RJ Corman Files for right to abandon railroad

March 9, 2020

RJ Corman, no longer wishing to operate a railroad along their Oneida Line (formerly the Tennessee Railroad), files with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for the right to abandon the right of way (ROW). Railroads abandon lines when they no longer find rail operations financially viable and wish to relieve themselves of the obligation to maintain the right of way and all liabilities associated with ROW.

With consummation of abandonment, the 41 mile right of way as a single object would cease to exist and underlying parcels might revert to adjacent landowners (depending on deed language, easement terms, etc.) or might be real estate that the railroad owns outright that they could sell as they choose.

Abandonment and the break-up of the ROW is essentially stopped if the STB awards an organization a Notice of Interim Trail Use and an organization can come to terms with the railroad to basically assume ownership of the entire length of the ROW for public use as a trial - where such trail is considered temporary and allows for the chance to rebuild a railroad in the future.