California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter XIV – Introduction
REGIONAL RAILROADS
California has one Class II regional railroad operating in the State. The Central
Oregon and Pacific Railroad Company (CORP), with its headquarters in Roseburg,
Oregon, operates a 449-mile railroad between Eugene, Oregon and Black Butte
near Weed, California. The CORP, which handles mostly forest products from
Southern Oregon, provides freight service in California on 59 miles of track
between Hilt and Black Butte.
SHORT LINE RAILROADS
There are 27 Class III short line railroads operating on 1,638 miles or 27 percent of
California’s rail mileage. During the 1980s and 1990s, many California short lines
began operations as spin-offs of Class I branch and secondary main lines.
Short line railroads in California provide switching services and/or interchange
freight to the Class I carriers for transportation to other parts of the United States as
well as to international markets. They play an important role in California’s overall
transportation system, especially for local communities not served by a Class I
railroad.
Short line railroads are classified as either local carriers serving multiple shippers
in one or more communities, or switching and terminal carriers operating in one
industrial area such as a port or industrial park. Some short line railroads are
owned by the single shipper or corporation that they serve. For example, the only
traffic carried by the Quincy Railroad in Plumas County is finished forest products
for its owner, Sierra Pacific Industries. Other short lines include terminal railroads
that perform switching for Class I railroads. Examples are the Pacific Harbor Line
serving the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the Oakland Terminal
Railway serving the Port of Oakland.
In 2004, California short line railroads handled over 800,000 carloads of
international freight. Many short lines serve industries along the I-5, I-10, I-40, and
I-80 corridors. They provide switching services to the Ports of Los Angeles,
Long Beach, Oakland, Hueneme, and Stockton. The majority of the analysis for
short lines was provided by a survey of California’s short line railroads.
The California short line railroads are listed in Figure 14C along with route miles
and millions of gross tons per mile (MGT/M). 5 These railroads are typically
referred to as short, light density lines because most of them average less than
1 MGT/M. Figure 14D is a map of these short line railroads.
5 MGT/M is the standard railroad metric of traffic density.
179