Here's the actual story. Its not brand new railroad. Its not 10 miles long.
All I can say is Thank You NS.
PBS used to load out 90% of thier coal on the NS (Gonerail) South Fork Secondary.
Whatever NS did to piss PBS off enough to rebuild a tipple/cleaning plant at the end of an old B&O branch, and then buy the branch from CSX is known only to the Officials involved.
Besides the coal that goes to baltimore, they also ship coal to Mt Storm WV Power Plant (at the end of a CSX (ex-WM) branch, and also sends several trains a week to Newport News for export. 

Heres the correct info...

http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2007/05/13/news/news792.txt

PBS Coals receives money for railroad improvements

Saturday, May 12, 2007 3:19 AM EDT
A Friedens company will receive grant money to try to improve an 8.3-mile long railroad.

A press release stated PBS Coals Inc. will receive $500,000 to renovate the former CSX Cambria line. However, the actual grant award will be based on actual bid costs.

Gov. Edward G. Rendell awarded more than $10 million to fund projects across the state that will improve the quality of railroads and stimulate job creation, according to a press release by the Governor's office.

Alison Wenger, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said this is the second year Rendell has awarded over $10 million to companies.

The improvements are expected to increase coal production.

The program is under the Department of Transportation and is designed to stimulate transportation for rail freight, said Hank Parke, director of business development for PBS Coals Inc.

The company also received money from the Rail Freight Assistance program last year, which totaled $289,678.

Railroads are expensive to maintain, Parke said. We've spent about $1.4 million on improvements to the rail line. Drainage is important to keep the rail bed solid, so we did a lot of drainage work. We also replaced rail ties.

Before companies receive part of the $10 million they have to submit information stating their purpose of spending the money.

The way the program works is the companies do the project work, they provide an invoice to us as it's completed and then they get reimbursed, said Tammie Spicijarich, grants manager for the Bureau of Rail Freight.

Parke said this year the company would like to replace more wooden cross ties.

That is one of the most significant things, he said. Other repairs would also come into play when you do that.

We're also looking at constructing another 2,000 feet of a new load out line. Right now, we can only load 70 cars and we would like to load 100 cars, he said.

The additional line would be in the tipple area, Parke said, which is the area where coal is loaded.

Spicijarich said railroad improvements are necessary because they are economical.

They're economic drivers, she said. They help keep costs of goods down for the constituents of Pennsylvania and help create jobs. They also help ease highway congestion.

Rendell said rail service is important for transporting goods.

Businesses need dependable rail service to expand their markets and this $10 million investment will be an economic generator that attracts new businesses and jobs to the commonwealth, he said in a press release. Rail service provides one of the most direct transportation links for importing goods from around the world and exporting goods made in Pennsylvania.

Most coal transported by the PBS railroad goes to the port in Baltimore and is exported to Mexico, Brazil, Romania, Germany, India and Japan, Parke explained.

Somerset County coal goes around the world, he said. In order for our company to continue growing we need the ability to ship more coal over long distances.

PBS Coals Inc. bought the 8.3-mile piece of railroad from CSX because the company needed to ship coal from the Cambria tipple line.

The rail improvements may not even begin until the fall, Parke said, because of complicated bidding processes.

He said the company has added more than 200 jobs over the past two years.

Line improvements will transport more coal from the Cambria line and thus provide more jobs in the future, he said.

More information about the money being awarded can be found at www.dot.state.pa.us.

Cy Valley wrote:

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Calvin, these vicious lies you tell. What's up with that? The fine folks at LAMCO would never do anything to upset a customer, LAMCO is all about the customer. Oh, and the HarryMan. Surely, you've received some erroneous information.

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