Wondered if anyone has any recent info on the pending sale by the State of Ohio of the old Pennsy line from Mingo Jct. to Columbus? Last I heard the Ohio State Railroad Commission had scheduled a public hearing on the proposed sale of the line for Sep't. 15th in Coshocton Ohio. Does anyone know if that meeting is a go,and if so where and at what hour? I'm sure there will be a lot of interested buyers when it goes on the block both for the traffic it currently generates and because of its potential as an alternative East-West line for the big boys. Obviously should it end up being sold to anyone other than Jerry Jacobson that could have a direct impact on the plans to hold next years NRHS convention there as well as having a direct impact on any possible future for steam on the Ohio Central. Anyone from the RYPN list planning on attending the Coshocton meeting? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks,Ross Rowland

A quick search using Google turned up this press release from the Ohio Rail Development Commission on the sale of the Panhandle line. I think this will provide an accurate view of what is going on, and should clear up any considerations.http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/Press%20Releases/05%20-%20ORDC%20Commissioners%20Get%20Panhandle%20Line%20Sale%20Report%2071305.htmThe staff has complied a report, which recommended that Ohio Central be selected to buy the line. There appears to be only two serious bidders, W&LE and OC.By the way, the press release places the meeting on September 15 as only a tentative date. [/url]

My suggestion would be, Mr. Rowland, to ask Mr. Jacobson himself --- I've always found him to be more than willing to answer questions when he can. If he feels he cannot, for whatever reason, I'm sure he'd say so, and tell you why. On the matter of future of the steam at the OC, if somehow the line WERE to be purchased by another party, I hardly doubt that Mr. Jacobson, given his love of steam, would shut down all steam operations in there entirety. To begin wild speculation to that effect, "putting the cart before the horse" if you will, makes little sense to me, and does nothing but fuel needless worry, in an era when there are much deeper issues to worry about in regards to the "Future of Steam"T.J. Gaffney

Thanks for the link to the informative press release by the ORRDC. I have a call into them and will inquire as to the status of the Sep't. meeting in Coshocton and will request a Bidders Package should they have one already prepared. Subject of course to the details, I would guess that this sale will generate some substantial interest as it already has respectable originating and overhead traffic and the potential to become an important secondary East-West main for either of the two Class 1's. I know of two major shortline operators who intend to study the Bid Package seriously and I'm sure there'll be others. I'll gladly share what I learn after I hear back from them. Ross Rowland

So...in view of the above, I cannot imagine why Ross Rowland would want to bid, if he is so concerned about The OC and Jerry Jacobsen? What useful purpose could be served by this I wonder?

Well , He might want to hook up with the short line so He can run his own steam locomotive # 614 which is at Port Clinton, Pa. rustting away. Len.

Tried that once did he not? Didn't pan out to well on the panhandle i'd say.

I had a very informative conversation with Mr.Jim Seney of the Ohio RR Dev. Commission. The line is currently being operated by the Ohio Central under a lease which expires in 2007. The lease contains a 5 year renewal clause so it would appear that theOC will remain the operator at least through 2007 and probably 2012. The Commissioners will discuss the possible sale of the line at their upcoming meeting on Sep't.22 in Columbus. He indicated that he felt they would probably decide against an immediate sale and stressed that the staff had recommended a sale to the OC. The wild card is that should this become an issue in the 2006 election(the current Gov. is in deep trouble due to allegations of gifts etc.) and should the opposition win, then the new Administration would probably put the line up for competitive bids early in its first term. Many have raised the question of why should the State own an industrial property that is clearly capable of being a profitable stand alone Tax Paying entity?? Unless the Commissioners decide at the Sep't. 22 to put it up for sale it would seem that the next important development will be the 2006 election. In any event it would appear that the OC will stay in place at least through 2006 so this should not present an issue for the 2006 NRHS convention. If you want more info check out www.DOT.STATE.OH.US/OHIORAIL Ross Rowland

Ross, any up date information of the 614? have you found any railroad yet?? or will 614 end up like Muller`s 2102 ? it`s been down for over ten years and yours has been out of service just about the same years.Just asking.Len.

We continue to seek an opportunity to put 614 back in service in a program that will provide sufficient revenues to justify the approximately $500k that it will cost to bring her into compliance with the new FRA reg's. We've come close a couple of times but so far haven't been able to connect all the dots. At one point I was modestly hopefull that my friend Jerry Jacobson was going to "adopt" her (before he mothballed his program) but that didn't work out either. We'll keep trying 'till we get it done! Thanks for asking and I'm always grateful for any sound suggestions. Best regards, Ross Rowland

At last year's AC&Y HS meeting, W&LE Pres. Steve Waite (I think that's his name?) was the featured speaker. He made it a point to say that they had put in a pre-emptive bid on the Panhandle to ODOT. At the time there had been no official talk of a sale of the line. I believe he said the bid was something like $18 mil. Be very clear that the W&LE is not a 'friendly' competitor to the OC, and has no use for steam ops and generally only runs trips for the Orrville group (I believe 5 per year) and a few for Midwest Chapter. My impression is that any takeover by them of the Panhandle would indeed be bad for OC steam operations and the railroad in general. Hopefully, The OC can hold onto the line.

I would fully agree that a W&LE takeover of the Panhandle line from the O/C would not bode well for future steam operations. For the record the W&LE has submitted an unsolicited offer of $30 million for the property which is substantially higher than the appraisal value and substantially higher than the proposed sale to the O/C. However one needs to study all the relevant material on the RR Commissions web-site as there may be some apples vs. oranges issues in that the RR Commission proposal callls for the sale of the railroad plant but NOT the underlying real-estate whereas it would appear that the W&LE offer is probably for both??? In any event unless the Commissioners pull a surprise at their upcoming meeting and vote to put it up for sale on a competetive bid basis, it will probably stay in its current status at least until the current lease runs out in 2007. If it becomes a campaign issue in the upcoming election and if the Democrats win the Governorship then I would expect that they would put it on the block early in their first term?? Just have to see how it plays out. If you're interested check out the RR Commissions web site from time to time for any late developments. Ross Rowland