Trackage Rights

[MountE]

The Tuesday Baltimore Sun had a notice in it. Delaware and Hudson Railway Company, Inc. intends to discontinue trackage right on 673 miles of rail on line owned by many different railroads. It then listed the roads and the zip codes they service. Hadn't seen a notice like this before.

Rob

 

[bendorsey]

Interesting that they are discontinuing them rather then trying to sell them considering how strapped for $$$ most railroads are.

Perhaps they can't sell them due to how they originally acquired those rights. If granted by state, county, city, or township the rights may have been granted with the stipulation those rights automatically revert to the original granting authority when no longer needed or wanted.

Besides - - - Whatcha gonna do with 673 miles of land 30 to 40 feet wide other then one heck of a biking/hiking trail, lol.

Ben

 

[JCitron]

Interesting that they are discontinuing them rather then trying to sell them considering how strapped for $$$ most railroads are.

Perhaps they can't sell them due to how they originally acquired those rights. If granted by state, county, city, or township the rights may have been granted with the stipulation those rights automatically revert to the original granting authority when no longer needed or wanted.

Besides - - - Whatcha gonna do with 673 miles of land 30 to 40 feet wide other then one heck of a biking/hiking trail, lol.

Ben

They aren't abandoning the railroad lines. Instead they are discontinuing the trackage rights, or contract rights with various railroads they used to cobble up a connection to Baltimore or Washington DC, which I think their terminus was. This may very well have to do with them being purchased by the Norfolk Southern recently. Prior to that they were owned by CPR who had probably setup the contracts and didn't have any lines in that region. Keep in mind that the NS owns the former PRR lines all over that area, and using trackage rights on CSX, instead their own lines, wouldn't make sense.

John