Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Members of the Recreational Railroad = Coalition=20 take their vintage speeders across 10 miles of the Amador = Foothills=20 Railroad. The RRC is currently leasing the majority of the rail = line from=20 Sierra Pacific Industries.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson

The historic Martell Train Station is = in a bad=20 state of disrepair. The Amador County Historical Society wants SPI = to=20 relocate the building closer to the business park and fully = restore it as=20 a local train museum.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson

A view of Old No.7, "Iron Ivan," = cruising the=20 Amador rail line just after the turn of the century.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
In the case of the Amador = Foothills=20 Railroad, the county's cherished history and its economic future may be = on a=20 one-track collision course - literally.

Widely considered an=20 environmental treasure, the old steel rails are now at the heart of a = bitter=20 dispute between Sierra Pacific Industries and the Amador County = Historical=20 Society. Tensions grow with every public exchange; and as more groups = and=20 agencies are sucked into the fray, some think the battle lines are = dividing into=20 familiar conflicts - private property rights versus public interest; = good=20 intentions versus better ones; grand idealism versus the hard reality of = dollars=20 and cents.

It's a bright Tuesday morning and a caravan of vintage = rail-speeders is coming to a stop at the Martell Bread Station, right = before=20 tracks cross Highway 88 and cut in toward the new business park. Larry = Bowler=20 and his compatriots with the Recreational Railroad Coalition can go no = further.=20 Thanks to a lease from SPI, the 10 miles of railroad that start in Ione = and end=20 at this point are under his group's protection. But beyond the crossing, = where=20 businesses continue to rise and developers are planning hundreds of new = homes,=20 Bowler knows a storm is brewing over the fate of the remaining=20 rails.

While cars pass by along the highway and jubilantly clap = at the=20 sight of RRC's speeders - a visible show of support for the continued = use of the=20 rails - Bowler can only look across the road with a vague sense of = relief his=20 group hasn't been pulled into the deteriorating conflict.

Path = to=20 abandonment

The railroad was first built in 1905 as a = passenger line.=20 By the time SPI bought the entire railroad and associated buildings as = part of a=20 $308 million package deal for the Georgia Pacific Mill in 1997, its only = function was for hauling wood products to the Union Pacific Railroad = connection=20 at Ione. In 2003, the California Public Utility Commission found 123 = defective=20 track conditions on the newly named Amador Foothills Railroad. In 2004, = these=20 pitfalls were proven to be a hazard with a series of derailments on the = line,=20 including two in the same month. SPI realized that between 1999 and = 2004, the=20 cost of operating the rails had been $1,628,649, exceeding its revenues = of=20 $596,881 by $1, 031,768. Furthermore, the company was well aware of a = 1993 study=20 by Transportation Marketing Services Inc. that calculated the cost of = making the=20 railroad passenger usable again at around $139 million, a figure the = Amador=20 County Transportation Commission believes would be substantially higher=20 today.

"We were all for using railroad for a long time," said = David=20 Brown, an engineer for SPI. "But after the derailments, that changed=20 everything."

In 2005, SPI began the process of filing for = abandonment of=20 the rails with the federal Surface Transportation Board - a decision = that would=20 eventually draw heavy fire from various quarters of the = community.

To=20 officially "abandon" the railroad will not change SPI's ownership of it. = Rather,=20 it enacts a legal process that discontinues the use of the rails for=20 transportation. The status frees SPI from federal regulations over the = railroad=20 and allows the company to do what it wants with it as a private property = owner.

Following section No. 106 of the National Environmental = Protection=20 Act, SPI hired archeologist Shelly Davis King to produce a cultural = resource=20 study of the railroad. King, in turn, hired fellow local archeologist = Debra Cook=20 to write an official history of the railroad. In the end, the combined = study=20 turned out to be somewhat antithetical to SPI's plans for abandonment - = finding=20 that Amador Foothills Railroad was a historical jewel and qualified to = be on the=20 National Register for Historic Preservation. While anyone is free to = nominate=20 the railroad for this entitlement, SPI went on the record opposing the=20 nomination, claiming it was willing to preserve the vast majority of the = rails=20 as a service to the community - but not on the costly, all-encompassing = scale=20 that would come with such a designation.

As a sign that SPI was = serious=20 about preserving most of the railroad, the company leased 85 percent of = it to=20 the RRC at a cost of one dollar a year, effectively keeping it in use = for=20 vintage speeders. Bowler said that SPI has since allowed his group to=20 continually repair and restore the track to keep it in pristine=20 condition.

Yet in the minds of the county historical society, = these=20 overtures from SPI were suddenly overshadowed in 2007 by the revelation = that SPI=20 had torn up three different sections of tracks around the Martell = Business Park,=20 each in the area not leased to the RRC.

The historical society = went on=20 the offensive, reporting SPI to the California Office of Historic = Preservation,=20 as well as complaining to county and city governments that SPI was = illegally=20 destroying an important cultural resource. The dispute heated up at an = Ione City=20 Council meeting last month when Dave Butow of the ACHS asked for a = resolution of=20 support to pressure SPI to mitigate its destruction of the rails by = picking up=20 the crumbling Martell Train Station from its location near the = intersection of=20 Jackson Gate Road and Highway 49, and relocating it as a fully restored = train=20 museum for the public on SPI's property. The Ione City Council approved = the=20 resolution.

Mark Luster, a public affairs officer for SPI, feels = that=20 proposal has major flaws. "We were very surprised to hear that the = historical=20 society was asking us to do this on our own, and pay for it on our own, = with no=20 help from them and no long-term funding in place to maintain such a = project,"=20 said Luster. "We've done similar things in other communities in the = past; but=20 it's a different economy now, and frankly the ACHS's plan doesn't make a = lot of=20 sense."

Luster went on to provide documentation showing that one = section=20 of train track SPI had dismantled was ordered by the Regional Water = Quality=20 Control Board. He also provided a copy of a permit issued by Amador = County to=20 remove another section of track at Box Car Boulevard. Luster said that = in both=20 cases the rails would eventually be fixed.

Bad=20 relations

For the ACHS, that still left an entire section of = track=20 that had been torn up in the Martell Business Park area with no = explanation -=20 one that can't be fixed because SPI had used the rail scraps as fence = posts. The=20 ACHS went forward with its resolution to the Jackson City Council. This = time,=20 SPI's Brown and Luster were present for the argument. Brown informed the = city=20 council that SPI was planning to preserve 85 percent of the railroad no = matter=20 what.

Yet Butow called this promise into question by alluding to = several=20 public relations nightmares SPI has experienced in recent years, = including a $13=20 million settlement the company was forced to pay to the California Air = Resource=20 Board for gross air violations at four of its plants, most notably = Lincoln, and=20 a current public outcry in Arnold over SPI clear-cutting large sections = of=20 forest on the boundary of Big Trees State Park.

"They've had a = history of=20 bad relations with communities they've moved into," Butow told the city=20 council.

Butow later clarified that he was expressing concern = that Amador=20 County was forced to take SPI's "word" that it would always lease the 10 = miles=20 of track to the RRC, which was questionable, he worried, given the = company's=20 past actions. However, Luster took Butow's comments as a "personal = attack"=20 against his company, and its owners, the Emerson = family.

"Whatever he was=20 trying to bring up is beside the point," Luster said in frustration. = "The fact=20 is we tried really hard to be good neighbors in Amador County. We've = helped=20 bring jobs and employers to the area. We've agreed to preserve most of = the=20 railroad when we're not required to; and we've even offered to give = ownership of=20 the Martell Train Station to the historical society for free. The = picture=20 they're trying to paint of us now is very hard to accept."

The = Jackson=20 City Council decided to postpone its vote on the resolution. When Brown = and=20 Butow faced off again at a Sutter Creek City Council meeting, the = conflict was=20 boiled down to preserving 85 percent of the railroad as opposed to 100 = percent=20 of it - yet with a whole new twist.

Sean Rabe, then an assistant = planner=20 with the Amador County Transportation Commission, stood up and announced = that=20 his agency was considering reversing its opposition to the abandonment = of the=20 rails. Rabe said the shift was being considered because SPI had now = agreed to=20 let the county use the alignment of the railroad to insert a = cross-connecting=20 road through the Martell Business Park. This plan would destroy about = two miles=20 of the historic tracks, but not affect the 85 percent leased to the=20 RRC.

"I'm as committed to preserving our history as anyone," Rabe = told=20 the city council. "But if Gold Rush Ranch and the Wicklow Way = development both=20 go forward, there will be way too much traffic congestion on the state = highways=20 around the area. If we try to solve the problem by working with SPI, it = will=20 save the county millions of dollars."

In the end, the Sutter = Creek City=20 Council failed to pass the ACHS resolution. Mayor Gary Wooten told Butow = he=20 sympathized with the historical society's position and felt the group = did great=20 things in the community, but in the case of the railroad abandonment it = was hard=20 to tell what was realistic.

Last stop

As both SPI = and the=20 ACHS await a decision from the transportation commission, the idea of a=20 last-minute compromise is getting mixed reactions. For Butow's part, he = remains=20 convinced that regardless of whether SPI is following federal law, the = company=20 is in violation of California Environmental Quality Act regulations. = He's=20 currently making this case to all concerned parties. The ACHS's = president,=20 Charlene Buckley, seems more open to a compromise, though she favors = bypassing=20 lower management altogether and going straight to the Emerson family. = Other=20 members of the historical society expressed the desire to see both sides = adopt a=20 more friendly stance and go back to the negotiating table.

Luster = said=20 SPI's door has been, and remains, open to the ACHS for new=20 talks.

Meanwhile, back on the rails, Bowler and the RRC are = preparing=20 sign a new lease with SPI. Reflecting on the current battle across the = highway,=20 he tends to want SPI to get credit for what it's done, while at the same = time=20 wanting the ACHS to get credit for the possibilities that would come = from=20 keeping the railroad in one piece - possibilities he firmly believes=20 in.

"I can't say too much against SPI. They've allowed us to = maintain and=20 protect these rails for a dollar a year. It's a situation that's worked = out good=20 for both parties," he said. "On the other hand, I hope everyone = understands=20 what's at stake when it comes to these rails. To lose them would be to = forever=20 isolate Amador County from having rail access to the rest of the nation. = A=20 short-sighted view will not appreciate the potential resource this = railroad=20 represents. And once it's gone and its property disbursed, it will never = be=20 rebuilt."

Scott Thomas = Anderson