Answer: The port plans to cover all maintenance and operation costs, including engines and rolling stock, by charging shippers a user fee. There are no plans to increase taxes, said Jeff Bishop, executive director of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay.

Bishop has discussed the proposed acquisition of the Coos Bay rail line at several recent port commission meetings. Those briefings have included information about future rail line operations.

The port’s staff, working with several rail consultants, has developed and continues to refine a business plan for short-term and long-term operations of the Coos Bay rail line. The plan calls for contracting all rail activities with an established short line/connecting line railroad operator. The majority of contracted short line/connecting line rail operators provide road and switching locomotives and manage industrial rail switching for rail-served customers and inbound and outbound trains.

They also do interline exchanges between various railroads, and perform maintenance-of-way and other related tasks.

In reference to rail cars, short line/connecting line railroads usually depend on Class 1 railroads to provide the proper types of rail cars to move a shipper’s products. These cars are normally made available at the interchange point between the short line and the Class 1 railroad. A few short line operators have experimented with either buying or leasing rolling stock, but once the cars move on the national rail system it is often months before the cars are returned to their origin point. In a few cases, shippers will own or lease specialized rail cars needed for some commodities, but often face the same problem getting cars returned for future shipments. The majority of short lines and shippers depend on the Class 1 railroads to provide rail cars on a regular basis.

The port is working with shippers to determine and establish rail rates to cover operating costs. In the unlikely event that the port ends up running the Coos Bay rail line, any locomotives needed for the operation will be leased from national rail equipment leasing firms. This is standard practice in the short line/connecting line rail industry.

(I Want to Know is a regular feature of The World, offering readers a chance to anonymously ask questions. Those interested can send questions to The World newspaper, P.O. Box 1840, Coos Bay Ore. 97420; or by sending e-mail to news@theworld link.com.)