RE: (erielack) Abandoned EL ROW still worth $$$$

["Christopher Thurner" <"cthurner_@_adelphia.net">]

Quite a handsome settlement.  I wonder if any of us railfans can share the
wealth via "squatter's rights'?

This is quite an expensive sum to pay.  On average, without connections to
other networks or to customers properties (ie. commercial buildings,
residences, etc.) trunk fiber lines cost anywhere from $10-11,000 to
$18-19,000 per mile to construct.  It is interesting that AT&T would pay 3
to 4 times the value of their lines to settle on a title matter.  With that
large of a premium being paid, it sounds like the RR's don't have much of a
claim to the land anymore.

	- Chris Thurner

- -----Original Message-----
From:	"erielack-owner_@_internexus.net" [mailto:erielack-owner@internexus.net]
On Behalf Of Hollritt, Todd
Sent:	Friday, May 14, 1999 6:45 PM
To:	'"erielack_@_internexus.net"'
Subject:	(erielack) Abandoned EL ROW still worth $$$$

Hmmmm If call call Long Distance am I using former EL Track 1 in Hammond
Indiana????

> LANDOWNERS WIN AWARD - [Indianapolis Star, C1, 5/13.]  Indiana property
> owners who dispute AT&T's right to install fiber-optic cable along
> abandoned railroad property lines will receive an average of $45,000 per
> mile under a class-action settlement announced Wednesday in U.S. District
> Court.  The settlement in Indiana is significant because it's the first
> reached nationally in landowners' ongoing battles with telephone and
> railroad companies over the rights to use their property, said Henry
> Price, an Indianapolis attorney for the landowners.  Landowners nationwide
> have pending suits against telecommunications companies MCI WorldCom,
> Sprint and Qwest.  Companies in the telecommunications business received
> permission to install the lines on the abandoned railroad property from
> the railroad companies.  Landowners say railroad companies had no legal
> right to give such permission and that they're the ones who control use of
> their property.  Wednesday's settlement is worth an estimated $3.6 million
> to property owners because it affects 80 miles of fiber-optic line AT&T
> installed on property formerly used by railroads in Indiana.  The
> settlement allows AT&T to continue operating, repairing and maintaining
> the cable and allows property owners to use their land, as long as they
> don't disturb the cable.  AT&T does not admit any liability in the
> agreement announced Wednesday.  "AT&T believes it is innocent of any
> wrongdoing," said Mike Pruyn, a spokesman for AT&T.  "We instead agreed to
> the settlement not only because of the risk of litigation but because of
> the substantial time, expense and other burdens involved in defending
> against these claims."
>
>

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