Thing is, both yards here have pictures of railroad parts and a notice letting the public know they won't buy any of this stuff. So no spikes, rails, or connectors will be accepted.

Replacement cost is what I was thinking also, but the article said



"DMVW Railroad reported someone stole scrap metal from sites where the company is rebuilding "... so they considered it scrap also...

maybe they are inflating the value to get the insurance to pay more?