I am deeply troubled by the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that Govt. (Federal, State AND LOCAL!) have the right to seize private property not merely for public use but so they can sell/give it to PRIVATE developers that will "improve" the property (i.e. by putting up businesses or condo's or anything that will generate tax revenue!)
While the various members of the court stated in their opinions that this ruling was being applied to this particular case it DOES give a green light to other municipalities that might think that condo's would make a much better tax base than say....an historic narrow gauge or shortline railroad?
I know there are covenants and ages old agreements that are designed to prevent this but it behooves us to realize that our precious railroads may not be as "safe" as we once thought! (If you think I'm over the top just ask Railstar about their last railroad or the people that are running the "Tweetsie"!) It's something to keep in mind when we feel like trashing someone's effort at railroading (no particular incident or road in mind; just an observation.)