Fwd: Saltville Branch

nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Mon Mar 27 06:44:39 EST 2006


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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