Railroad Property Questions


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Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Kchi (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: April 28, 2014 11:42AM

Recently in the WSJ there was a article on a court ruling concerning abandonment of railroad tracks and ownership of the land. This was dealing with Federal land given to the railroads for use of track and right of way and whether the railroads owned the land for other uses.

This got me thinking about the ownership of the land of abandoned track here in the Chicago area. Do the railroads retain ownership or does it revert to the state county or city? Do railroads pay property taxes?

I know that the city is turning the old Bloomingdale line into a park. This line even though not technically in use I believe was never considered abandoned. Is there a length of time of non-use needed befor trackage is considered abandoned?

I also notice many crumbling railroad viaducts. Are the viaducts the responsibility of the railroads or of government?

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: b.a.hoarder (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: April 28, 2014 02:42PM

While I don't have answers for all your questions I will say that many times I've noticed that pavement under a RR viaduct is often in a much worse state of repair, leading me to believe that area is the responsibility of the railroad and not the local municipality. If the RR is a good neighbor then their particular area may be in better repair than that of a competitor's viaduct.
Also, regarding the Schermer Rd. viaduct damaged in the Union Pacific derailment UP is rebuilding that viaduct. If a local city or town wants a grade separation to eliminate traffic or safety concerns that would be on their dime, co-ordinated naturally with the RR.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2014 02:46PM by b.a.hoarder.

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: PKDickman (---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: April 28, 2014 05:30PM

Based on the Bloomingdale trail project, the railroad retains the right of way until they can unload it.
This may not be easy, as they are essentially one long brownfield.

I believe the railroads are responsible for bridge work until they give up the ROW.
They sold the Bloomy line to the city for a dollar, but it took years of haggling for the city to take it.

The railroad paid for environmental studies and got it a clean bill of health.
Now CDoT is responsible for the bridges and underpasses.

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Mr Downtown (---.c3-0.drb-ubr1.chi-drb.il.cable.rcn.com)
Date: May 03, 2014 09:25PM

The railroads retain ownership, unless the original railroad purchased only an easement across a farmer's land (not very common in Illinois, and probably never done in the city). In that case, the underlying property would revert to the current landowner of both sides——except that Congress passed the Rails to Trails Act so the former railroad right-of-way can be used for bike trails under the pretense of "preserving the corridor for future use in interstate commerce."

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: June 03, 2014 12:15PM

You might want to look at what happened at the abandoned Milwaukee Road right of way that extended north from their main line, near Grand Avenue, at about 6600 west, all the way into the old Chicago State Hospital (Dunning). Back as late as the 1960's, a weekly train used to run up this spur line every Thursday. It ran through the middle of the current Zion Gardens and Mount Olive Cemeteries. While Zion Gardens and Mount Mayriv used to be independent, there was no connection between them. Mount Olive, however, had a set of gates on either side of the railroad so people could pass from one side to the other. You can see how the cemetery was divided by the layout of the roadways. There also was an interesting wrought iron pedestrian gate about half a block up north from Addison in the concrete wall that used to surround the old Mount Mayriv.
South of Addison, a gas station was torn down where the parking lot for the townhouses now sits, and a row of townhouses, and further down, apartments and condo complexes all the way down to Belmont. Recently it appears that the line has been abandoned north of Diversey as new construction appears to be in the former right of way.
Since about the 1960's the cemeteries expanded to take over the right of way and the entire area is now part of the cemeteries.

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-101.myvzw.com)
Date: January 20, 2016 05:03AM

Btt.

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 21, 2016 04:44PM

BTT

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 22, 2016 01:43PM

BTT

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Diogenes9561 (---.res.bhn.net)
Date: January 25, 2016 02:29PM

BTT

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 26, 2016 02:04PM

BTT

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 27, 2016 01:45PM

btt

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Re: Railroad Property Questions
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 28, 2016 04:28PM

btt

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