I am not at all surprised at this. In the last decade, he has been selling snake oil. By that I mean his proposed coal line. When the CP applied to purchase the DM&E, they found out he spent $40 million in the process, had little if anything to show for it.
There are those in this fraternity who worship the ground he walks on. Those who predicted the coal line would be up and running in 2007. Those who insisted they would have people lining up to fund the project. Those who predicted they would get Government loans.
Those like the FRA however, looked at the DM&E, and did not like what they saw. And even with all the Government loans they have gotten, the safety record has gotten worse.
It was predictable from the start, CP would have no use for him. That did come to pass.
Investment group starts by buying ex-C&NW ‘Alco’ Line for about $200M
Buys up what is now the IC&E
Sells property for about 2.5B to CP
If I was DM&E/IC&E/Cedar Holdings investor, I would want more of that ‘Snake Oil’! I hope Kevin has a great retirement(along with the rest of those original investors).
I was a little surprised by the news when I saw it. I thought he’d stay on - even if it was for just a while.
Despite the fact the rubbed some people the wrong way (Mayo Clinic) I think you have to take a hard look at what he’s been able to do for the DME/ICE as a whole. Yes, the PRB was and still is an ambitious project but a worthwhile one, IMHO. I also look at the positives particularly for grain shippers on the DME/ICE. They have had a real friend in Kevin Schieffer and the DME/ICE. Also, keep in mind that CPRS wasn’t the only one wanting to get DME/ICE; both the CN and the KCS were very, very interested as well.
While the Investors purchased cheap, and sold high, does it take into account the hundreds of millions in Government loans? And what about other money the “Investors” put up to make repairs? Who will assume those? The sales price one can assume, is based on potential of the lines, and the franchise of the PRB project which Schieffer could not get anyone to invest in, not even his own investors. (Canadian Pacific did get a very profitable franchise transporting Ethanol, {Scheiffer’s neighbor in Billings: VeraSun}.) He could not even get a Government loan for the PRB project. And in the end, the $40 million loan he did get just covered his “dream’s” planning, and regulatory battle over the past decade. Well, almost.
What else would you call it if even the Government would not invest in such a “hot” prospect? Snake Oil!!
In the mean time, he purchased the IMRL assets, then got a Government loan to cover the purchase price. His lines were hit with major safety complaints by the FRA, and while it improved for about two years, again the FRA is taking a very close look at the properties safety record. Yes, he did get hundreds of millions of dollars in Government loans to try and fix up the property because it appears hi
KCS was, as we saw in statements in the purchase and control docket of the DM&E/IC&E; scared to death they would loose that corn franchise. CN did not want CP putting their hands in the Ethanol game it shared with IC&E.
While the Investors purchased cheap, and sold high, does it take into account the hundreds of millions in Government loans? And what about other money the “Investors” put up to make repairs? Who will assume those? The sales price one can assume, is based on potential of the lines, and the franchise of the PRB project which Schieffer could not get anyone to invest in, not even his own investors. (Canadian Pacific did get a very profitable franchise transporting Ethanol, {Scheiffer’s neighbor in Billings: VeraSun}.) He could not even get a Government loan for the PRB project. And in the end, the $40 million loan he did get just covered his “dream’s” planning, and regulatory battle over the past decade. Well, almost.
What else would you call it if even the Government would not invest in such a “hot” prospect? Snake Oil!!
In the mean time, he purchased the IMRL assets, then got a Government loan to cover the purchase price. His lines were hit with major safety complaints by the FRA, and while it improved for about two years, again the FRA is taking a very close look at the properties safety record. Yes, he did get hundreds of millions of dollars in Government loans to try and fix up the property b
No sour grapes. I have sat back and watched as people have glorified Schieffer and company for over a decade. As the PRB project progressed, I looked close at the case as it unfolded both in the media, and before the STB. The phoamers acted like it was the second coming of the Messiah.
However as we all know, the DM&E was a private company, and facts and figures about it were only what Schieffer wanted us to hear or read. A lot of things just did not add up between what we were told, and some evidence before the Board. So I started digging around, visiting both St. Paul and Des Moines. There were copies of several I.C.C. dockets purchased as well to gain some background.
What was observed in person, what was read, and what was public, lead to more and more questions. It got to the point where I took everything coming out of Brookings with a grain of salt. All the while, the Phoamerz were telling me the PRB project was a done deal. As we see, it was far from a done deal in 2003, and it remains so today.
I take it, you mean Brookings. That’s a 1 hour commute to the office. Billings would have been more like a day and a half commute.[;)]
For what it’s worth, the office is in Sioux Falls.
Whether you like him, or hate him, (I’m guessing you fit into the second category), it appears that Scheiffer and the DM&E investors made out OK on their investment in the railroad.
I did mean Brookings, sorry. And originally, his office was in Brookings, with the advent of Cedar Holdings, it went to Sioux Falls. Cenury 21 was in the process of selling the old building in 2002.
Hate has absolutely nothing to do with performance.
I tend to take L.A.R.G.'s (Alex’s) point of view. Schieffer(sp?) may have played the olde-tyme capitalist when he wanted, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a monster.
Yes. About half a billion all told if memory serves me correct, combined ICE and DME.
That’s ok, people still come from around the world to Mayo, and it is for a reason. And it has nothing to do with trains or the presence of the DM&E in Rochester.
Yes, he did a fine job alright. Asking a major customer to send a letter to the STB knowing the content was totally false. Fine job indeed.