What we are all talking about

RJ Corman Railroad company, who has operated the Tennessee Railroad since 2010 (map pictured here), has decided to give up its rights to the “Oneida Line,” a 41 mile long /100 foot wide corridor running from Oneida through Winona and Norma into Devonia near Frozen Head State Park, and hired National Salvage to tear up the old tracks and ties for scrap and to remediate environmental issues along the line.

When a railroad company chooses to cease operating trains on a line, and finds no other railroad to sell its rights to, it may file for “abandonment” of its responsibilities with the National Surface Transportation Board (STB). If the STB finds no alternative to sustain the corridor in tact, it may consummate the abandonment and the old rail right-of-way would cease to exist. However, if a railbanking opportunity arises, the STB will stop abandonment proceedings and consider transfer of the rail corridor to an entity empowered to maintain the corridor as a trail until such time as the STB determines a new need for a railroad to run along it.

In lieu of leaving the rail corridors dormant and overgrown, the Federal Government established the Rails-to-Trails Act of 1983 to enable communities to take advantage of banked ROWs as public spaces to be enjoyed by residents and visitors.

This site is dedicated to presenting all known issues and questions related to the Oneida Line and how it might or might not be converted into a trail for public use.