Professional Surveyors frequently encounter railroad rights of way in their work as they retrace boundaries, deal with questions of seniority between public roads and railroads, address abandonments or reversionary rights, or guide clients on their needs for easements or licenses over railroad rights of way. In the process they often face confusion over the status of a railroad right of way: Is it a fee ownership or just an easement? Is it abandoned or just inactive? Is it active? How does one know? How does one find Railroad Valuation Maps and vesting deeds? What about “Rails to Trails?” In this session, we will review several judicial decisions regarding railroad rights of way including Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission (U.S. Supreme Court, 1990), Howard v. U.S. (2012), several contemporary state cases, Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Lewellen, and Clark v. CSX. We will also examine the National Trails System Act of 1969 and its 1983 amendment in order to better understand the whole of the debate over “Rails to Trails” and how the standing of a railroad’s right of way can be perplexing.
Railroad Rights of Way—Interests, Rights, and Rail-to-Trails: Gary R. Kent, PLS, Schneider Geomatics
