Carbon County officials recently met with Lansford council members to clarify some questions the borough had regarding the sale of the railroad and the money the borough will be receiving.

On Thursday, the commissioners spoke about the recent sale to Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, trying to clear up confusion about what was sold.

The commissioners reiterated that the sale did not include the Lansford tracks, which run between the Coaldale-Lansford borough line and Tamaqua, because the county does not own them. The sale was for the 19.5 miles of Panther Valley Line, formerly the Nesquehoning Valley Branch Line, which the county owned since 1981. The line ran from Packerton Yards in Mahoning Township, through Jim Thorpe and Nesquehoning and to Haucks Junction in Schuylkill County.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said it seemed like members of Lansford Borough Council were confused about what is owned by Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad and what the county owned before the sale.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said he thought the meeting with council representatives went well.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said it was a miscommunication that Lansford thought the county sold the line out from under them without their knowledge, which wasn’t the case.

How Lansford factors into the sale wasn’t because of the track location, but rather because of an agreement from 1981 when then Lansford Borough Secretary Richard Forgay, who was also a charter member of the Carbon County Railroad Commission, was able to help Carbon secure a grant through Lansford to help with the purchase of the Nesquehoning Valley Branch Line.

That agreement, set at that time, was that if Carbon County ever sold the rail line, Lansford would benefit from the sale by receiving 25 percent of the sale price.

Lukasevich added that most of the Lansford line is being used for rail car storage at this time.

Last month, Lansford Borough Council members raised several concerns over the sale of the railroad and how the borough would be receiving $500,000 from the sale.

They believed they were not being treated fairly and that the railroad was worth more than the $2 million in cash Reading Blue Mountain and Northern was paying for the line.

They also questioned the Lansford representative Richard Forgay II, who was appointed by the commissioners after his father resigned from the board.

Since the sale of the Panther Valley Line, work by Reading Blue Mountain and Northern has been taking place, replacing the tracks through Nesquehoning to create a more up-to-date line.