[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 20061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10645]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board
[STB Finance Docket No. 33385]


Railroad Ventures, Inc.--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--
Youngstown & Southern Railroad Company

    Railroad Ventures, Inc. (RVI), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 
notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31(a)(1) to acquire and operate 
approximately 35.7 miles of line purportedly owned by Youngstown & 
Southern Railroad Company (Y&S),\1\ extending from milepost 0.00, near 
Struthers, OH, to milepost 35.7, near Darlington, PA, and an additional 
1-mile segment of the Smith Ferry Branch line near Negley, OH. Pursuant 
to the exemption, RVI also will acquire incidental trackage rights over 
a 2.65-mile of line between Struthers and Youngstown, OH, for the 
purposes of interchange with Consolidated Rail Corporation and CSX 
Transportation, Inc.\2\
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    \1\ RVI states that Y&S is a non-operating railroad and a wholly 
owned subsidiary of the Montour Railroad Company (Montour), a non-
operating railroad, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of 
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Properties, Inc., the successor in interest 
to The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company. Pittsburgh and 
Lake Erie Properties, Inc., is a noncarrier and is presently in 
bankruptcy proceedings before the United States Federal District 
Court in Delaware. In re Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Properties, Inc. AKA 
The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company, 96-00406-HSB, filed 
March 26, 1996. Neither Montour nor Y&S are Debtors in the 
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Properties, Inc., bankruptcy proceeding.
    \2\ On April 8, 1997, the Ohio Rail Development Commission and 
the Columbiana County Port Authority jointly filed a petition to 
reject, revoke, or stay the notice of exemption. Petitioners did not 
address the Board's stay criteria, and the exemption was not stayed 
prior to its scheduled effectiveness on April 9, 1997. Because RVI 
appears to have provided sufficient information to invoke the class 
exemption for noncarriers to acquire and operate an active line of 
railroad and also to have provided responses to questions asked in 
the decision that rejected RVI's first attempt to invoke this class 
exemption, the notice will not be rejected at this time. See 
Railroad Ventures, Inc.--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--
Youngstown and Southern Railway Company, Finance Docket No. 33336 
(STB served Jan. 9, 1997). The merits of the petition to revoke, 
and, to the extent necessary or appropriate, the petition to reject, 
will be decided by the entire Board in a subsequent decision.
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    The transaction was consummated without appropriate authority on 
November 8, 1996.\3\
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    \3\ Upon becoming aware of the need for the Board's approval or 
exemption of the transaction, RVI took steps to invoke the class 
exemption procedures in Finance Docket No. 33336.
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    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the proceeding to 
revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any 
time.\4\ The filing of a petition to reopen will not automatically stay 
the transaction.
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    \4\ The Ohio Rail Development Commission and Columbiana County 
Port Authority have filed a petition for declaratory order asking 
that the acquisition by RVI be declared void ab initio in STB Docket 
No. 41991, Ohio Rail Development Commission and Columbiana County 
Port Authority--Petition for Declaratory Order--Certain Actions of 
Railroad Ventures, Inc. This proceeding is currently pending.
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    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 33385, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be 
served on John A. Vuono, Esq., Vuono & Gray, LLC, 2310 Grant Building, 
Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

    Decided: April 16, 1997.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-10645 Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P