As one of the more progressive and experienced states in the practice of railroad corridor preservation, North Carolina, through the Rail Division of its Department of Transportation, solicited the assistance of RLBA to shape structure and communicate the state’s desire to approach CSX proactively about the carrier’s willingness to sell its “S” Line (former Seaboard) between the Raleigh area (Cary) and its border with Virginia.

RLBA’s approach was designed in two phases: with the first phase geared towards gauging the carrier’s interest in consummating a deal in an efficient and timely manner while the second included all the steps necessary to support and facilitate a successfully concluded transaction. Primary components of the first phase included desk-top analyses of the gross and net liquidation as well as going-concern values of the line. Those exercises were designed to provide NCDOT with range estimates of what it might expect to pay to acquire the line and to help evaluate if that range likely would prove attractive to CSX. Then, RLBA advised the Department on ways to best make an offer by advancing the perspective of railroads selling rights-of-way based on the firm’s extensive experience in similar transportations as well as preparing a package mutually advantageous to both parties.