Fwd: Saltville Branch

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

One of the biggest underlying problems with the conversion to a trail is:  The Union soldiers burned down all the courthouses in southwest Virginia (including Washington County), therefore, the records for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad's right of way through the area no longer exist.  I know for my parcel of land, which borders the NS main line, I can only trace back to the late 1800's.  Anything earlier than that, and the original V&T RR's purchase/condemnation of the land, is unknown.
   
  Ben Blevins

nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org wrote:
  There was an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch last Friday 
(and this has been waiting for me to send since then) about problems 
with the conversion of the Saltville Branch into a trail. Several 
landowners object (pretty much the same issue with the New River 
Trail) and the Town of Saltville has fought back.

"The town of Saltville, population 2,200, has filed a $687,760 
lawsuit against Shirley Ann "Sissy" Bailey of nearby Glade Spring, 
asserting that the woman's strenuous protest of the town's plan to 
turn an abandoned railroad track into a hiking trail has crossed the 
line from opposition to unlawful and belligerent interference.

Bailey and other landowners along the roughly 13 miles of railroad 
track claim the land became theirs when the Norfolk and Western 
Railway Co. gave up its rights to the abandoned line in 1994. The 
town claims the railroad turned over the land to Saltville. The line 
runs from Saltville to Glade Spring."

The entire article is here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?B283260DC

For the most part, the transition in the '80s of the North 
Carolina Branch from NS to the Commonwealth was pretty simple. There 
were some holdouts, though, that took a while to resolve. The claim 
(backed up by deeds) was that the rail line only had a right of way 
granted to Norfolk & Western and not outright ownership. When the 
tracks were pulled up, the rail line ceased to exist and the land 
reverted back to the owners. It wasn't until recently that the last 
parcel was cleared up and the New River Trail became continuous from 
Dora Junction all the way to Galax/Fries.


--
Bruce in Blacksburg === In the heart of N&W territory. ===

Bruce B. Harper (540)231-4360
University Relations/Web Communications bharper at vt.edu
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 26060


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