back in 2021 when the latter was attempting to lease the line from UP.

Rio Grande Pacific said it wanted to lease the line for both freight and passenger service, but that plan was later rejected after local communities raised concerns about the possibility of hazardous materials being moved over the route. The STB rejected the lease agreement on “procedural” grounds, arguing that such a “controversial” proposal to revive the long-dormant rail line in the mountains of Colorado required a more complete analysis instead of the more streamlined process RGP had hoped to employ.
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