Inherited Railroad Track

If someone theoretically inherited property with 270' of railroad track, cut in 10' sections, and no record of sale or province. How would one legally scrap it? The property is many miles from a RR ROW, and the pieces of track have been laying around several years.

You shouldn't need any proof of ownership for rail road tracks. Should be able to just load em up and go to any scrap yard. Really the only thing places should ask for proof for is vehicles as far as I know

Originally Posted by runbuck98

If someone theoretically inherited property with 270' of railroad track, cut in 10' sections, and no record of sale or province. How would one legally scrap it? The property is many miles from a RR ROW, and the pieces of track have been laying around several years.

Dunno if the laws are the exact same everywhere but there should be metal stamping of some kind on each track piece indicating the company. Getting a signed release from that company should be sufficient

Originally Posted by kss

you shouldn't need any proof of ownership for rail road tracks. Should be able to just load em up and go to any scrap yard.

wrong

Originally Posted by greytruck

wrong

Guess it all just depends on where you are, local laws and scrap yards policies..... I m am 99.9 % sure if I showed up to my yard with a bunch of railroad stuff they wouldn't bat an eye. I could be mistaken but I have never done it so I don't know. I would think if you can take pictures of them on your land, and proof that you own that land, that may be enough

Originally Posted by kss

Guess it all just depends on where you are, local laws and scrap yards policies..... I m am 99.9 % sure if I showed up to my yard with a bunch of railroad stuff they wouldn't bat an eye. I could be mistaken but I have never done it so I don't know. I would think if you can take pictures of them on your land, and proof that you own that land, that may be enough

Still wrong. As in you'd go to jail wrong.

Originally Posted by JJinLV

Still wrong. As in you'd go to jail wrong.

Ah crap lol alright. I'll be sure to never pick up any railroad tracks then lol.

Are there any other items that are similarly illegal to scrap? For future reference

You should check out "Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum" at the bottom of this thread. This topic has been discussed before.

I've done lots of excavating work on brownfields type sites, and have run across lots of railroad bits and pieces--spikes, plates, etc., and even the occasional piece of rail, although never any great length of it. I probably never had more than a couple of hundred pounds of it mixed in with a ton of other stuff.

Now, 25 years ago, I remember one guy at the yard telling me that if I ever came across a lot of rail, they'd pay a better price for that than say, heavy melt, but more recently, I've been told that they couldn't technically take that stuff, but since they knew me, they'd take it, (and hide it in that pile over there.)

My experience digging near a railroad siding was as follows--the property owner wanted me to use a narrow backhoe bucket, and dig across the tracks between two ties, so they could lay a conduit across the tracks. The railroad about flipped out! They made them get a boring machine and bore beneath the tracks. The people might have owned the property, but THEY, the railroad own the tracks, and you don't do ANYTHING in that right of way without their OK.

Kss, we're both in PA, so I imagine we're working under the same laws. The OP doesn't list a location, so I'd say the best bet for them is to call the yard they'd take it to, explain the situation, and ask what they'd need to make it all legal. The answers could range anywhere from "Sure, bring it on in." to "It doesn't matter how long it's been laying there, or how many miles it is from the nearest active line, the railroad still owns it and we don't want any part of it."

The track is in IL, but would probably be taken to a recycler in IN, if I can get things sorted out.

I have seen several of the other posts, but most seemed pretty vague, or said to avoid RR metal products altogether. I was hoping for a few more specifics, if there were any.

I’m also located in Illinois. I no for a fact any railroad material brought into a scrap yard around me is going to be a huge no-go . Before you start loading that stuff up you better have the fine details worked out with said yard . Driving around here with that stuff in your truck would be as bad driving around shooting a gun out your window you would be pulled over in a minute . Good luck anyway.

The rail company owns the rails. Contact the rail company indicated on the rail and get written authorization to scrap or sell the metals. Bring two extra copies of the authorization to the yard you wish to sell to (one for their records and one for their filings) after you've confirmed they will buy them with proper documentation. None of this should cost you $, just a few emails or phone calls.

Cut at 10ft someone was going two make a grissly

FWIW, Last week, a buddy and I were discussing what railroad cars were worth, and he sent me the link to a site. Here's the link directly to their "scrap" category: Sterling Rail - Buy and Sell Locomotives, Rail Cars, Railroad Equipment, MOW, Passenger Cars, and Railroad Rail

One of the ads is from somebody located in the "midwest", so they might be able to help out with knowing how to navigate the legalities of the whole thing.

(Not sure whether that link is time sensitive or not, but you can probably find Sterling Rail in your search engine.)

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

But I prefer to be "spoon fed".....yummy

Okay Mike that's enough. I'm headed your way with a case of Gerber green beans, potted meat and a bib.