Month: April 2010

North Georgia saw its fair share of battles during the Civil War, but “the most extraordinary and astounding adventure of the war,” as one Civil War-era newspaper put it, typically doesn’t garner more than a few words in most history books.

WASHINGTON — The federal Surface Transportation Board announced it will hold a public hearing in Presque Isle, Maine, on May 10 to allow citizens and stakeholders to provide testimony on the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway’s application to abandon 233 miles of rail line in Aroostook and Penobscot counties. The hearing will be held at the District Courthouse located at 27 Riverside Drive in Presque Isle. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. The courthouse will open at 8 a.m. All speakers and attendees must present valid government-issued identification and pass security screening to gain entry to the hearing.

WASHINGTON — The Section of Environmental Analysis at the Surface Transportation Board issued a draft environmental assessment on the proposed abandonment of 233 miles of rail line in the northern Maine counties of Aroostook and Penobscot. The draft review found that the abandonment of this line could divert onto Maine’s highways as many as an additional 73,344 truck trips per year, consuming an additional 3.3 million gallons of fuel per year. However, the draft review, which estimated it would take four trucks to replace every rail car, found that the diversion of rail traffic onto trucks would appear to be