[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 208 (Friday, October 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55357-55358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27423]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[STB Finance Docket No. 33138]


RailAmerica, Inc.--Acquisition of Control Exemption--Otter Tail 
Valley Company, Inc.

    RailAmerica, Inc. (RailAmerica), a noncarrier, has filed a notice 
of exemption to acquire control, through its wholly owned subsidiary 
Dakota Rail, Inc., of Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc. 
(OTVR).1 OTVR, a Class III rail carrier, operates solely in 
Minnesota.2
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    \1\ Dakota seeks to acquire control, through stock purchase, of 
OTVR, in a concurrently filed notice of exemption in STB Finance 
Docket No. 33133, Dakota Rail, Inc.--Acquisition of Control 
Exemption--Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc.
    \2\ OTVR's main line runs from milepost 185.1, near Fergus 
Falls, MN, northwest to Barnesville Junction, MN (milepost 218.6 = 
0). From Barnesville Junction, milepost 0, the main line runs 
northwest to Moorehead, MN, at milepost 21.25. In addition, a branch 
line runs from milepost 49.0, at Fergus Falls, west to milepost 
61.5, at Foxhome, MN.
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    RailAmerica also controls the following eight Class III rail 
carriers that do not connect with OTVR: Huron & Eastern Railway 
Company, Inc., the Saginaw Valley Railway Company, Inc., the South 
Central Tennessee Railroad Company, Dakota, the West Texas & Lubbock 
Railroad Company, Inc., the Plainview Terminal Company, Evansville 
Terminal Company, Inc., and the Cascade and Columbia River Railroad 
Company.3 The effective date of the exemption was October 11, 
1996.
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    \3\  Common control of these carriers was approved in: John H. 
Marino, Eric D. Gerst, and Mariner Corporation--Control Exemption--
Saginaw Valley Railway Company, Inc., Finance Docket No. 31196 (ICC 
served Apr. 23, 1991); RailAmerica, Inc.--Control Exemption--South 
Central Tennessee Railroad Company, Finance Docket No. 32421 (ICC 
served Jan. 18, 1994); RailAmerica, Inc.--Control Exemption--Prairie 
Holding Corporation and Dakota Rail, Inc., Finance Docket No. 32750 
(ICC served Sept. 25, 1995); RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance in 
Control Exemption--West Texas and Lubbock Railroad Company, Inc. and 
Plainview Terminal Company, Finance Docket No. 32797 (ICC served 
Dec. 27, 1995); RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance in Control 
Exemption--Evansville Terminal Company, Inc., STB Finance Docket No. 
32990 (STB served July 17, 1996); and RailAmerica, Inc.--Continuance 
in Control Exemption--Cascade and Columbia River Railroad Company, 
STB Finance Docket No. 33048 (STB served Sept. 13, 1996).
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    This transaction is related to a notice of exemption filed in STB 
Finance Docket No. 33133, Dakota Rail, Inc.--Acquisition of Control 
Exemption--Otter Tail Valley Railroad Company, Inc., wherein Dakota 
seeks to acquire control, through stock purchase, of OTVR.
    RailAmerica states that: (1) OTVR does not connect with any other 
railroads in its corporate family; (2) the involved transaction is not 
part of a

[[Page 55358]]

series of anticipated transactions that would connect OTVR with any 
other railroad in its corporate family; and (3) the transaction does 
not involve a Class I carrier. Therefore, the transaction is exempt 
from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(2). The purpose of the transaction is to achieve operating 
economies and to improve service and financial viability.
    Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption 
authority to relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation to 
protect the interests of its employees. Section 11326(c), however, does 
not provide for labor protection for transactions under sections 11324 
and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Because this 
transaction involves Class III rail carriers only, the Board, under the 
statute, may not impose labor protective conditions for this 
transaction.
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to 
revoke will not automatically stay the transaction.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 33138, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1201 Constitution 
Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20423. In addition, one copy of all 
pleadings must be served on: Edward D. Greenberg, Canal Square, 1054 
Thirty-First Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20007.

    Decided: October 17, 1996.

    By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-27423 Filed 10-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P