The Carbon County Commissioners yesterday ratified agreements they signed Monday as members of the county Railroad Commission that will make Carbon the commonwealth’s first county to go into the rail business.

The ratification will lead to the purchase of about 20 miles of track known as the Nesquehoning Branch Line 1009 for nearly one million dollars.

The trackage is from the Packerton Yards in Mahoning Township, west through Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning and the Hauto Valley, to Haucks, outside of Tamaqua.

The purchase prices to which the three-member county board is obligated will come from a $1,713,000 grant of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.