RR ROW and Emergecy Wildfire Access

[Anonymous]

[:)]I recently purchased a peice of land 12.3 acers with the intent of subdividing(could not afford it otherwise)Thought I had all the bases covered [^]Then[}:)]half way through planning the dept of forestery pops in and wants a secondary "EMEREGNCY ACCESS" for wildland wild fire acess only.Basicaly a 40,000lbs all weather road.Wich just happensto be down the railroad right of way to a main road.currently the U.P. KinderMorgan and Placer County Water all use this service road to access service points.the road is averages25ft in width and from nearest rail to back of road varies from 32 to 100 ft. The Railroad purchased an strip of land through the property in1908 for 250.00 cash in hand leaving me an easment across the tunnel30 to acess my propertyfrom an adjoining parcel wich is located between the east and west bound tracks.Does any belive that we might have a snowballs chance in h[}:)]ll of getting permission to pass in a wildland wildfire emergency from Union Pacific

[mudchicken]

(1) The 6-P's were not quite followed here. Expect the typical poor outcome.
(2) Did you get a title insurance policy when you bought the parcel???? (folks on this forum know I have a low opinion of real estate agents and title people that blunder their way through railroad related issues and mislead buyers. Most are absolutely clueless.)
(3) If you have utilities crossing the railroad, get the contracts covering these changed over to your name NOW (They do not run with the land and if not in your name you're in for trouble. - blame the ignorant real estate agent and/or title company, not the UP.They do NOT automatically transfer to new landowners. Don't bring up the word "easement" - won't ever happen, even if hell freezes over. Railroads want accountability, especially UP-C&RE.) The water company and Kinder-Morgan most likely have old agreements in place to let them use the R/W. (Kinder -Morgan currently is personna non-grata with UP after causing derailments in Iowa & Arizona, unauthorized use by them of railroad property for any reason is call for alarm by UPRR.)
(4) CDF expects you to put the fire road on your property, NOT the railroad. If you negotiate with the railroad, expect a lengthy negotiation process with the railroad having you place the encroaching road as far away from the tracks as possible AND you paying for insurance on a PRIVATE road on railroad property on an annual basis .(not cheap - insurance on new lease/contract encroachments is mandatory). You are also going to have to indemnify the railroad against any tresspasser using the road (Hint: you become liable if some moron kills himself or causes damage to the railroad)
(5) If you subdivide, there will be a surveyor involved and he is going to plat the boundaries and any common lines with your parcels and the railroad. He is going to show what access rights exist and the plat (required by law when subdividing under 35 acres) will show to county planning any weakness you have in providing access. Forget placing a public road or crossing anywhere on the railroad. (CPUC and the railroad will stop that pronto - The railroads and state agencies have been told by USDOT/FRA to reduce crossings, not add new stupid zones) If you are going to build a crossing to get access to the other subdivided parcels, go over the tunnel or build a bridge. A new at grade crossing is a non-starter, a definate no-no and will be subject to review by CPUC who will stop it before the railroad says yes or no.
(6) Being the latecomer, if you wi***o jointly use the R/W road used by K-M and the Water company, the railroad can make your use of that road much more restrictive and much more expensive. (You may be paying to relocate the road further from the tracks too!) Railroads have denied fire roads on their property and killed off subdivisions in many places, they are under no obligation to provide them to CDF or adjoining landowners.
(7) Expect the possible contract to cost a substantial sum of money ($10,000 +) and take 60-90 days to complete.

That being said, if you still want to go forward, get your facts organized and polish-up your presentation. You need to talk to Jon Devish at UP C&RE in Omaha, you can find him on the web at: http://www.uprr.com/reus/contacts/mgrcontacts/searchResult.cfm?MGR_FUNC=Wire,%20Pipe,%20and%20Roadway&mgr_st=CA&mgr_ct=Placer

and Jim Smith in Roseville (Public Projects Engineer) if a future public road is involved.

[banghead][banghead][banghead]

[jchnhtfd]

I might point out, too, that Mudchicken's comments are not specific to the UP; they apply with equal force to pretty much any railroad.