The owner of the Skunk Train has filed to use a 13-mile section of the track north of Willits to ship gravel, blocking the Great Redwood Trail Agency’s bid to convert rail lines from Marin to Humboldt county into recreational trails. Mendocino Railway has given its notice of intent to file an Offer of Financial Assistance (OFA), in which a party offers to purchase and provide continued rail service on a line that the carrier seeks to abandon. That filing is due to the Surface Transportation Board on the 18th, with the board’s ruling on abandonment of the line by the end of the month.