Frequently Asked Questions

See some of the commonly asked questions about the project and the responses that have been gathered to date.

NOTE: this is a project in its infancy, while these are some of the many questions being raised, not all have been answered, nor have any decisions or commitments to any path forward been made.

If you do not see your question here, fill out the form at the bottom of the page and send it in.

Proposed Uses for a trail

(NOTE: the proposed uses of trail listed here are based on the opinions of local residents who express the opinion of the Exploratory Committee, should anyone outside of the area have final say in how the land they acquire is used, there is no certainty what they would choose to do with it.

  • Not by the Exploratory Committee, those others might be open to ATV’s. It would be the intention of any proposed rail-trail supported by the local membership of the Exploratory Committee to prohibit all unauthorized vehicular traffic. Authorized traffic would be that used by law enforcement or maintenance teams only. If the decision about use of land is left to others, there can be no such guarantee.

  • At present, there are no plans to permit horses on a proposed rail-trail. Reasons given are that combining horses with bike riders might be dangerous, the additional cleaning required to remove manure could be costly, and that there are miles of dedicated horse trails in the region, not the least of which are throughout the Big South Fork park.

    That said, it is also possible through the planning process that sections of the 41 miles might be designed for different uses, so there is still a chance a portion of the trail would allow horses, but the intent is to prohibit motorized traffic along the entire route.

  • Current conversations are focusing only on bicycles (including, street bikes, mountain bikes and e-bikes, but not motorized dirt bikes) and pedestrian traffic (i.e. walkers, hikers, joggers and runners).

  • The Advisory Committee is seeking immediate sponsors to provide barriers that would be placed, at the least, at the 64 crossings where ATVs might today find it easy to access the corridor. Signage prohibiting trespassing and unauthorized vehicular traffic will be posted.

  • To be determined. Discussions and feasibility analysis is needed with local authorities. Effectiveness, commitment levels, and costs are all open topics that still need to be answered.

  • It might be possible, if not likely, for groups (such as Scouts, churches, charities, bicycle clubs, friends, families, …) to want to coordinate events along the proposed trail. The potential issue from group activities of unwanted noise, litter or other increased impositions to adjacent landowners needs to be planned for and made part of any use agreement the trail manager has with a group - for example, the group needs to clean up after, remind members not to stray from the trail, to be off the trail by sundown when the trail is closed, etc.

  • While it is unlikely that this committee would encourage any type of motor vehicle, such as a side-by-side or golf cart (even if designed for a disabled person), every effort will be made to maximize accessibility. Some initial design concepts for surfaces include a very fine crushed rock surface that should handle wheelchair access, but further investigation is worth doing.

Landowner Questions

  • No. Railway abandonment does not automatically mean the corridor Right of Way (ROW) ceases to exist. The Federal Government, managed through the Surface Transportation Board (STB), desires that ROWs be maintained in the chance that there would be a future need to replace the railroad, for economic or military reasons.

    The existence of an STB issued Notice of Interim Trail Use (NITU), issued in 2020 and still in place today for the RJ Corman's Oneida Line, specifically prevents the reversion of ownership of the corridor land to adjacent landowners. If negotiations fail to transfer ROW ownership to a trail manager, or another railroad or to some other entity, then title could revert to ownership as defined by deeds of record - specifically if the original right of way negotiated was an easement and not a fee simple sale. If the land was actually sold, i.e. not just an easement, then the land would go “back” to the owner of record - in this case RJ Corman is that landowner. Individual landowners should review their own circumstances to know what options may exist.

  • Maybe - but this site and the Advisory Committee are by no means offering legal advice. Individuals should seek their own council. That said, it appears only those deeds where an easement would have reverted in the absence of a trail could qualify. If the railroad bought the land over 100 years ago, that was the compensation, nothing more would be offered. Landowners should seek legal advice or confer with neighbors who might have received invitations to participate in class actions on this same topic.

    • Form a local organization to learn the facts of the proposals and share the findings. Probably organizing the organization as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

    • Seek a proper appraisal/valuation of the Right of Way (including researching current titles) and getting an estimate for the costs to build and maintain it either as an abandoned railway or as a public trail.

    • Explore the potential sources of funding from grants or other non-profit or private sources.

    • Negotiate with National salvage for the transfer of ownership and liability for the corridor from RJ Corman to a trail manager.

    NOTE: These steps ARE being taken by several organizations outside of Scott County with no regard to local concerns. The Exploratory Committee is trying to offer a local option into the conversation.

  • The Exploratory Committee will seek partnerships with each of the three counties. The nature and extent of those partnerships is yet to be determined.

  • THERE ARE NO SECRET MEETINGS.

    The initial steps of abandonment filing and subsequent filing for an NITU/railbanking of the ROW were done independent of anyone from Scott County being aware. Only recently when some TN Department of Tourism people were in Scott county meeting with city officials and business owners on unrelated items did the proposal to build a rail-trail come up.

    As a result of that initial comment, a representative of the TN Department of Tourist Development, Jenni Veal (Rural Destination Development Manager), invited representatives from various non-profits and government agencies to come and share an update of what actions they had taken and what next steps would look like. This was still an early fact-finding meeting as no-one to date from Scott County had been involved in any actions taken. County Mayor Jeffers thought to invite some landowners to listen to the presentations and share their concerns, which was welcomed.

    Following that ‘public’ meeting, and the related press coverage of the issue, a group of Scott County residents decided to lead an effort to bring the planning back to Scott County hands and to learn as much as possible about the proposal, and then share that information with our community. That group created a committee and has formed a non-profit organization to work through issues. This committee will also provide information to landowners and county commissioners as frequently as warranted.

    It is very much hoped that this bulletin board website can be a focus of information gathering and sharing. It is the committee’s intent to clearly present all perspectives on the issue in an unbiased way.

  • You can see a list of initial volunteers to the committee by looking at the ‘Who's Who’ page of this site.

    The initial committee was formed on December 8, 2024, by inviting Scott County community residents who represent landowners and those with a broad spectrum of experience with parks, railroads, tourism and local politics.

    If you are interested in being part of the debate or have information to share, please complete the form at the bottom of the website to reach out. Committee members are planning to gather as often as needed.

    While it is not practical to have all of the meetings in an open forum format, the agendas and outcomes of meetings will be posted to this site to remain as transparent as possible.

  • Not at all. What has been done is that an environmental organization from Anderson County saw an opportunity to preserve the land for public use and filed paperwork to have time for discussions to happen.

    In order for the decision to be made, much fact finding and cost evaluations still have to occur.

Key Terms Defined

  • Railbanking, enacted in 1983, is a provision of the original National Trails System Act of 1968. It is a voluntary agreement between a railroad company and a trail agency, which enables the agency to use an out-of-service rail corridor as a trail until a railroad might need the corridor again for rail service. Because a railbanked corridor is not considered abandoned, it can be sold, leased or donated to a trail manager without reverting to adjacent landowners.

    The official name of the railbanking agreement is a Notice of Interim Trail Use or NITU. When RJ Corman filed to abandon use of the Oneida Line in March 2020, The Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning (TCWP), an environment conservation group out of Oak Ridge, filed for and were granted in April 2020 an NITU with the Surface Transportation Board. This NITU is still in effect and specifically supercedes landowner claims to have parts of the corridor revert to them.

    Railbanking has been responsible for preserving thousands of miles of rail corridors across the country. To date, more than 350 rail corridors (43 states plus D.C.) have been railbanked, with more than 160 trails open partially or fully on railbanked corridors.

  • A rail-trail is a public recreational trail or park that’s built on a railroad corridor that no longer is serviced by an active railroad company. The goal of the Federal Government for seeking a trail manager to be temporary owner of the right of way is to keep the right of way intact for potential future commerce or military uses. More information available on the ‘Resources/Links’ page of this site.

Money & Management Questions

  • This question is at the top of everyone's mind and has not yet been fully answered. The intent is that a combination of grants, sponsors, memberships and donations from businesses and individuals would be found so that local city and county budgets would not be impacted negatively.

  • Grants are allocated from state budgets and funded by taxes. These can be from sales taxes and tourist taxes collected among others. Regardless of desires of Scott County residents, the budgets allocated for public projects such as trails or any other program the state feels is worth of a grant, will get that money. It seems a missed opportunity to not ask for some of the money collected in Nashville and Gatlinburg to be spent to improve Scott County instead of elsewhere.

    Furthermore, it seems hypocritical for anyone in Scott County to be suspicious of grant funding when a large part of the County’s annual budget is funded by grants due to the County’s status as “depressed.”

  • To be determined. If the rail-trail is deemed worthwhile, the long range planning will include sources identified for maintenance.

  • The Exploratory / Advisory Committee has created a non-profit organization whose purpose is to receive tax-free donations. click here to contribute: Donate Now

  • While other states like Missouri have decided to manage their rail trail (“The Katy Trail”), initial comments from the State of Tennessee Parks Department indicate that they do not want to own/manage a trail. Other support from the state does exist and will be explored, but likely to be more in terms of funding rather than ownership.

  • This is a key question that still needs to be further researched, but other trail managers have spoken of use of cameras along with policing by local authorities. A suggestion has been raised to allow trail use only between dawn and dusk making it easier to recognize unwelcome users of the trail after dark - i.e. anyone on the trail after dark could be prosecuted.

  • No fees are planned for the trail.