By Ron Brown & Faris Tanyos
 
December 16, 2008
 
MONTAGUE, Ca. -- A plan to get railroad traffic moving over the Siskiyou Mountains again received a financial boost from a California grant to the Siskiyou County town of Montague.
 
Montague received a $70,000 planning and technical assistance grant to assess the feasiblity of taking over the Siskiyou line, now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and operated by Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad, or CORP. Montague has hired a consultant to determine if it's possible to take over the right-of-way for the Siskiyou line.
 
Earlier this year, shippers boycotted higher rates demanded by CORP, and filed a petition with the Federal Surface Transportation Board to have a new railroad operate the line. Montague, Weed, and Siskiyou County officials say they have a parallel plan to one that's currently before the FSTB.  
 
"We feel that with the public ownership, and the ablity to develop more business that uses the line and more economic development, we will actually be able to provide more revenues for the Union Pacific that they are currently having," says Montague Mayor John Hammond.
 
Hammond says a public rail utility would contract for someone to operate on the track, but the utility would have access to state and federal infrastructure funding not available to a private owner.
 
Montague and the city of Weed have also presented letters to Union Pacific to see if the railroad giant is interested in such a deal.