Three months ago, CKR published what appeared to be a preliminary notice of abandonment. The June 15 item in the Protection PRESS (the railroad did not run the legal notice in The Western Star at Coldwater), said the line from Coats west to Protection was subject to abandonment within the next three
years. Nine CKR segments in central and western Kansas were listed in the notice. 

It is Swayze’s impression that the legal notice “was it” in terms of
public notification. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon hear that your
line into Comanche County has been abandoned,” he said. “At that point, it will be too late to react.” Before that time, he warned, local residents — grain shippers, elevators and others interested in the situation — should protest.

Quoting a fax from a lawyer at the Surface Transportation Board in
Washington, D.C., Swayze read: “It is important to note that not one of the 14 abandonments in Kansas filed by OmniTrax-owned carriers has been protested by a shipper, and no formal allegations of deliberate downgrading have been received by the STB.”  The STB is the arm of the government responsible for approving with railroad abandonments. 

“We’re all guilty of whining about poor rail service,” Swayze noted.
“But when the government has the final authority, it doesn’t do any good to complain to your neighbors, or even have the story publicized in the press. You must ‘get your ducks’ in a row. You have to make a formal protest.”  That protest, he said, can be nothing more than a letter to the STB. The more information that is on file in Washington, the better the chances of the STB giving our area a fair hearing.

Swayze has been in Washington several times in recent years, and has met with the head of the STB. The board is especially sensitive to cases where rail services has been downgraded purposely. He says that is exactly what has happened to Comanche County in recent years.  Local elevators have been driven to using trucks to haul grain when the railroad provided poor service — or none at all. In the not-too-distant past, the Protection Co-op alone shipped upwards of 600 carloads of grain a year by rail. Swayze says he has “hounded” CKR into providing service to his elevators
in Isabel, Zenda, Sawyer and Nashville. He has moved several hundred cars in recent months.

In recent abandonment cases, the STB has looked at the past few years of rail traffic, noted poor shipping records — no matter what the reason — and granted the abandonment request.
“You will be in the same position if no one protests from Comanche
County, and your shippers don’t make an effort to get service,” Swayze told the foundation.

Letters to the STB, he said, could mention any or all of the following
points when discussing a railroad abandonment in Comanche County:

• Intentional downgrading of service by the railroad, as has apparently  been the case here since 1998.
• Increased truck traffic and the resulting damage to highways and  bridges.
• Lower grain prices when elevators pass along increased shipping costs  to producers. 
• Negative impact on the local economy when trying to attract light industry and other potential rail shippers.
  

Two final thoughts Swayze presented to the group were the fact that “rails-to-trails” will in all probability take over any abandoned right of way in Comanche County. Some landowners on the route of the Protection to Englewood line that was abandoned in 1996 have expressed concern over a trail passing through their property.
And, he pointed out, abandonment is permanent — no other railroad will ever be built into the area. “We owe it to our future generations to hang on to what we have,” Swayze said.
Again, any interested person may protest. It is in the interest of
Comanche County to retain railroad service.

Letters, phone calls or e-mail should be directed to:

Nancy Beiter
STB
1925 K St NW
Washington DC 20423

202-565-1591
202-565-9016 (fax)
beitern@stb.dot.gov