[July 28, 2004] - North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller made a low-profile run to the Starke County Airport near Knox early Monday afternoon and came back with enough money to buy a railroad - or at least enough to make a big dent in the $1.974 million asking price for the CSX line that runs north out of North Judson.
CSX officials file a petition with the federal Surface Transportation Board in May to abandon the track that serves North Judson and several towns and elevator.
Wanting to keep the line, the town of North Judson banded together with Starke, LaPorte and Porter counties as well as several agricultural business interests along the route to raise the purchase price.
CSX initially set the price at $1.4 million, then upped that amount to $2.43 million. In July the STB arbitrated the amount to the current $1.9714 million.
To come up with money, the North Judson Town Board applied for a Department of Commerce grant for $1.5 million. That check arrived Monday in time to meet the CSX deadline of Thursday July 29. Now all that is left to do is pick up the matching funds from the other interested parties.
"The state can take years, one or two years, for something like this. But it only took a day and a half" said a happy and slightly amazed Miller, "Our town council president (Guy Gardin) took the paperwork to Indianapolis on Friday morning. Friday afternoon, around 1 o'clock, the state called to say they had received the paper work and it was approved."
"This morning (Monday, July 26) they called around 10:30 a.m. and asked if we could meet them at the Starke County Airport around 1:30. So, we got the check today. (Gardin) is out tight now gathering up the matching funds."
The CSX line is the last working rail line out of North Judson. The JK Line, which goes 16 miles east to Monterey, has been placed in the STB's rail banking program after purchase by Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, also located in North Judson.
The JK rails and ties, with the exception of the first mile east of HRVM, are being removed for salvage. As soon as work is complete, the right-of-way will transfer to the Indiana Trails Fund, Inc. in Indianapolis but will remain under the control of the federal STB.
[by Jim Carr, © 2004, Starke County NewsHawk, Terry Turner Editor/Publisher - reprinted by permission. For reprint permissions write e-mail to Terry Turner.]