Western Railroad Discussion > Cascade and Columbia River Railroad Track Maintenance

The Cascade and Columbia River Railroad is a shortline owned by Genesee and Wyoming that runs
from Wenatchee,WA to Oroville,WA on the Canadian border. In the last week or so they have been replacing 
ties and grade crossings on their line just north of Wenatchee. What's interesting to me is that they have been
working well into the evenings, including tonight (Sunday).  This may be common, just seems like there is a sense of urgency to get this work 
done.  There has been rumors that GWI's new parent company may want to sale off their less profitable lines and this has to be one of their worst.

 

My observation is that railroads don't typically spend a lot of money on lines they're looking to shed.

EsPee1229 Wrote:
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> My observation is that railroads don't typically
> spend a lot of money on lines they're looking to
> shed.

That may be true now but back in the dark ages of the 70's and 80's during the evisceration of the national rail system it was often thought that if "the roof leaked and the floor creaked" your job was safe. At the time, the railroad who wanted to abandon a property would dump money into it to show an expense in maintanence. These expenses could then be shown as being a hardship when making their case to the ICC during abandonment proceedings. It worked, and that's why today we have healthy railroad companies, not healthy railroads.

        Doubt they would 'sale it' either.
 

Spend the money before the end of the year or lose it?

I'm not familiar with the operation or their traffic base but if they are required to maintain their track to Class 1 (rather than excepted) due to hazmat and the FRA inspector found defects they have 30 days to get in compliance or embargo it to hazmat loads.

Not good if it's your main line!

Dick Samuels

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