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National Coal Corp. subsidiary NC Railroad Inc. recently sold its 42-mile line between Oneida and Devonia, Tenn., to R.J. Corman Railroad Property L.L.C. for about $3 million.

The rail line previously provided National Coal access to coal reserves on the New River Tract and a preparation plant in Devonia, which recently was sold through a separate transaction. The line sale includes all track, switches, crossings, bridges and trestles, according to National Coal.

The company’s continuing operations in Tennessee include coal mineral and mining rights to about 57,000 acres, and mining complexes that include one active underground and one active surface mine. National Coal plans to continue to own and operate one preparation plant and one unit train loading facility served by Norfolk Southern Railway.

Meanwhile, the city of Boise, Idaho, and Boise Valley Railroad (BVRR) recently agreed to jointly explore the construction of a transload and intermodal facility on city-owned property in southeast Boise. The parties will fund a joint feasibility study to determine the logistics and scale of the facility.  

The city and 36-mile short line also reached an agreement under which BVRR will operate an 18.2-mile city-owned rail line — providing freight-rail service to East Gateway Industrial Park tenants — and maintain the line. The agreement “ultimately will allow for BVRR to provide freight-rail service for all city-owned rail,” Boise officials said in a prepared statement.

Owned by Watco Cos. Inc., BVRR interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad. The maintenance pact calls for the short line to upgrade existing track and perform track inspections, switch inspection and adjustments, tie replacement, weed spraying, periodic ultrasonic rail inspections and other work. Track upgrades will enable trains to travel at higher speeds and provide a potential testing range for MotivePower Inc., a locomotive builder located in Boise, city officials said.