[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31678-31679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13479]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35499]


San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad--Continuance in Control 
Exemption--Saratoga and North Creek Railway, LLC

    San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad (SLRG), a Class III rail carrier, 
has filed a verified notice of exemption to continue in control of 
Saratoga and

[[Page 31679]]

North Creek Railway, LLC (Saratoga) upon Saratoga's becoming a Class 
III rail carrier.\1\
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    \1\ Saratoga is a limited liability company, wholly owned by 
SLRG. SLRG is a Class III rail carrier and a subsidiary of Permian 
Basin Railways, Inc. (PBR), which in turn is owned by Iowa Pacific 
Holdings, LLC, a noncarrier short line holding company. PBR 
currently owns the following Class III rail carriers: SLRG, West 
Texas & Lubbock Railway, Austin & Northwestern Railroad d/b/a Texas-
New Mexico Railroad, Arizona Eastern Railway, Chicago Terminal 
Railroad, and Mount Hood Railroad.
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    This transaction is related to two simultaneously filed notices of 
exemption: (1) Docket No. FD 35500, Saratoga and North Creek Railway--
Acquisition and Operation Exemption--Delaware and Hudson Railway 
Company d/b/a Canadian Pacific, in which Saratoga seeks an exemption 
under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire from Delaware and Hudson Railway 
Company, Inc, d/b/a Canadian Pacific (CP) a permanent and exclusive 
freight rail easement over, and to operate, approximately 16.45-miles 
of rail line known as the Adirondack Branch extending between 
Adirondack Branch milepost 39.44 at or near Saratoga Springs, NY and 
Adirondack Branch milepost 55.89 at or near Corinth, NY, and 
approximately 3.2 miles of operating rights for the purpose of 
interchange with CP between Adirondack Branch milepost 39.44 and CP's 
yard at Saratoga Springs located at Canadian Subdivision milepost 35; 
and (2) Docket No. FD 35500 (Sub-No. 1), Saratoga and North Creek 
Railway--Operation Exemption--Warren County, NY, in which Saratoga 
seeks an exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to operate over approximately 
39.07 miles of rail line owned by Warren County, NY, extending between 
milepost 55.89 at or near Corinth, NY, and milepost 94.96 at North 
Creek, NY. As a result of these transactions, Saratoga will have 
authority to operate from Saratoga Springs to North Creek.
    The parties intend to consummate the transaction in either late 
June or early July 2011. The earliest the transaction may be 
consummated is after the June 15, 2011 effective date of the exemption 
(30 days after the exemption was filed).
    The parties certify that: (1) The rail lines to be operated by 
Saratoga will not connect with any other lines in their corporate 
family; (2) the continuance in control is not part of a series of 
anticipated transactions that would connect the railroads with each 
other or with any other railroad in their corporate family; and (3) the 
transaction does not involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the 
transaction is exempt from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 
11323. See 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
    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. Accordingly, the 
Board may not impose labor protective conditions here, because all of 
the carriers involved are Class III carriers.
    If the verified 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 effectiveness of the 
exemption. Stay petitions must be filed no later than June 8, 2011 (at 
least 7 days before the exemption becomes effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 35499, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each 
pleading must be served on John D. Heffner, John D. Heffner, PLLC, 1750 
K Street, NW., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: May 26, 2011.

    By the Board.
 Rachel D. Campbell,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-13479 Filed 5-31-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P