Eastern Railroad Discussion > Purchasing abandoned railroad rights of way

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the uptick of interest in purchasing rights of way, and repurposing them.

Investor Brent Hayes bought a stretch of track in Ohio, sold the rails and ties, mined the ballast for his construction business, and sold several segments to adjoining property owners. He paid about a thousand dollars an acre, and has made $17mn over the years, the article says

Removing the railroad right of way opened up other parcels for development. In another deal, he sold parcels of land for a fast food restaurant site and other commercial uses. The article notes this is a very local business, as you need to know the market, and you may need to clean up environmental messes.


WSJ:

Purchasing abandoned rail property can be difficult. Investors need to know the area well, and must track down the entity that holds the title, often the real-estate department of a successor company to a defunct railroad. Mr. Hayes says he made dozens of phone calls before locating a CSX official in Jacksonville, Fla., who could authorize the first sale.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882304575465600161453406.html

Here's a site mentioned in the article. It has maps of abandoned segments, by state and by railroad owner. Not all of these are available for sale. Some have new owners, like the Caldwell branch of the Erie Railroad in NJ. But, it's an excellent overview

http://www.abandonedrails.com/default.aspx

Yep'r, there is money to be made if you know how to do it. These right of ways are good investments and as you all know. Land is not being made anymore and never will be. In some areas of Ohio. Bare ground sells for $5,000 an acre and some up over 7,000 in certain areas.

A quick related story on this. I worked for Bergen County when their section of the Golden Coast in Edgewater, NJ took off from former industrial wasteland and railroad yards to be redeveloped into high end condos and retail centers. The one I remember most was the former NYS&W railroad yard. I believe Walter Rich had sold it to developers for approximately the same price he paid for the entire NYS&W. Which wasn't a whole heck of a lot.

That same property in the early 1990's was selling for over $1mil per acre with partial contamination! How big was the NYS&W Edgewater yard?

CV the civil E in NJ.

An interesting twist to this subject is the legal wrangling the
Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies are having trying to lease long forgotten right-of-ways in north central PA. Does anyone
know if the railroad lines that are still active have the mineral rights? It's very complicated because there are surface land leases,
mineral right leases, combination leases and now there is a bill
in Harrisburg pending that would allow the gas companies to go under
ANY property without owner permission. Although the land owner would
supposedly get money if gas was collected, where would the checks
be made out to for sub-excavating under the many abandoned grades?
There's an issue with the old PRR line going north out of Newberry
to Elmira NY lost in the flood of '72. Much of it remains unsold because Penn Central wanted a small fortune sale price for even a short piece to extend a backyard. The deeds office of the Lycoming County courthouse looks like a crowded mob of researchers everyday. Even more interesting is the S&NY grade from Grays Run to Towanda partly torn up in 1913 and the rest during WWII. The gas companies pretty much do what they want, but when they start dealing with NS it's another story altogether. That's why I asked about present day active railroads and their mineral rights. Aaron 22