Last week, a state judge ruled that the state had no right to stop the railroad from rebuilding track near Enright. The tourist railroad, which began in 2003 on a coastal portion of the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad, had in 2011 started rebuilding a 25-mile portion of the mountainous section of the railroad that had been heavily damaged in winter 2007 storms. After completing restoration on 20 miles of track and in the midst of work in a heavily damaged section, the railroad received an order from the state in spring 2014 telling the company to stop work and seek permits to move fill dirt. At the time work was halted, the railroad was within a mile and a half of its goal of reaching Enright, where a runaround track and a water tank are located.
The judge in the ruling said that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 gives exclusive jurisdiction to the Surface Transportation Board over all repair and restoration of railroads and that the State Of Oregon has no right to impose any state environmental or other state regulations on the railroad. The law has been upheld before, most notably in 1995 when Burlington Northern reopened the Stampede Pass line in Washington State.
“The United States Constitution gives Congress the right to preempt certain state laws in order to accomplish interstate commerce. Only the Federal government may regulate the construction and repair of railroads in the U.S.,” Oregon Coast Scenic attorney Martin E. Hansen tells Trains News Wire. “It was David and Goliath all over again, and this time David won.”
The state may try and appeal the State judge’s ruling, which will affect when construction will resume.
Oregon Coast Scenic operates a two-truck Heisler, No. 2, and former McCloud River Railway 2-6-2 No. 25.
I'm all for reconstructing the railroad. However, I am detecting inconsistencies in federal policy. In Indiana, the state has been told it is a railroad for the purpose of operating the Hoosier State passenger train, despite the fact that that train traverses two states and is therefore interstate. In this case, the railroad is entirely within one state, yet the feds are asserting control. I realize this is Oranges and Tomatoes, but it does appear to be inconsistent policy.
There are environmentalists and then environmental nazis these were the later.
The railroads are are more than 100 miles apart and CBRL is owned by the Port of Coos Bay, not the state.
This is a tourist railroad, they were highly unlikely to damage the environment when they want to draw tourists from Portland.
We who live in rural Oregon because we love the environment don't think that the people in Portland or Eugene get to dictate to us about the ways we can make a living. Many would have us be a tree museum for their recreation, leaving our young people nowhere to go to earn a living that isn't flipping hamburgers or making motel beds.
What was wrong about restoring a line that was there for many years? Nothing except for the professional activists who must always have a cause to lead, however bogus and bureaucrats in Salem with too little to do, it would appear.
Nothing will ever stop the environmental whackos, Not totally anyway. Any kind of progress that is good for the economy or for people is against everything these nutjobs believe in. I'm getting so tired of hearing about how we hard working folks are destroying the world. Maybe we need to somehow make it a requirement that they must prove beyond any doubt their claims that the environment is being harmed before any rules or legislation is enacted.
This is a defeat not only for the state but also for the environmentalists. It is certainly good news and may cause other states and environmental organizations to think twice before trying to throw up road blocks to worthwhile projects.
This is great news. Hopefully the bureaucrats in Oregon will back off now and let the volunteers resume work on the repairs that the state was opposed to.
mr. moss the construction was being carried out by a professional rail road construction company. and as you can see the state did not have the right to stop them. they were within there rights,so please check all your facts.
Oregon is forward thinking. They don't want haphazard construction along a salmon stream to cause damage to the stream. The tourist railroad should have just obtained the environmental permits. More people and sportsmen are concerned with healthy rivers. This railway gave tourist railroad organizations a black eye.
Maybe the state didn't want future competition for the Coos Bay line.
I'm surprised a forward thinking state like Oregon is pursuing this case. I'd expect it more from the more backward thinkers.
I always had a great passion for this line, going back to SP days. It will be good to see it all back together again. Hopefully, once that happens, freight can move on it again also.