I love the photo. Man, it's been a while since THAT line has seen a train.
Where is it?
Railroad Forums
Moderator: Nicolai3985
trainsinmaine wrote:I love the photo. Man, it's been a while since THAT line has seen a train.It's one of three sidings that used to serve Barrett stone quarry in Norwood, NY. Vermont Rail Systems is now operating that railroad as the New York and Ogdensburg, and they've recuscitated one of the sidings. Put in new ties, cut back the brush, and they've taken at least *some* deliveries of stone.
Where is it?
RussNelson wrote:Well, I think that's WHY sometimes the rails are left in place -- because nobody really knows who owns them. If somebody isn't paying taxes on the land, then the county will take possession, and then they'll own it. Or if the property was an easement, it reverts to the previous property owner. But the rails ON the land? If a company went bankrupt, they belong to the company's creditors. But what if the company's assets were wound down, the rails forgotten, and the company dissolved? Technically, they still belong to the company's creditors, but I'm sure that there's a provision in the law for abandoned property to go to some governmental entity, which then tries to find the owner, and if no owner can be found, they're sold by the government and the money is put into the general fund. I know that it works that way for abandoned funds in a bank.How much do you want to spend in title searching the land - there is title to the land somewhere, it only has to be found.
RussNelson wrote:Well yeah, a title search will tell you who owns the *land*, but it won't tell you who owns the tracks. There's no strong association between the ownership of the two. Although ... possession is 9/10s of the law.Possession is zero tenths of the law. The 9/10ths phrase is an urban legend. That said, improvements on the property such as buildings, fencing, and to this subject, the rails follow the title to the land. So once the easement is extinguished, the improvements become the property of the fee land owner. So in the example of the railroad, or its receiver in a bankruptcy proceeding, the railroad or receiver would have title to and opportunity to remove the rails until such time as the easement was extinguished.