I only knew about the Sullivan to Bement to Decatur track as this was what was in operation in 1966. I could ride my bike over to the track down Hall rd. The coal mine in Lovington had closed years before and the grain silo's in Cushman were being torn down and the only industries I knew of was in Sullivan were the Wabash ( N&W) tied into the C&EI or by this time I think the Missouri Pacific. I think it was some kind of fertilizer plant. I thought back then it was along way to go from Decatur to get there when the C&EI trackage was right there. I don't know what else was on the line north of Lovington as this was the small world of a ten year old and that was as far as I could ride a bike. I had a great uncle who worked for the Wabash in Decatur so I got see all of the facilities in the 1960's. He worked in the back shop which is still standing. At that time the N&W was on the East end of the yard along with ADM , Stayley's in the middle with the viaduct going over and the UP on the west end. Decatur was the main repair facility for the Wabash locomotives and car shop. hocarsandtrains. James

I know this is an old thread but I just came across it. I am very interested in this his line from Sullivan to Lovington. I was unaware of any track still in place. I would love to see some of this track. According to a 1940s Arial view it shows no track in place at Cushman. Unless the photo quality is bad enough you can't make it out. I was led to believe it was all gone in the late 30s.

My front yard was formerly apart of the former Detroit United Lines to Oxford, MI. Imagine my surprise when I was flipping through a DUR book only to find a photo of my front yard almost 100 years ago.

Just as a reminder, the effort of the ICC to compensate railroads for seizure of their property during WWI resulted in the creation of the ICC Valuation project, including the property maps, to survey quality. Extremely well detailed maps, and 'most' include the parcel identification and the deed book and page reference right on them. They are incredibly valuable if you're trying to establish old engineering references, centerlines of property if it was the 'center of the main track' in another deed, etc.

One original went to the railroad, one went to the National Archives in Washington, DC. The railroad copy was typically updated and was forwarded anytime the railroad was transferred, but disappears to time if the railroad was abandoned.

But the National Archives copy is still there, in College Park, with all the deed references on it that go back to a page and volume in local court records when it was acquired. If you're really in a knock-down, drag-out fight on whether property was purchased fee simple or condemned and is reversionary to original or subsequent owners, that's the best clue. And it's state, not federal, law that governs the deed language, which is sometimes rather fuzzy to the point even the STB walks away and defers to the state. About the time you're trying to read handrwitten deeds in 1850 written in quill pen and signed with an "X" you wonder how you got here.

Combine that with the ICC records and STB records, and you can dig forward to find out exactly if a railroad was, or wasn't, legally abandoned. It's been an object lesson to me to get tangled up in the fact that many of the USRA track abandonments during Conrail formation WERE legally abandoned as a wholesale lot, even if picked up and re-operated essentially as common carriers later, so that if 40 years later they owners walk away, they can proclaim they don't need to file for abandonment as it was already legally abandoned. That's been an interesting twist....

And then you get into some really fuzzy situations on whether a line really was, or really wasn't a common carrier, because only a common-carrier was included in valuation. You may think that the Stump & West Swamp railroad was a legal railroad in 1917, but if it wasn't in the ICC valuation records...anywhere....well, it wasn't.

I've truly come to love old valuation maps just for the history. On the good ones, every signal mast, outhouse, culvert, and fire plug is noted. You have to be stunned by the level of detail that was done.

Wasn't valuation started at least two years prior to our entry into WWI, and for very different purposes than fair compensation?

I recall it being intended for justification of maximum regulated shipping rates.

Jimmy McHugh of New Hope & Ivyland RR looked at the deed for his house at 500 Hulmeville Ave., Penndel, Pennsylvania and found that the old trolley car company had been given by a former owner the perpetual right to lay a passing siding in his front yard. Apparently the single track that was built was on the avenue's land.

A land owner along the New Hope & Ivyland RR in Bucks County, Pennsylvania complained that his deed showed that he still owned the part where the railroad was running. He fond no record of a sale, lease, easement, or agreement to allow the railroad to use part of his land. Jimmy McHugh replied that the answer was in the condemnation files, the right had been acquired by Eminent Domain!

If I found my own property had tracks on it in the past, I'd re-lay new tracks for at least one rail length.

Thank you, Mr. Gustafson, for this fine reminder of an excellent resource.