Cartersville Elevator, Inc. v. Interstate Commerce Commission

I dissent for the reasons given in my dissent from the panel opinion. Cartersville Elevator, Inc. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 724 F.2d 668, 676 (8th Cir.1984) (Fagg, J., dissenting).

As I have previously observed, in the vast majority of abandonment cases use of opportunity cost analysis will pitch a branch line that is otherwise profitable into the red. Thus for a branch line that is indeed earning a profit based on its income and expenses, use of a rate of return figure representing the rail industry’s cost of capital, a figure which is hypothetical at best because it bears no…