Who does have jurisdiction over an abandoned rail line? In San Bernardino, CA, a freeway was built over an ex-rail line. In Highland, CA, a large housing track was built over an ex-line obliterating any trace of the route. In Arizona, miles and miles of an ex-line are used by rural locals to access their properties. Who actually owns such abandonments?
That depends on a lot of factors, but at the end of the day most are private property and can be sold for whatever purpose.
If you are assuming the government has some extra control here, that may happen in some cases, but automaticly so? No.
Once the abandonment is approved, it is just a strip of land. There have been cases where long term leased property reverted to the original owners or their heirs.
A more specific question may provide more detailed answers.
Here in Iowa, if a line goes abandoned near an IAIS line, IAIS will take full control of that, like there are some cases where Union Pacific will take over an āabandonedā line, IAIS has full control of the old CRI&P main through Des Moines and the abandoned BN/CB&Q routes left from BNSF in down town
I sincerely hope mudchicken or dining car are still reading these forums and will come in to address this.
Woke, Perhaps tag/mention them
To be a little more clear, rules, laws, regulations are different in every state. Often this is also controlled by how the railroad obtained the land in the first place. There is no one set circumstance or protocol nationwide.
Example, I live near what was once the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad. Some parts are a walking trail, other parts are power line right of ways, some parts are in state park land, other parts are completely absorbed into the surrounding properties.
Sheldon
1 Like
Abandoned rail lines create the Title Lawyers full employment society.
Virtually every property a rail line ran through had different conveyances from the 19th Century owners to allow the railroad to build and operate.
3 Likes
Not quite. I believe the UP still owns the exRI from the junction switch out in West Des Moines to east of Short Line yard. Over the years, IAIS has been given more control and now dispatches and maintains from the street crossing (18th street?) to West Des Moines.
Jeff
1 Like
Thatās IAIS Property, Maps, and the āReport a Problemā signs also say IAIS. UP has trackage rights there but barely runs unless needed, even the control boxes and crossings say property of Iowa Interstate Railroad Inc (or something with IAIS)
1 Like
When the RI shutdown in 1980, CNW at first leased the line from Dexter, Iowa to Newton, Iowa. They soon gave up on the parts outside the West Des Moines to Short Line segment. They purchased that segment in 1983, along with all the other exRI Iowa lines. The UP got it with the rest of the CNW.
Over the years the UP has given the control, maintenance and dispatching, to IAIS. Itās possible they actually sold it, but Iāve never heard of it being sold. Just like portions of the exRI that IAIS has in Illinois thatās sublet from CSX.
Itās been years since Iāve worked Short Line yard, but back then we would get IAIS track bulletins because the west end jobs would pull out onto IAIS controlled trackage.
IAIS for a few years in CNW days used the exDMU/NS across part of Des Moines. I donāt think the CNW liked seeing the exRI being operated between Chicago and Council Bluffs. Once it was apparent that IAIS wasnāt going to try to siphon off bridge traffic, the CNW softened their attitude.
Jeff
Thereās an elaborate and highly intricate process to this. They play rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to use the tracks.
2 Likes
As others have said, there are a lot of factors. In part the original deed held by the railroad may contain the answer. The old Central of Georgia facility in Savannah, Georgia was deeded in that the property would revert to the City of Savannah, if not used for railroad purposes. When CSX gained control, they wished to sell it. That was a no go and it is now a museum (which is worth seeing). Other times the property will revert to the original owner. Another possibility is that the local taxation authority will gain control for failure to pay back taxes.
As mentioned, MC is the expert on this. A lot depends on how the ROW was acquired in the first place. If it was bought outright (fee simple), then the railroad that owned it when they got rid of it can sell it outright to whoever wants it. If they got it by lease or other āwhile weāre using itā sort of thing (as crbartman mentions) then it goes back to whoever it goes back to, which after 100 years or better can be a real handful. Thatās why MC gets paid the big bucksā¦
1 Like
The best way to find out where you live is to go to your county courthouse. They should have transcriptions of original deeds and you should be able to follow any transfer of property.
1 Like
Welcome to the forums @Ken_Vandevoort
Unless you are an experienced Title Searcher - a trip to the courthouse will leave you more confused than if you had never gone.
2 Likes
In 1995 my wife and I purchased a 1901 Queen Anne home whos original property backed up to the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad right of way in Harford County MD.
She went to the courthouse to research the ownership history of the house back to its construction. She was successful - 6 hours later and with considerable help from the clerkā¦
Sheldon
1 Like
Welcome Aboard, @Ken_Vandevoort!
I was an experienced title searcher and worked on abstracts for over 9 years. Courthouses have a ton of information about railroads.
1 Like
Be very careful with the information on railroads you get at the courthouse. They interpret the law as needed and/or expedient. A right of way bought in fee simple i.e. the railroad owns it lock stock & barrel, gets treated like an easement when the railroad quits running trains and just given to the adjoining property owners. I believe PC Corp lost a lot of its value in the real estate department due to bad decisions like this.
Sometimes a court order will upend the rules and that decision is rarely reflected in the original documents you can look at.