Re: Silverton Northern Caboose Moved

Basically, the ROW was secured by the Silverton Northern under the Railroad Act of 1875 which granted the use of public lands (federal) for the use of the railroads, but this did not transfer title to the land to the railroad. The easement under that act was 200' wide as I understand it, and that shows up on the valuation maps where the SN ran through what was later patented as the mining claim that became the Cole Ranch subdivision. So, the SN never owned anything it could give away or transfer to anyone else. Its use was protected by the federal granted easement--when the use ceased, so did the easement. The county claim had no substance to it and I had questioned the claim from the start. We do have a subdivision agreement that there will be no building allowed on the ROW in a path of 25' wide as the SN ran through that property, and the county did not give up that previously agreed upon condition. This was something we put into the subdivision agreement as a condition to platting the subdivision. We did this at the planning commission level as we have as a county policy to protect the abandoned ROWs where possible. There are broader implications where the ROW was converted to county road usage and the county claims continued use through private property based on the prior existence as a railroad ROW--interesting situation. In the particular case of the Cole Ranch, the SN ROW was never converted to county road--there are still ties along much of it.

Fritz