The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay may soon find itself with a 111-mile railroad. The problem is the port has no experience running one.

It has filed a feeder line application to purchase the Coos Bay tracks from Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, though port staff still are figuring out how it would be operated.

They could partner with a private company that would operate the line. They could contract out engineering and maintenance services. Or, the port could hire staff to run the line internally.

Should federal officials give their blessing, the Port of Coos Bay would not be the first public agency in Oregon to own railroad tracks. The Port of Tillamook Bay owns a 95-mile line that stretches from the coast to the Portland suburbs. Wallowa and Union counties acquired a 63-mile branch in the northeast portion of the state about six years ago.

Then there is a coalition of four Northern California counties that owns a line from Eureka to just north of San Francisco Bay.

All three want to maintain rail service in rural areas, though each took a different route to get there. One augmented its staff with railroad experts to manage the line. Another contracted with a private company to operate a passenger train. And the third tried a number of different formulas, so far with little success.

These agencies’ experiences might offer the Port of Coos Bay lessons in how it is possible for a government agency to manage — or mismanage — a rail line.

A lesson from Tillamook

The Coos Bay rail line wasn’t the only coastal corridor that abruptly closed in the fall of 2007. The 95-mile track from Tillamook to Schefflin was embargoed in December. A railroad corporation didn’t close it, since the Port of Tillamook Bay has owned it since 1990. Rather, the devastating December storms that hammered the North Coast caused significant damage. One tunnel in the Salmonberry Canyon area filled with more than 3,000 cubic yards of debris, said Michele Bradley, interim general manager of the Port of Tillamook Bay. Engineers are inspecting the rail line and should have an estimate on the cost of repairs by September, she said.

Who pays for the repairs is an open question that dates back to the acquisition of the line from Southern Pacific.

In 1990, the state approved the use of lottery funds to purchase the line for a little less than $3 million. Ken Bell, a port commissioner for the past 23 years, said the funds came from video poker receipts.

“It was all in the timing,” he said.

The state kept ownership of the right-of-way, and then gave the track and other improvements to the port.

The port decided to hire staff to operate the railroad. Slowly but surely, it saw an increase in traffic, from 70 cars a month to about 400 as recently as 2006.

Bell credits the port’s acquisition of the line with attracting several buyers who opened businesses in the area shortly thereafter.

“We wouldn’t have had those mills without the port taking over the line,” he said.

There was a slight dip in the number of traincars in 2007, even before the line was shut down in December. Whether the port can afford to make the needed repairs and continue in a declining market for timber products is uncertain.

Bradley said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for 75 percent of any necessary repairs. The railroad’s fate now rests in part with the state and whether it will pay the other 25 percent.

(Staff Writer Alexander Rich covers the Port of Coos Bay for The World. He can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 234; or by e-mailing to arich@theworldlink.com.)