(Std Gage)Really SAD Belfast & Moosehead Lake News *LINK*

Thanks to a backchannel note, I came across a really sad article (linked below) about the ripping up of the Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR. According to this June 17 newspaper article:
The B&ML is owned by Unity Property Management, but was being operated by Railstar Corp. of Cape Vincent, N.Y., at the time the lease was broken. Railstar had failed to pay its rent. Under the terms of the lease, the railroad had 30 days to vacate the rail yard and remove its property. After that, ownership of all railroad property left behind reverts to the city. That deadline runs out Saturday.
Although the B&ML is standard-gage, I thought that this news about it would be of interest here for three reasons:
(1) The article shows that historic railroad lines can and do get ripped up.
(2) The operator evicted at the B&ML is the same company that currently holds the contract to operate the Georgetown Loop railroad. When they were selected to operate the Loop, the Loop's owner repeatedly said that this operator was qualified because of their experience at running the B&ML and its tourist trains.
(3) Government contracts often stipulate that the government's representative can terminate the contract early if the contractor loses the expertise that allowed them to win the contract. However, I do NOT specifically know if this is the case with the contract for the Loop or not.
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Chris Webster
[www.speakeasy.org]