B.C.D. 02-86 NOV 2 5 2002

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc.

This is the decision of the Railroad Retirement Board concerning the

status of the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc. as an employer

under the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. §§ 231"231v) (RRA) and

the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. §§ 351-369)

(RUIA).

Information regarding Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad (WGN) was

provided by Mr. Gregory Vreeland, President and General Manager of

WGN. In addition, information was obtained from WGN’s website.

WGN is an historic excursion and dinner train operating on

approximately 20 miles of former Chicago & Northwestern track

between the northern Wisconsin towns of Spooner and Springbrook

along the Namegokon River. WGN combines historic railroad

equipment with special events to entertain and educate all age groups.

WGN was founded in 1997 and operates locomotives from the 1940’s

and a fleet of mahogany interior passenger cars built between 1910 and

1930.1

Section 1(a)(1) of the RRA (45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1)), defines the term

“employer,” insofar as is relevant here, to include:

(i) any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction of

the Surface Transportation Board under part A of subtitle IV

of Title 49 [45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1)];

(ii) any company which is directly or indirectly owned

or controlled by, or under common control with, one or more

1 WGN previously anticipated carrying freight for a lumber company. However, Mr. Vreeland

advises the business never materialized and operations are limited to tourist passenger service

within Wisconsin.
2

Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc.

employers as defined in paragraph (i) of this subdivision,

and which operates any equipment or facility or performs

any service (except trucking service, casual service, and the

casual operation of equipment or facilities) in connection

with the transportation of passengers or property by

railroad, or the receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in

transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, or handling of

property transported by railroad.

Sections l(a) and (b) of the RUIA (45 U.S.C. §§ 351(a), (b)) contain

substantially the same definition, as does section 3231 of the Railroad

Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C. § 3213).

Section 10501 of Title 49 of the United States Code provides, in

pertinent part, that the Surface Transportation Board has jurisdiction

over rail carrier transportation in the United States between a place in

a State and a place in the same or another State as part of the

interstate rail network. See 49 U.S.C. § 10501(a)(2)(A).

The rail service provided by WGN may be characterized as a tourist or

excursion railroad operated solely for recreational and amusement

purposes. Since passengers are to be transported solely within one

state, WGN would not be subject to Surface Transportation Board

jurisdiction and would therefore also not fall within the definition of 

“employer” set out in section l(a)(l)(i) of the RRA. In addition, there is

no evidence in the record that WGN is under common control with a

carrier or is intended to provide any service to a carrier. Therefore,

WGN does not meet the definition of employer under either the RRA or

RUIA.
Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc.

The Board finds that Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, Inc. is not a

covered employer under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad

Unemployment Insurance Acts.

Cherryl T. Thomas

'^OW\ 9*.-

V. M. Speakman, Jr.

ferome F. Kever