@Ace posted:Wondering why Union Pacific has mothballed the Tennessee Pass line instead of actual abandonment. It doesn't seem to have much traffic potential these days. But I recall how the Stampede Pass line made an eventual comeback years after it was mothballed.
There might have been some question of responsibility for environmental restoration if the Tennessee Pass line was outright abandoned.
There could be another reason. It costs a lot of money to take up railroad track. It's worth the cost when the scrap value of rail is high. When I was doing studies of line abandonment in 1975-1980, relay rail was going for $400 per ton. Today I'm sure it's nowhere near that.
So why go the expense of the legal fees for abandonment ? Looks to me like UP's low cost option is to just let the track sit there and do nothing.
