Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2001 / Notices 31751

1Watco’s control of EIRR is the subject of a

verified notice of exemption in Watco Companies,

Inc.—Control Exemption—Eastern Idaho Railroad,

Inc., STB Finance Docket No. 34045.

2According to the verified notice, SKO operates

as a non-exclusive agent for the Southern Pacific

Transportation Company (SP) (now merged into

Union Pacific Railroad Company) over SP’s trackage

rights on a rail line owned and operated by The

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway

Company (BNSF) between Hutchinson and

Winfield, KS. SKO neither performs any operations

on the BNSF line in its own account nor holds itself

out to be an operator over the BNSF line.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34042]

Watco Companies, Inc.—Continuance

in Control Exemption—Kansas &

Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.

Watco Companies, Inc. (Watco), a

noncarrier, has filed a verified notice of

exemption to continue in control of

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.

(K&O), upon K&O’s becoming a carrier.

This transaction is related to two

concurrently filed verified notices of

exemption: STB Finance Docket No.

34030, Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad,

Inc.—Acquisition Exemption—Central

Kansas Railway, L.L.C., wherein K&O

seeks to acquire most of the rail lines

owned or leased and operated by the

Central Kansas Railway, L.LC. (CKR) in

the States of Kansas and Colorado; and

STB Finance Docket No. 34047, Kansas

& Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.—Trackage

Rights Exemption—Central Kansas

Railway, L.L.C., wherein K&O seeks to

acquire temporary overhead trackage

rights over a 16-mile rail line, which is

to be retained by CKR, in the State of

Kansas.

The transaction was expected to be

consummated on or shortly after June 1,

2001.

Watco owns and controls five existing

Class III rail carriers: South Kansas and

Oklahoma Railroad Company (SKO),

which operates in the States of

Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma;

Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad,

Inc., which operates in the States of

Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; Timber

Rock Railroad, Inc., which operates in

the States of Texas and Louisiana;

Stillwater Central Railroad, which

operates in the State of Oklahoma; and

Eastern Idaho Railroad, Inc. (EIRR),

which operates in the State of Idaho.1

Watco states that: (i) K&O will not

connect with the rail lines of any

existing carrier in the Watco corporate

family; 2 (ii) the continuance in control

is not part of a series of anticipated

transactions that would connect the rail

lines being acquired by K&O with any

of the carriers controlled by Watco; and

(iii) the transaction does not involve a

Class I 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. Because this transaction

involves Class III rail carriers only, the

Board, under the statute, may not

impose labor protective conditions for

this transaction.

If the 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 transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 34042, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading must be served on Karl Morell,

Esq., Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F Street, NW.,

Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: June 5, 2001.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–14636 Filed 6–11–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34030]

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.—

Acquisition Exemption—Central

Kansas Railway, L.L.C.

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.

(K&O), a noncarrier, has filed a verified

notice of exemption under 49 CFR

1150.31 to acquire and operate

approximately 678 miles of rail lines in

the State of Kansas from the Central

Kansas Railway, L.L.C. (CKR). K&O will

also acquire, by assignment from CKR,

the lease of approximately 225 miles of

rail lines in the States of Kansas and

Colorado that are owned by the Union

Pacific Railroad Company (UP). In

addition, K&O will acquire, by

assignment from CKR, incidental

trackage rights over seven segments of

rail line in the State of Kansas owned by

the UP and The Burlington Northern

and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF).

K&O will acquire from CKR the

following rail lines located in the State

of Kansas:

(1) The Salina Subdivision rail line

between milespost 20 + 492 feet, at

Salina, and milepost 103.34, at Osborne;

(2) The Scott City Subdivision rail

line between milepost 0.0, at Great

Bend, and milepost 120 + 1338.7 feet, at

Scott City;

(3) The Garden City Subdivision rail

line between milepost 120 + 169 feet, at

Scott City, and milespost 125 + 4687

feet, at Shallow Water;

(4) The Great Bend Subdivision and

Garfield Industrial Spur rail lines

between milepost 218.3288, east of

Monroe Street at Hutchinson, and

milepost 303.0, at Garfield;

(5) The Jetmore Subdivision rail line

between milepost 0.0, at Larned, and

milepost 46 + 2483.5 feet, at Jetmore;

(6) The Wichita Subdivision rail line

(a) between milepost 0.0 and 3.5 at

Wichita, and (b) between milepost 19.5,

at Garden Plain, and milepost 79 + 3855

feet, at Pratt;

(7) The Englewood Subdivision rail

line between milepost 46.0, east of Rago,

and milepost 136, at Protection;

(8) The McPherson Subdivision rail

line (a) between milepost 43.8, at

McPherson, and milepost 58.0, west of

Conway, and (b) between milepost 77.4,

at Lyons, and milepost 98 + 1209.5 feet,

at Ellinwood;

(9) The Geneseo Subdivision rail line

between milepost 572.677, on the east

leg of the wye and 1213 feet of the west

leg of the wye, at Geneseo, and milepost

550.5, at ST Junction;

(10) The Hutchinson Subdivision rail

line between milepost 538.0, at Yaggy,

and milepost 484.0, at Wichita;

(11) The Hardtner Subdivision rail

line between milepost 485.938, at

Wichita, and milepost 514.25, at

Conway Springs;

(12) The Stafford Subdivision rail line

between milepost 559 + 955 feet, at

Conway Springs, and milepost 583.3,

near Belmont; and

(13) The H&S Subdivision rail line

between milepost 31.1, at Kingman, and

milepost 48.2, at Rago.

K&O will be assigned by CKR the

following: (1) The CKR lease of the UP

rail line between UP milepost 747.5, at

Towner, CO, and UP milepost 523.02, at

Geneseo, KS; and (2) the CKR lease of

the rail freight easement over the UP rail

31752 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2001 / Notices

1The trackage rights line was authorized for

abandonment by the Board in Central Kansas

Railway, L.L.C.—Abandonment Exemption—in

Sedgwick County, KS, STB Docket No. AB–406

(Sub-No. 14X) (STB served Apr. 10, 2001). As noted

in STB Docket No. AB–406 (Sub-No. 14X), the

abandonment of the trackage rights line was subject

to the condition that CKR could not consummate

abandonment until it certified to the Board that its

relocation project near Kingman, KS, had been

completed and that any necessary rehabilitation

and maintenance had been performed on its rail

line between Wichita and Kingman via Conway

Springs, KS.

2 K&O indicates that it will shortly file a petition

for exemption to permit temporary trackage rights

operations and thus to limit the term of the trackage

rights.

3 In addition to the lines being acquired by K&O

in the STB Finance Docket No. 34030 proceeding,

K&O will also assume from CKR the ongoing work

on the relocation project near Kingman and the

rehabilitation of the rail line between Wichita and

Kingman via Conway Springs. However, K&O will

not acquire the trackage rights line.

line between milepost 312.65 and

milepost 313.38, at Wichita, KS.

K&O will acquire, by assignment from

CKR, incidental overhead trackage

rights in the State of Kansas over:

(1) BNSF’s Hutchinson Subdivision

rail line between milepost 218.3 and

milepost 213 + 4333 feet, at Hutchinson,

including BNSF’s Hutchinson ‘‘Way’’

Yard Track Nos. 144, 259, 304, 260, 261,

221, 174, 172, 171, 241, 220, 169, and

168;

(2) BNSF’s rail line between milepost

56.6 and milepost 60.2, at Abilene;

(3) BNSF’s rail line between milepost

184.3 and milepost 190.0, at Newton;

(4) UP’s rail line between milepost

487.1, at Newton, and milepost 518, at

McPherson, including the segment of

track extending about 116 feet in a

southerly direction from milepost 487.1,

and including UP’s Siding Track No. 6,

at Hesston, and Siding Track No. 1, at

Moundridge;

(5) UP’s rail line between milepost

164.05, at Abilene, and milepost 184.56,

at Salina;

(6) UP’s rail line between milepost

246.46 and milepost 243.56, at

Hutchinson; and

(7) UP’s rail line between milepost

182.0 and milepost 187.2, at Salina.

Because the projected revenues of the

rail lines to be operated will exceed $5

million, K&O certified to the Board, on

April 2, 2001, that the required notice

of its rail line acquisition was posted at

the workplace of the employees on the

affected lines on April 2, 2001.

According to K&O’s certification, it

served a copy of the notice on the

national office of the United

Transportation Union, the only labor

union with employees on the affected

lines. See 49 CFR 1150.32(e). The

transaction was scheduled to be

consummated on or shortly after June 1,

2001.

The transaction is related to two

concurrently filed verified notices on

exemption: STB Finance Docket No.

34042, Watco Companies, Inc.—

Continuance in Control Exemption—

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.,

wherein Watco Companies, Inc. seeks to

continue in control of K&O upon K&O’s

becoming a Class III rail carrier; and

STB Finance Docket No. 34047, Kansas

& Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.— Trackage

Rights Exemption—Central Kansas

Railway, L.L.C., wherein K&O seeks to

acquire temporary overhead trackage

rights over CKR’s 16-mile rail line in the

State of Kansas.

In the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the

proceeding 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. 34030 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, a copy of each

pleading must be served on Karl Morell,

Esq., Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F Street, NW.,

Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: June 5, 2001.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–14633 Filed 6–11–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34047]

Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.—

Trackage Rights Exemption—Central

Kansas Railway, L.L.C.

Central Kansas Railway, L.L.C. (CKR),

has agreed to grant to Kansas &

Oklahoma Railroad, Inc. (K&O)

temporary overhead trackage rights over

the trackage of CKR located between

CKR milepost 19.5, near Garden Plain,

KS, and CKR milepost 3.5, at Wichita,

KS, a distance of 16 miles (trackage

rights line).1

The transaction was scheduled to be

consummated on or shortly after June 1,

2001.2

This transaction is related to two

concurrently filed verified notices of

exemption: STB Finance Docket No.

34030, Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad,

Inc.—Acquisition Exemption—Central

Kansas Railway, L.L.C., wherein K&O

seeks to acquire most of the rail lines

owned or leased and operated by CKR

in the States of Kansas and Colorado;3

and STB Finance Docket No. 34042,

Watco Companies, Inc.—Continuance in

Control Exemption—Kansas &

Oklahoma Railroad, Inc., wherein

Watco Companies, Inc. seeks to

continue in control of K&O upon K&O’s

becoming a Class III rail carrier.

The trackage rights will allow K&O to

move traffic to and from Wichita until

the relocation and rehabilitation

projects have been completed.

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. Because this transaction

involves Class III rail carriers only, the

Board, under the statute, may not

impose labor protective conditions for

this transaction.

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. 34047, 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 Karl Morell,

Esq., Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F Street, NW.,

Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: June 5, 2001.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–14635 Filed 6–11–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P