A late application to take over the 175 miles of rail line stretching from Willits to Eureka, has been denied by federal regulators. The North Coast Railroad Company may have submitted a fraudulent bank statement when it filed its request earlier this month. The feds state that the company did not provide sufficient information as to why it was submitting its application past the deadline, given that NCRCo has been involved with the project. Checks of the company’s financials also showed inconsistencies. The denial of the application now clears the way for the Great Redwood Trail Agency to convert the line, which has been inoperative for two decades, into a trail.