There is a very quiet attempt to reactivate the disintegrating Northwestern Pacific Railroad--by coal mining companies in Wyoming trying to sell their Powder River coal to Asian customers. The last train reached Eureka in 1998, and since then large chunks of the Eel River canyon section of track have been destroyed by landslides and earthquakes and floods.
This idiot blogger hiked the canyon in 2014. Since then, even more sections have been destroyed.
https://www.deekadelic.com/2014/05/14/t ... -railroad/
It was never a good, safe place to build a railroad, but tell that to people in 1905. Restoring it for heavy freight traffic will cost billions of dollars. The authority, and most local people, would rather turn it into a nice hiking trail. But federal law (and $$$$$$$$$$$) might interfere. In the past this coal would have been loaded onto ships in SF Bay area ports but today they would "object strongly" to the "toxic shipments". So this is an "end run". Apparently by a shell company that doesn't belong to "anyone".
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2021/sep/2 ... -corporat/
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/n ... oal-train/
Personally I think this is an insane idea. The NWR handled a lot of freight during the 20th century, mostly lumber and wood products. It was always a costly rail line to keep in operation. But this plan is just bonkers. Coal is dying anyway. A very low-quality, dirty, and costly fuel to ship.
You won't find anything about coal mining in Crow people. Why?Rep. Jared Huffman doesn’t think so. In a conversation with the Outpost on Wednesday, the congressman said he’d spent the previous 24 hours “basically nonstop on this,” investigating who’s behind the effort and what they’re after. The answer, he said, is coal companies in league with the Crow Tribe in Montana.