What happens next with the Nickel Plate rail line, a 37 mile stretch of railroad running from Tipton south, is up to the owners of the line.  The Hoosier Heritage Port Authority, a body made up of appointees of those owners, voted to accept the scoring for 5 proposals received to operate the line.

Scoring number 1 was the Iowa Pacific Railroad, with a proposal to operate the entire rail line.  Coming in number 2 was the Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad of Arcadia, which proposes to operate the rail line only from Noblesville north.  The Indiana Transportation Museum of Noblesville was ranked third in the scoring.

The Authority voted 6-0 to send the top two finishers in the scoring to the three owners of the line – Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County.  The owners will, if they so choose, interview the people behind the proposals to operate the rail line.

The Authority gave no time line on how long this might take.  Board President Mike Obergfell did tell the crowd no questions and answers would be allowed due to a lawsuit filed by the Indiana Transportation Museum.

You can see the full scoring information at this link.