Quote:
Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy
Read the last few posts and it piqued my interest. I’m not going back to read all 200 posts so I apologize in advance if my post is duplicative.
The issue for rail trail conversions is really, who owned the right of way and are the rails still “active”.
First, it is very difficult under federal law to “take” an active rail right of way. This has been trace to laws written in the 1800’s when rail was king. Seems to me that that if they are running trains along Paugus Bay they are still active.
Second, there is the ownership issue. Most older rail right of ways were created by a federal law from 1875 that granted rail companies an easement over a parcel of property. A 2014 US Supreme Court ruling said that this easement was removed when the track was abandoned and “ownership” reverted to the property owner. This ruling is being used by abutter groups (including one in my town) to contest the right of the state to transfer (or lease) a right of way that they acquired from a RR company to municipalities for rail trails. Not being a lawyer, I’m guessing that the theory is that at the moment the rails are abandoned (removed) the easement is voided and the RR company or state loses any right to transfer or lease. Don’t know if any of these cases have reached final decision. It will be interesting to follow.
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I think that you have hit on some of the issues:
- The original taking of the property was explicitly for railroad use and it was done at a point in time where the B&M railroad did not have the money to replace washed out track on the segment north of Meredith.
- Consideration to repurpose a rail line typically requires a formal abandonment (as pointed out) wherein the rail line has not been used for a period of time. The current rail line is actively used and there are federally issued licenses with rights of renewal.
- According to Stone Consulting, the current rail line supports about $17.4 million of economic activity annually. The Alta study indicated about $12.4 million in economic benefit annually and a significant portion of that was "health" oriented which is not comparable.
It simply does not make any sense to "take" the rail line for special interest reasons. This is particularly so, based upon the fact that all indications are that it will be a negative economic impact relative to the current use.
Jetskier
