by bwparker1
From Trains Newswire...
Six Lancaster County townships have reached agreements with Norfolk Southern to purchase the abandoned ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Enola Low-Grade Line, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reported. Conrail moved the last train over the line in 1988 and filed to abandon it a year later, but land-use disagreements have kept it in railroad hands.
A private rail-trail group lined up more than $1 million to convert the right-of-way to a trail, but opposition from local landowners and government officials killed the deal. Over the years, the county and the townships drew plans to buy the line and convert it to a trail, but each fell apart. NS's takeover of Conrail in 1999 also delayed the deal.
This past week, though, two more townships signed agreements with NS, finally preparing the line to be transferred from railroad hands. NS spokesman Rudy Husband said the railroad would likely hold a ceremony of some kind to mark the transfer. "After everything we've been through, it would seem odd to just let it pass without any acknowledgment," he said....
More at www.trains.com
Six Lancaster County townships have reached agreements with Norfolk Southern to purchase the abandoned ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Enola Low-Grade Line, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reported. Conrail moved the last train over the line in 1988 and filed to abandon it a year later, but land-use disagreements have kept it in railroad hands.
A private rail-trail group lined up more than $1 million to convert the right-of-way to a trail, but opposition from local landowners and government officials killed the deal. Over the years, the county and the townships drew plans to buy the line and convert it to a trail, but each fell apart. NS's takeover of Conrail in 1999 also delayed the deal.
This past week, though, two more townships signed agreements with NS, finally preparing the line to be transferred from railroad hands. NS spokesman Rudy Husband said the railroad would likely hold a ceremony of some kind to mark the transfer. "After everything we've been through, it would seem odd to just let it pass without any acknowledgment," he said....
More at www.trains.com
