the railroad trestle was owned and managed by Norfolk Southern
Discussions of turning the trestle into a pedestrian walking bridge have been brought up numerous times, “A plan to turn it into a walking trail was in the works,” said Laurie Nearhood, Huntingdon County planning director, “Norfolk Southern owned the bridge, and it was a matter of someone, or some organization buying it from them. There was never a price that was decided on for the bridge.”
in late June 2022. Norfolk Southern said it would only consider selling the entirety of the track, not just the bridge.
So as of 3 years ago, they acknowledge they owned it.
Prior to 2022, the total estimated cost to buy the Huntingdon industrial track and return it to service was around $7 million
Additionally, they indicated the segment was not officially abandoned by the Surface Transportation Board, which would need to occur before Norfolk Southern could sell.
“I had made several trips to Harrisburg to talk to Norfolk Southern and try and get rail service back,” said county commissioner Jeff Thomas. “They had no desire to sell the bridge whatsoever, and were very difficult to work with. They took the switch out on the main line that would enable the train to be able to cross onto the Fairgrounds Road tracks because they thought it would never be used again. It would be half a million dollars to put a new switch in.”
Thomas said that while the county would be willing to revitalize the bridge, Norfolk Southern never expressed interest in selling the Huntingdon industrial track.
“They made a statement a few years ago that it would never be a walking trail,” said Thomas. “We’ve met with the president of Norfolk Southern and made no headway. I think it would be great to bring the train back on that line and bring in more business.”
Through the uncertainties, the debris remains in the waterway with no group claiming responsibility to remove it.
“I had made several trips to Harrisburg to talk to Norfolk Southern and try and get rail service back,” said county commissioner Jeff Thomas. “They had no desire to sell the bridge whatsoever, and were very difficult to work with. They took the switch out on the main line that would enable the train to be able to cross onto the Fairgrounds Road tracks because they thought it would never be used again. It would be half a million dollars to put a new switch in.”
Thomas said that while the county would be willing to revitalize the bridge, Norfolk Southern never expressed interest in selling the Huntingdon industrial track.
“They made a statement a few years ago that it would never be a walking trail,” said Thomas. “We’ve met with the president of Norfolk Southern and made no headway. I think it would be great to bring the train back on that line and bring in more business.”
Through the uncertainties, the debris remains in the waterway with no group claiming responsibility to remove it.
So just start turning it into a Bike path, whoever owns it will show up in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteor if theres a lawsuit abou tsomeone getting hurt on it, no one will claim it.
that happened in Georgia where I grew up, people kept falling off a waterfall and getting killed , and several lawyers sued the state, since it was directly adjacent to a highway,, but the state highway dept said they didnt own it, so the lawyers sued a nearby state park, who maintained a small hiking trail parking lot across the state highway, but the state parks said they didnt own it, so they sued the US forest service, because the surrounding area for miles in every direction was USFS, but the USFS said they didnt own the land the waterfall was on.
in the county tax digest all the nearby landowners are listed, as the state park and the highway department and the USFS, but the land the waterfall is on just says "United States of America.
could probably set up a homestead there an no one could make you leave since no one will claim ownership , because of the lawsuits about the waterfall deaths .
Wow.... that's incredible, that the lawyers were shut down! Persistent bastards though!
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