[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 15 (Monday, January 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1552]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 24, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
[Finance Docket No. 32435]

 

The Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C.--Acquisition and Operation 
Exemption--Rail Lines of Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railroad Company

    The Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C. (Bay Line),1 a noncarrier, has 
filed a notice of exemption to acquire from the Atlanta & St. Andrews 
Bay Railroad Company (ASAB), approximately 88 miles of main line 
trackage running from Panama City, FL, to Dothan, AL, together with 
substantially all of the other railroad operating assets of ASAB.2 
The proposed transaction is expected to be consummated promptly upon 
the effectiveness of this exemption which will result in Bay Line's 
becoming a carrier.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\Bay Line is 100% owned and controlled by Rail Partners, L.P. 
(Partners), a Delaware limited partnership, and Panama City Beach 
Office Park, Ltd. (Office Park), a Florida limited partnership. 
Neither Partners nor Office Park is a carrier, and Office Park does 
not currently control a carrier. However, Partners is jointly owned 
and controlled by Green Bay Packaging, Inc. (GBP), Rail Management 
and Consulting Corporation (RMCC), and K. Earl Durden (Durden) 
(collectively, Owners), and with them jointly owns and controls 
several class III rail carriers, none of which would connect with 
Bay Line. Office Park is jointly owned and controlled by Partners 
and RMCC.
    \2\Bay Line indicates that the acquisition also includes the 
Graceville Branch, a light-density branch line of ASAB running from 
a junction with the main line at Campbellton, FL, to Graceville, FL.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This transaction is related to a notice of exemption filed 
concurrently in Finance Docket No. 32436, Rail Management and 
Consulting Corporation, Green Bay Packaging, Inc., K. Earl Durden, and 
Rail Partners, L.P.--Continuance in Control Exemption--the Bay Line 
Railroad, L.L.C., in which Owners, all noncarriers, seek to continue in 
control of Bay Line, upon Bay Line's becoming a carrier.3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\Also contemporaneous with this filing, the A&G Railroad, 
L.L.C. (A&G), another newly formed Alabama limited liability 
company, also owned by Partners and Office Park, is filing a notice 
of exemption in Finance Docket No. 32437, The A&G Railroad, L.L.C.--
Acquisition and Operation Exemption--Rail Lines of Abbeville & 
Grimes Railway Company, to acquire from Abbeville & Grimes Railway 
Company (Abbeville) and to operate approximately 27 rail miles in 
Alabama, between Abbeville and Grimes, together with incidental 
trackage rights over 7 miles of CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) 
lines between Grimes and Dothan, AL, and substantially all of the 
other railroad operating assets of Abbeville. Bay Line states that 
because, as a carrier, it will connect with A&G by means of 
incidental trackage rights over CSXT, between Grimes and Dothan, the 
ownership of A&G will be placed in an independent voting trust prior 
to closing to prevent Durden, RMCC, GBP, Partners, and Office Park 
from retaining direct control over A&G once A&G becomes a carrier. 
Bay Line indicates that after the closing, a separate petition for 
exemption, or other pleading, will be filed with the Commission, 
seeking appropriate authority or exemption for Owners to dissolve 
the voting trust and acquire direct control over A&G.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any comments must be filed with the Commission and served on Donald 
G. Avery, Slover & Loftus, 1224 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 
20036.4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\By identical letters filed January 6 through January 12, 
1994, various individuals and the Dixie Federation (Brotherhood of 
Maintenance of Way Employees), concerned with labor protection for 
ASAB employees, expressed opposition to the acquisition. None of the 
letter-protests includes a certificate showing simultaneous service 
upon all parties to the proceeding (see 49 CFR 1104.12). Any 
interested person will have the opportunity to file a petition to 
revoke under 49 U.S.C. 10505(d) requesting either complete 
revocation of the exemption of the transaction or partial revocation 
to impose conditions (such as those to protect labor). Revocation 
petitions must comply with the rules with respect to revocation of 
exemptions at 49 CFR 1121.4(i).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This notice is filed under 49 CFR 1150.31. If the notice contains 
false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio. 
Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10505(d) may be filed 
at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not automatically 
stay the transaction.

    Decided: January 18, 1994.

    By the Commission, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Sidney L. Strickland, Jr.,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-1552 Filed 1-21-94; 10:00 am]
BILLING CODE 7035-01-P