Linn County Circuit Court Judge David Delsman served justice with his ruling on behalf of 14 Country Lane residents and their right to cross railroad tracks owned by Albany & Eastern Railroad Company.
Based on the lack of easements to cross its railroad, A&E demanded payment from numerous residents along the railroad to buy crossing permits and for maintenance.
In no world does it make sense for a property owner to sell property to a railroad and not keep an easement as part of the deal. But it happened, either out of ignorance, oversight, or possibly worse.
The fact is, numerous properties along the railroad do not have deeded easements, and after nearly a century, A&E decided to begin collecting to allow residents the privilege of reaching the public right-of-way, Highway 20, something they did for nearly a century at no cost, an arrangement that really makes sense for any of the property owners who originally sold their land to A&E’s predecessor.
A&E is owned by Rick Franklin Corporation, which is responsible for many good deeds and charitable actions in Linn County over the years. In this case, though, this was not the right direction for A&E.
On the particulars, Judge Delsman’s ruling, which we reported in our Jan. 20 edition, makes sense.
The residents used the crossing, something A&E officials have said is not in the railroad’s best interest because of risk and cost of maintenance, for more than 50 years. We get that, but not only have they crossed the rails for decades, A&E’s predecessors helped the residents cross the rails all of those years – all in spite of the railroad’s best interests, technically speaking.
Those predecessors were apparently doing the right thing, meeting an obligation they really did have even if it didn’t say so on paper. It cost them something, but they took care of it anyway.
A&E didn’t want to, but this previous behavior by its predecessors will force it to follow suit. If it wanted to really do the right thing going forward, A&E would handle maintenance on its own, knowing that but for the original sale of the property to the railroad by landowners along the track, allowing it to be located between their property and the public right-of-way, it would not have a track. And what kind of neighbor would want to and landlocking the adjoining landowners?
A&E is in a position to, and has indicated intent to contribute to the economic development and health of our community. That’s a win for everyone, especially if A&E lets bygones be bygones, which is what it should do at this point.
We hope the railroad decides to simply be a friendly neighbor, even when the paperwork isn’t quite right.
We’re betting it will pay off in the end.