Lubbock, Texas | farmboy622 - 2/3/2013 03:42
I see a lot of walking and bike trails put on old railroad beds. I wonder if that is legal then in some of the places?
it depends on how the right of way was gained/granted
as skipper pointed out making the rail bed into trails has been an issue in many places when the right of way was suppose to go back to the former land owners/former piece of land it was broken off from
also many adjoining land owners were not all that keen on having basically a public right of way running next to what is often the back side or more remote parts of their property especially with meth cookers, poachers, squatters/bums, pot growers, and the like all looking for new areas to do their "business" and for easy access to those new areas
sure some of those could have accessed with the railroad still there, but the railroads often patrol pretty heavy in some areas and without bridges and the like there is often only so far you can walk or access without crossing over the rail bridge which is often not set up for people to easily cross on foot
not to mention many areas did just ignore the title issue of the land going back to the land owner or they called the trackless area "rail banked" meaning that if the railroad wants to come back in (hardly likely) they could......along with a lot of grief from the "trails" types even though that was how the areas in question often broke the titled rules.....by saying the tracks are gone, but the railroad can come right back if they want to! |