UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD Memorandum RUG 25 198/ TO Director of Compensation and Certification FROM Deputy General Counsel SUBJECT: Red River Valley & Western Railroad Company Employer Status This is in response to your Form G-215 request of July 30, 1987, wherein you inquired as to the employer status of the Red River Valley & Western Railroad Company (RRVW). RRVW has not previously been held to be an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA). In a letter to the District Manager at the Board's district office in Fargo, North Dakota, dated July 14, 1987, Mr. Charles H. Clay, Vice President of RRVW, stated that the date employees were first hired was "approximately" June 29, 1987 and that the company expects to employ approximately 44 individuals. Mr. Clay stated that the Company would begin railroad operations on July 19, 1987. The length of track is approximately 667 route miles, including 12 miles of trackage rights over the Soo Line. Mr. Clay indicated that the RRVW interchanges with the Burlington Northern Railroad Company at Breckenridge, Minnesota and Casselton, Jamestown and New Rockford, North Dakota; with the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern at Oakes, North Dakota; and with the Soo Line at Carrington, Oakes and Sheldon, North Dakota. RRVW's major terminal points are Breckenridge, Minnesota; Jamestown, North Dakota; and New Rockford, North Dakota. The anticipated volume of traffic is approximately 20,000 cars per year. On your Form G-215, you stated that Mr. Clay had telephoned the coverage section on July 22, 1987 and had verified that the first train ran on July 19, 1987 as expected. Mr. Clay also stated that RRVW1s Executive Vice President went on the payroll on July 15, 1987, and that paid training for 24 members of an operating crew began on June 29, 1987. In Finance Docket No. 31071, filed on June 22, 1987 and decided July 13, 1987, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) stated that the RRVW had filed a notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. 1150.31 to acquire and operate certain properties of the Burlington Northern Railroad Company (BN), consisting of approximately 656 miles of rail line located in North Dakota and Minnesota. The ICC stated that RRVW would also acquire incidental trackage rights upon purchase of the rail line from the BN, extending from the property at the North Dakota/Minnesota border at A - 2 - # Director of Compensation and Certification Wahpeton Junction, North Dakota (milepost 6.04), to a point near Brushvale, Minnesota (milepost 8.00). The ICC stated that incidental to the acquisition transaction, RRVW would also receive trackage rights over the rail line owned by the Soo Line Railroad Company between Lucca, North Dakota and Sheldon, North Dakota (milepost 27.40 to milepost 42.90). Based upon the above information, it is my opinion that the Red River Valley & Western Railroad Company became an employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act on June 29, 1987, the date on which paid training for members of its operating crew began. An appropriate Form G-215 giving effect to the foregoing is attached. Steven A. Bartholow Attachment MPDadabo:cmw:ldj 0225A/Wang VS C. 1446-87.