Rails to trails back to rails? Freight train bid could thwart Hamilton County greenway

John Tuohy
IndyStar
The Indiana Fair Train operated by the Indianapolis Transportation Museum, pulls into the Fishers train station to drop off and pick up passengers heading for the Indiana State Fair Saturday, Aug. 9.

For the past year, the debate on what to do with the Nickel Plate rail line in Hamilton and Marion counties has been a choice between a quaint excursion train to the Indiana State Fair or an environment- and health-friendly greenway.

Now, a third option has roared into the squabble: a freight train.

A railroad operator is making a last-ditch bid to buy the Nickel Plate tracks so it can run grain on freight trains into Indianapolis, a move that if successful would thwart plans to convert the corridor to a hiking and biking trail.

Ohio-based U.S. Rail Holdings has asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to force the cities to sell the tracks, arguing that railroad rules give precedence to trains over trails. A Fishers official called the move a “Hail Mary” that should have little chance of approval by regulators.

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“They are claiming a need for freight that isn’t there, and I think the feds will see right through it," Fishers attorney Chris Greisl said. 

The petition comes just weeks after the federal railroad board approved a request by Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County to preserve, or “rail-bank,” the tracks' corridor so the cities can convert it to a greenway, with the condition that it can always be switched back to a railroad if there's a good reason.

U.S. Rail claims that time is now, even before the planned 9-mile greenway has been designed. The company indicated in its petition that if the cities build the trail it might request then that they sell the corridor to it under rail banking rules. So the federal board could save everyone time and money by approving the sale now, U.S. Rail argued. The board is an independent entity charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing railroad mergers.

“Even though Fishers has petitioned the board for a (trail), these various ways to purchase the Line take priority over the trail use request because they are mandatory and the (trail) is voluntary,” the U.S. Rail petition from July 11 reads.

U.S. Rail is a short line rail operator with freight routes in Indiana. It operates Winamac Southern Railway, which has two lines carrying grain from Logansport to Kokomo and Bringhurst and provides other services, such as car storage and repair.

U.S. Rail told the railroad board that its request satisfies certain requirements, such as contributing to the public’s convenience and need for rail transport. Most importantly, the company said, it has the money to buy the railroad.

“The board has exclusive authority to permit a new rail carrier to purchase and operate this line,” according to U.S. Rail petition. “It is clear though there must be a path available that would allow USR to purchase and operate."

The likelihood of the federal board approving U.S. Rail's request is unknown; an agency spokesman did not immediately respond to written questions. But a national trails advocate said it was extremely rare for a carrier to make a pitch so soon after the board ruled for a trail.

"For something like this to come in this late, I don't think it has ever happened," Eric Oberg, the Rails to Trails director of trail development for the Midwest, said. "This is a strange one."

 

It is also unusual for trails to revert back to rails after they were approved for rail banking, Oberg said. It has happened only six times, he said, and in five of those cases the trail had yet been built. In another, a railroad track was built next to a trail.

"At that point it becomes extremely expensive for it to switch back to rail," Oberg said. "The owners of the tracks can ask for the money back they spent building the trail and the new tracks need to be laid down. The whole thing needs make financial sense for the rail carrier, and they need to prove it is a viable economic endeavor."

The president of U.S. Rail, Danielle Hall Mitchell, declined to comment but referred questions to Washington, D.C.-based attorney Dan Elliott, who did not immediately respond to an interview request.

For three decades the Indianapolis Transportation Museum ran a train from Noblesvile to the state fair in Indianapolis each summer, as well other excursion trains, such as the Polar Bear Express. But two years ago, Noblesville, Fishers and Hamilton County, which have owned the 37-mile track since 1995, suspended the fair train because they claimed the tracks were unsafe.

The owners then decided to replace nine miles of track in Noblesville and Fishers with a greenway and sought rail banking approval. During the yearlong process, the transportation museum and railroad advocates submitted comments in opposition. One of the objectors was U.S. Rail, though the company gave no indication then  it wanted to buy the tracks. The railroad board approved rail banking in May.

In the meantime, the cities and county chose a new rail operator to run pleasure trips north of Noblesville, and Noblesville evicted the museum from Forest Park, where it had been since 1965. The museum has moved into a new space in Logansport.

Trains enthusiasts have accused the cities of shunning an important part of their histories, but Fishers lawyer Greisl said much of it has been maintained, even with a trail planned.

"We have not abandoned the track or rail service," he said. "We plan to have a trail on part of the track but excursion trains are in the northern section and the operators are very excited about it,"

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.