WURA negotiates for manager

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Wallowa/Union Railroad Authority (WURA) board of directors is looking for a manager to run railroad operations, including the popular tourist attraction, the Eagle Cap Excursion Train.

Two management firms have responded with bid proposals and after conducting an evaluation, the board has given Standard Rail Corporation of Yreka, Calif., the early nod.

“We’ve started negotiations with them and we’re still negotiating,” said Wallowa County Commissioner and WURA board member Mike Hayward. “We have a draft agreement that is going back and forth, to see if we can make an agreement that works for both parties. We should have a tentative agreement by next week. Tentative, because it still needs to be run through a railroad attorney.”

The role of the new managers will be to run railroad operations.

“Standard Rail wants to expand operations to include significantly more excursion operations and possibly to expand to some freight traffic,” Hayward said. “They want it to be available to, and look for freight opportunities, realizing that those opportunities may be limited.”

Hayward said the management firm is looking at resurrecting the steelhead fishing trains that at one time ran from Minam to Rondowa. Also under consideration is restarting the rafting train run. The rafting trains used to pick up and transport rafters from Rondowa back to Minam. “This would give people who only have a few hours to raft an opportunity,” Hayward said.

Contract specifics and management fees are still under negotiation and will be released after the management contract is finalized, according to Hayward.