Only 15 or 20 years, my how the time flies when you live far from railroads and mostly only keep current on historical stuff. My wife and I lived 10 miles from a neighbor for 15 years, then lived with the Sumpter Valley Restoration splitting our 10 acres (their ballast cars were a bit more primitive). Next we lived on the southern Oregon coast, 40 miles from tracks. Now, living in central Oregon, we're only 7 miles from and active line. This might have something to do with not being aware of them!