Re: Xonstruction in the canyon
Author: mook
Date: 07-06-2015 - 13:47
Dr. Zarkoff explains the current situation below. But even with all that, it's very unlikely that WRM could "own" the land under the tracks, because it's very unlikley that UP, WP, or SN ever did. Railroads at the time, especially interurbans, hardly ever got "fee" title to their right of way - they got easements for railroad purposes. So if a line is abandoned the land automatically reverts to the original owners, or others depending on how the easements were written. The trails thing postpones the reversion, but once the tracks are gone (or even sometimes if they're still there but not used) surrounding owners commonly erase parts of the r/w for their own purposes whether they "own" the land or not. Possession is nine-tenths etc.