DAYTON, Wash. — Commissioners of the Port of Columbia have indicated they will not sell the port’s railroad to its current contract operator, raising the question whether that operator will continue to serve the 37-mile line.
The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports that two of the port’s three commissioners said at a Sept. 3 meeting that they were not interested in selling to Paul Didelius, owner of Columbia Rail, which operates the Columbia Walla Walla Railwayserving the port. Didelius who first proposed a deal in 2017 and reintroduced the idea in 2022. Didelius, whose operating contract ends in December, has indicated he is not interested in providing the service if he cannot own the railroad.
No formal vote was taken on a sale, the newspaper reports. But at the Sept. 3 meeting, the commissioners told Didelius, who was in attendance, that they hoped to continue working with him, and Didelius said in an email to the newspaper that he anticipated working with port staff to continue the serving the line’s shippers.
An August report to the board to evaluate a potential sale said the railroad —gifted to the port by Union Pacific in 1996 — has an appraised value of $13.8 million, while Didelius has offered $305,000 to $705,000. The report says the port has received some state and federal funding for the rail line because of its public ownership, and that a sale to a private entity might end eligibility for some of that funding. It also notes the port has been contacted by other parties interested in bidding on the line.
