EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION JAN 2 4 2003

Decision on Reconsideration

Cuyahoga Valley Railway Company

River Terminal Railway Company

This is the decision on reconsideration of the Railroad Retirement

Board regarding the continued status of Cuyahoga Valley Railway

Company and River Terminal Railway Company as employers under

the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231, et seg.) (RRA) and the

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. § 351, et seg )

(RUIA).

Cuyahoga Valley was held to be an employer under the Acts effective 

May 18, 1905, (B.A. Number 4207). River Terminal was held to be an

employer under the Acts effective December 8, 1909, (B.A. Number

4346). In a decision dated December 6, 2002 (B.C.D. No. 02-91), the

Board held that these companies had ceased to be employers as of May

17, 2002, based on the sale of their assets to another company on that

date.

In their request for reconsideration, the companies advise that the two 

railroads, along with three others,1 were wholly-owned subsidiaries of

LTV Steel Company, Inc. (LTV). One central management group

directed the business of the five subsidiary railroads. On December 29,

2000, LTV filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the

Bankruptcy Code. LTV’s five subsidiary railroads, however, did not

seek bankruptcy protection and were not part of the filing. On

February 28, 2002, the Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of most of 

LTV’s assets relating to its steelmaking business, including three of its

railroads (the Chicago Short Line, the Cuyahoga Valley, and the River

Terminal). The CSL asset sale closed April 12, 2002. The final closing

on the sale of the assets of the Cuyahoga Valley and River Terminal

was May 17, 2002.

1 Chicago Short Line Railway Company, The Monongahela Connection Railroad Company, and the

Aliquippa and Southern Railroad Company.

.1

BA#4346
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Cuyahoga Valley Railway Company

River Terminal Railway Company

Eight remaining salaried employees of the central management group

who were compensated by River Terminal continued to perform

dissolution functions for the orderly close of common carrier business

after May 17, 2002. Certain bargaining unit employees of both

companies who had earned vacation for the year 2002 under the

collective bargaining agreements elected to receive periodic vacation

payments throughout the year. In light of these facts, the Board is

requested to change the coverage termination date to December 31,

2002.

Accordingly, the Board holds that Cuyahoga Valley Railway Company

and River Terminal Railway Company ceased to be emplo)'ers under

the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts 

effective with the close of business on December 31, 20022. The request

for reconsideration is granted.

CherrvhT. Thomas

2 See, for example, the Board’s decision regarding Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation Company and

Michconsin Incorporated, which companies ceased operations in 1990, went into bankruptcy in 1991, and

finally paid their employees in 1995. The Board held these companies to be covered under the Acts 

through the date of payment to the employees (B.C.D. Nos. 95-103 and 95-103.1).