Tongue River Railroad battle takes a twist, but goes on

A couple of billionaires and a coal company are combining forces in an attempt to break a logjam that has effectively prevented coal development in a large part of southeastern Montana for more than 30 years. Only time will tell whether this surprising new development will succeed. Tribune Capital Bureau Chief John S. Adams reported Wednesday that candy bar and pet food magnate Forrest E. Mars Jr. had reached an agreement with BNSF Railway — owned by billionaire Warren Buffet's company, Berkshire Hathaway — and Arch Coal to buy the yet-unbuilt Tongue River Railroad's permits and carve a new route for the controversial railroad. Under the agreement, the railroad route would be shortened from its original plan of linking the Montana-Wyoming border coal fields near Decker with the main BNSF line near Miles City. Instead, its southern terminus would be between Birney and Ashland, on the eastern edge of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. That would cut the southern 45 or 50 miles off the original proposal, including the seven miles through Mars' 82,000-acre ranch on the Tongue River. The line still would be able to serve the vast but unmined Otter Creek coal tracts, owned by the state and leased by Arch Coal. This week's move was a surprise, mainly because Mars has steadfastly opposed the railroad and supported lawsuits to block it...more

This provides a new model for protecting you property. If your land is threatened by a railroad, just sell a few candy bars and then buy out the bastards.