[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 44572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18046]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33902]


Ohio Southern Railroad, Inc.--Trackage Rights Exemption--
Pennsylvania Lines LLC and Norfolk Southern Railway Co.

    Pennsylvania Lines LLC and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) 
have agreed to grant overhead trackage rights to Ohio Southern 
Railroad, Incorporated (OSRR) over 18.4 miles of the West Virginia 
Secondary line between milepost RR 47.3, at New Lexington, OH, and 
milepost RR 65.7, near Glouster, OH (line).\1\
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    \1\ The line is owned by PRR and operated by NSR.
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    The earliest the transaction can be consummated is July 12, 2000, 
the effective date of the exemption. However, the parties have stated 
that consummation will not occur until an agreed upon date has been 
established by OSRR and NSR, which is expected to occur following the 
latter of (1) the effective date of the exemption, or (2) the 
expiration of any NSR's labor notice to its employees.
    The trackage rights will permit OSRR to bridge presently 
unconnected segments of its line, and to initiate direct, single 
carrier service from Glouster Coal Company's Buckingham Mine to 
Zanesville, OH.\2\ The purpose of the transaction is to maintain and 
enhance the financial and operational stability of OSRR, to maintain 
efficient rail service over its lines, and to reduce the number of 
inter-carrier interchanges needed to move coal from the Buckingham Mine 
to Glouster Coal Company's customers.
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    \2\ This transaction is related to Ohio Southern Railroad, 
Incorporated--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--Pennsylvania 
Lines LLC and Norfolk Southern Railway Company, STB Finance Docket 
No. 33895 (STB served July 18, 2000), and Ohio Southern Railroad, 
Incorporated-Acquisition and Operation Exemption-Glouster Coal 
Company, Glouster, OH, STB Finance Docket No. 33896 (STB served July 
18, 2000), to exempt OSRR's extension of its lines from Wilbren, OH, 
to New Lexington, and from a point on NSR's West Virginia Secondary 
line near Glouster, to the Buckingham Mine.
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    As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the 
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk 
and Western Ry. Co.--Trackage Rights--BN, 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as 
modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.--Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 
653 (1980).
    This notice is filed under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). If it 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. 33902, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, one copy of each pleading must 
be served on Kelvin J. Dowd, Esq., Slover & Loftus, 1224 Seventeenth 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: July 11, 2000.

    By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-18046 Filed 7-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P