Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 61879 

1Watco owns 100% of the issued and outstanding 

stock of ARSR. 

2SKO’s lines are located in Missouri, Kansas, and 

Oklahoma; PRCC’s lines are located in Washington, 

Oregon, and Idaho; TIBR’s lines are located in 

Texas and Louisiana; SLWC’s lines are located in 

Oklahoma: EIRR’s lines are located in Idaho; K&O’s 

lines are located in Kansas and Colorado; PSWR’s 

line is located in Pennsylvania; GNR’s lines are 

located in Idaho and Washington; KRR’s lines are 

located in Kansas and Missouri; MMT’s lines are 

located in Montana; AO’s lines are located in West 

Virginia; MSRR’s line is located in Mississippi; 

YVRR’s lines are located in Montana; and LSRR’s 

lines are located in Louisiana. 

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. 34728, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on Eric M. 

Hocky, Gollatz, Griffin & Ewing, P.C., 

Four Penn Center, Suite 200, 1600 John 

F. Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 

19103–2808. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: October 21, 2005. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–21410 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34760] 

Arkansas Southern Railroad, Inc.—

Lease Exemption—The Kansas City 

Southern Railway Company 

Arkansas Southern Railroad, Inc. 

(ARSR), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to lease from The Kansas City 

Southern Railway Company and operate 

approximately 61 miles of rail lines 

located in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The 

rail lines extend from: (1) Milepost 4.0, 

near Heavener, OK, to milepost 33.0, at 

the end of the track at Waldron, AR; and 

(2) milepost 32.0, at Ashdown, AR, to 

milepost 0.0, at the end of the track near 

Nashville, AR, not including the 601 

track switch at Ashdown, AR. 

This transaction is related to STB 

Finance Docket No. 34761, Watco 

Companies, Inc.—Continuance in 

Control Exemption—Arkansas Southern 

Railroad, Inc., wherein Watco 

Companies, Inc., has filed a notice of 

exemption to continue in control of 

ARSR upon its becoming a Class III rail 

carrier. 

ARSR certifies that its projected 

revenues as a result of the transaction 

will not result in ARSR’s becoming a 

Class II or Class I rail carrier. ARSR also 

certifies that its projected annual 

revenues will not exceed $5 million. 

The transaction was expected to be 

consummated on or shortly after 

October 9, 2005. 

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. 34760, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on Karl Morell, 

Of Counsel, Ball Janik, LLP, 1455 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: October 21, 2005. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–21402 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34761] 

Watco Companies, Inc.—Continuance 

in Control Exemption—Arkansas 

Southern Railroad, Inc. 

Watco Companies, Inc. (Watco), has 

filed a verified notice of exemption to 

continue in control of Arkansas 

Southern Railroad, Inc. (ARSR), upon 

ARSR’s becoming a Class III rail 

carrier.1

The transaction was expected to be 

consummated on or shortly after 

October 9, 2005. 

This transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in STB Finance Docket No. 

34760, Arkansas Southern Railroad, 

Inc.—Lease Exemption—The Kansas 

City Southern Railway Company. In that 

proceeding, ARSR seeks to acquire by 

lease from The Kansas City Southern 

Railway Company and operate 

approximately 61 miles of rail lines in 

Arkansas and Oklahoma extending 

from: (1) Milepost 4.0, near Heavener, 

OK, to milepost 33.0, at the end of the 

track at Waldron, AR; and (2) milepost 

32.0, at Ashdown, AR, to milepost 0.0, 

at the end of the track near Nashville, 

AR, not including the 601 track switch 

at Ashdown, AR. 

Watco, a Kansas corporation, is a 

noncarrier that currently controls 14 

Class III rail carriers: South Kansas and 

Oklahoma Railroad Company (SKO), 

Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad, 

Inc. (PRCC), Timber Rock Railroad, Inc. 

(TIBR), Stillwater Central Railroad, Inc. 

(SLWC), Eastern Idaho Railroad, Inc. 

(EIRR), Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, 

Inc. (K&O), Pennsylvania Southwestern 

Railroad, Inc. (PSWR), Great Northwest 

Railroad, Inc. (GNR), Kaw River 

Railroad, Inc. (KRR), Mission Mountain 

Railroad, Inc. (MMT), Appalachian & 

Ohio Railroad, Inc. (AO), Mississippi 

Southern Railroad, Inc. (MSRR), 

Yellowstone Valley Railroad, Inc. 

(YVRR), and Louisiana Southern 

Railroad, Inc. (LSRR).2

Applicant states that (1) The rail lines 

operated by SKO, PRCC, TIBR, SLWC, 

EIRR, K&O, PSWR, GNR, KRR, MMT, 

AO, MSRR, YVRR, and LSRR do not 

connect with the rail lines being leased 

by ARSR; (2) the continuance in control 

is not part of a series of anticipated 

transactions that would connect the rail 

lines being leased by ARSR with any 

railroad in the Watco corporate family; 

and (3) neither ARSR nor any of the 

carriers controlled by Watco are Class I 

rail carriers. Therefore, the transaction 

is exempt from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 

CFR 1180.2(d)(2). The purpose of the 

transaction is to reduce overhead 

expenses, coordinate billing, 

maintenance, mechanical and personnel 

policies and practices of applicant’s rail 

carrier subsidiaries, thereby improving 

the overall efficiency of rail service 

provided by the 15 railroads. 

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 on 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