RE: Determining if the railway is unused

Around here the local police chase down ATV riders who use the rail beds.
Don't know if they'd chase bicycles or not.  I'll bet that some of the issue
is the liability for the owner when someone gets hurt on the property.

bp

-----Original Message-----
From: touring-bounces+bp20100401=comcast.net-Wizm5X4GRk5g9hUCZPvPmw@public.gmane.org
[mailto:touring-bounces+bp20100401=comcast.net-Wizm5X4GRk5g9hUCZPvPmw@public.gmane.org] On Behalf Of
Eric Lindquist
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 9:57 AM
To: Jim Foreman
Cc: Kingleo1; [email protected]
Subject: Re: Determining if the railway is unused

Good info, and definitely true. I've never seen a railway employee, never
mind a railway cop around here, but I imagine the closer one is to the
center of the action the more likely one is to get injured or arrested.
Regardless, riding on railways isn't very much fun even with permission -
the way is tough and bumpy, and there are usually annoying obstacles like
downed bridges, fallen trees or rotting old stock sitting in the way. It'd
be easier to ride through the woods at times, though most of that is equally
owned and patrolled it seems.

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 9:32 AM, Jim Foreman <[email protected]> wrote:

>   Technically, a rail line isn't abandoned until they remove the rails and
> the owners of the property get really upset if anyone uses it. In many
> cases, they retain ownership of the right of way. They have arrest powers
> and are more than ready to haul you off to the local county pokey if they
> catch you trespassing.
>   As much fun as it sounds, unless they have officially released it to
> adjoining landowners, cities, counties or whoever, riding on that land
isn't
> a good idea.
>
> Jim Foreman