Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Notices 12587

1Pioneer states that KJRY also owns Keokuk

Union Depot Company, a nonoperating common

carrier.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34010]

Pioneer Railcorp—Continuance in

Control Exemption—Gettysburg &

Northern Railroad Co.

Pioneer Railcorp (Pioneer), a

noncarrier holding company, has filed a

verified notice of exemption to continue

in control of Gettysburg & Northern

Railroad Co. (GNR), upon GNR’s

becoming a carrier.

The transaction is scheduled to be

consummated on or after February 20,

2001.

This transaction is related to STB

Finance Docket No. 34011, Gettysburg &

Northern Railroad Co.—Acquisition and

Operation Exemption—Gettysburg

Railway Company, Inc., Delaware

Transportation Group, Inc., and

Delaware Valley Railway Company,

Inc., wherein GNR seeks to acquire and

operate a line of railroad approximately

1.5 miles long in Gettysburg and Mount

Holly Springs, PA.

At the time it filed the notice, Pioneer

owned and controlled sixteen existing

Class III shortline rail carriers: West

Michigan Railroad Co., which operates

in Michigan; Fort Smith Railroad Co.,

which operates in Arkansas; Alabama

Railroad Co., which operates in

Alabama; Mississippi Central Railroad

Co., which operates in Mississippi and

Tennessee; Alabama & Florida Railway

Co., Inc., which operates in Alabama;

Decatur Junction Railway Co., which

operates in Illinois; Vandalia Railroad

Company, which operates in Illinois;

Keokuk Junction Railway Co. (KJRY),1

which operates in Iowa and Illinois;

Michigan Southern Railroad Company,

which operates in Michigan and

Indiana; Shawnee Terminal Railway

Company, which operates in Illinois;

Pioneer Industrial Railway Co., which

operates in Illinois; Michigan Southern

Railroad Company, Inc., which owns or

leases track in Michigan and Indiana but

does not currently conduct any rail

operations in those States; The Garden

City Western Railway, Inc., which

operates in Kansas; Indiana

Southwestern Railway Co., which

operates in Indiana; Kendallville

Terminal Railway Co., which operates

in Indiana; and Elkhart & Western

Railroad Co., which has authority to

operate in Indiana but has not yet begun

operations in that State.

Pioneer states that: (i) The railroads

will not connect with each other or any

railroad in their corporate family; (ii)

the continuance-in-control is not part of

a series of anticipated transactions that

would connect the railroads with each

other or any railroad in their corporate

family; 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.

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 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

reopen will not automatically stay the

transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 34010, 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 William A.

Mullins, Esq., Troutman Sanders LLP,

401 Ninth Street, NW., Suite 1000,

Washington, DC 20004.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at http://

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: February 20, 2001.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–4739 Filed 2–26–01; 8:45 am]

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