The property values thing is definitely a legitimate issue that I can at least sympathize with, as I don't really know how that can be compensated for. But at the end of the day, the abutting property owners still should have known that being adjacent to a railway right-of-way, dormant or not, entails the risk of it being reactivated, or even just converted to a trail. The only adverse negative I can see for the public of East Brookfield is the grade crossing at the intersection of Route 9 and North Brookfield Road. The intersection will definitely have to be re-engineered, and I could imagine that if a train went through at commute time it could probably back up some traffic. Despite that, a branch line isn't going to have long or frequent trains, so a train in the off hours wouldn't disrupt anything significant. The only damage to East Brookfield is going to be to private individuals; as I previously said, I can somewhat sympathize with those worrying about property values, but those who actually encroached on property they do not own are getting their just deserts. If noise is of concern, have the town apply to the FRA for a Train Horn Quiet Zone, so the horn won't need to be sounded at the grade crossing, which is the more widely felt disruption a railroad can have as far as noise in an area. The fact that the public library and some baseball fields are adjacent to the branch shouldn't be a concern, particularly because the train will not likely be passing through at hours these facilities would be used. Admittedly, I do agree that there's little benefit for East Brookfield from the reconstruction of the line, as the few places a new industry could go in in EB would already be close enough to the B&A mainline to get rail access through just a spur. Still, that shouldn't mean that a property owner can't use property they legally own for whatever purposes they wish, and take use of a valid railroad charter that they legally own. Nor should the rest of East Brookfield's residents be burdened with the legal costs for digging in and fighting this at any cost like what has happened in the Grafton and Upton Railroad saga. I'd be saying the same thing even if I did own property adjacent to the railroad.
To address something other than ILUVEB, if/when the rail gets relaid, would this become the property of the railroad proper (as in North Brookfield), or Mr. Bigda's company that would be relaying it?
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Wow. This thread sure went to crazytown in a hurry.
Yep. Seems little old RR.net is getting more attention from people outside of its target demographic as of late.
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