11224 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 10, 2010 / Notices 

1 VFRC indicates that it will shortly be filing a 

motion to dismiss this notice of exemption on the 

grounds that the Board does not have jurisdiction 

over the involved purchase. If such a motion is 

filed, it will be addressed in a subsequent Board 

decision. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35355] 

Albany & Eastern Railroad Company— 

Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Union Pacific Railroad 

Company and Willamette & Pacific 

Railroad, Inc. 

Albany & Eastern Railroad Company 

(AERC), a Class III rail carrier, has filed 

a verified notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1150.41 to acquire and operate the 

exclusive rail freight easement between 

milepost 682.25, near Greenberry, OR, 

and milepost 687.6, near Corvallis, OR 

(the Line), a distance of approximately 

5.35 miles. AERC will: (1) Acquire the 

rail freight easement from Union Pacific 

Railroad Company (UP), the current 

owner of the Line; and (2) take 

assignment of UP’s lease with 

Willamette & Pacific Railroad, Inc. 

(WPRR), the current operator on the 

Line, and any and all of WPRR’s 

remaining operating rights and 

obligations with respect to the Line. UP 

and WPRR will retain limited overhead 

trackage rights on the Line. 

This transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed notice of exemption 

in STB Finance Docket No. 35353, 

VFRC, LLC—Acquisition Exemption— 

Union Pacific Railroad Company. In 

that proceeding, VFRC, LLC (VFRC) 

seeks an exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to acquire from UP the physical 

assets and the underlying right-of-way 

of the Line. 

AERC states that it will execute an 

operating agreement with VFRC, 

pursuant to which it will provide all rail 

freight service between industries on the 

Line and connecting carrier WPRR near 

Corvallis. To physically interchange 

cars with WPRR, AERC and WPRR will 

enter into an interchange agreement that 

will provide AERC incidental operating 

rights over certain additional trackage 

owned by UP and leased by WPRR. 

AERC also states that the proposed 

transaction does not contain any 

provision or involve any agreement that 

would limit its future ability to 

interchange traffic with a third party 

connecting carrier. 

AERC certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of the 

transaction will not result in AERC 

becoming a Class II or Class I rail carrier 

and further certifies that its projected 

annual revenues will not exceed $5 

million. 

AERC states that it expects the 

transaction to be consummated on or 

shortly after the effective date of this 

exemption. The earliest this transaction 

may be consummated is March 24, 

2010, the effective date of the exemption 

(30 days after the exemption was filed). 

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. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than March 17, 2010 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 35355, 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 Myles L. 

Tobin, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North 

Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 

60606. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: March 5, 2010. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5081 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35353] 

VFRC, LLC—Acquisition Exemption— 

Union Pacific Railroad Company 

VFRC, LLC (VFRC), a noncarrier, has 

filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire certain 

physical assets of a rail line and the 

underlying right-of-way from the Union 

Pacific Railroad Company (UP), between 

milepost 682.25, near Greenberry, OR, 

and milepost 687.6, near Corvallis, OR 

(the Line), a distance of approximately 

5.35 miles. 

VFRC states that it will not provide 

rail freight service over the Line, but 

that UP will retain a permanent, 

exclusive rail freight easement to 

provide service over the Line. In a 

currently filed notice of exemption to 

become the operator of the Line, the 

Albany & Eastern Railroad Company 

seeks to acquire the freight easement 

from UP and to acquire by assignment 

from the Willamette & Pacific Railroad, 

Inc. (WPRR), the current operator of the 

Line, WPRR’s operating rights and 

obligations with respect to the Line. See 

Albany & Eastern Railroad Company— 

Acquisition and Operation Exemption— 

Union Pacific Railroad Company and 

Willamette & Pacific Railroad, Inc., STB 

Finance Docket No. 35355. 

VFRC states that it is in the process 

of finalizing a Line Sale Contract with 

UP, pursuant to which UP will: (1) 

Convey to VFRC certain track and track 

structures on, and the right-of-way 

underlying, the Line; and (2) retain the 

freight easement for operating the Line. 

VFRC also states that the Line Sale 

Contract does not contain a provision 

prohibiting the interchange of traffic 

with a third party.1

VFRC certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of the 

transaction will not exceed those that 

would qualify it as Class III rail carrier 

and further certifies that its projected 

annual revenues will not exceed $5 

million. 

VFRC states that it expects the 

transaction to be consummated on or 

shortly after the effective date of this 

exemption. The earliest this transaction 

may be consummated is March 24, 

2010, the effective date of the exemption 

(30 days after the exemption was filed). 

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. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than March 17, 2010 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 35353, 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 Karl Morell, 

Ball Janik LLP, 1445 F Street, NW., 

Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: March 5, 2010. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5077 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 


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