Anyone know if the abandoned portion was preserved as a RR right of way? Trail? Reverted to adjacent owners? This will be a big key to their success. I wish them luck! Always good to hear of these efforts. Hope the local NIMBY population steps aside. Please post any further news! Boxcab E50
Just this weekend I drove along the right of way on a trip down to Corpus Christi and back. There is still beat up rail in place as far as Wharton, over a third of the way. The rest of the ROW is still there. Many trestles will have to be replaced but there are some newer bridges like along the causeway built at one end of Lake Texana. The fishermen will have to find a new place there. The local county governments have been very rabid about keeping squatters off and ranchers from extending their fence lines across the property. In many of the little towns along the line, the vacant swaths through the middle of town are quite conspicuous.
NIMBY= Not In My Back Yard. In other words, "we don't want it here." Build it elsewhere. Problem is that "elsewhere" is another back yard. Also where they don't want it. Boxcab E50
This is kind of a done deal. Anyone with a claim against it would have a tough row to hoe. Here is a link to all the legal stuff if you want to wade through it. http://www.stb.dot.gov/__85256541006E3017.nsf/0/B2E436418366DDE8852569A80076EC0C?Open
It would appear to be true. The way this reads, to my untrained eyes, sounds like a green light has been given. Hope someone can post progress reports, (photos?), as the rails are refurbished, and re-laid. Boxcab E50
I remember reading sometime back in the last decade where part of this line was taken up. I thought at that time that KCS was wanting this stretch of track for access to the TexMex. As for NIMBYs, never underestimate the power of whining NIMBYs with willing legal help. Funny thing about NIMBYs- they usually show up long after the railroad/speedway/airport/highway/other noise-producing facilities was first built. Case in point- DFW International Airport. Before the place was built, there was nothing but windswept prairie. After the airport was built, towns like Irving, Grapevine & Colleyville grew up around & close to it. When the airport announced they were needing to build another runway to handle the increase of air traffic- yep, you guesed it- certain of the locals complained about the noise. A major airport, with local, national & international flights, 24-7-365 operation since the early 1970s, and they move close to it and then complain about the noise?!?!? HE-LLO!!!! I for one DO hope the Macaroni Line does not become a relic of the past-a....... Keep us posted, Russ!
