Brandon resident Jarrod Johnson purchased a home at 601 S. Main Ave. less than a year ago and voiced frustration because his house is less than 50 feet from the center line of the tracks, and he said his realtor told him the City of Brandon planned to make a bicycle path where the tracks are located, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.
Resident Corey Sitzmann, who owns a house in Brandon, reinforced Johnson’s bicycle path claim.
“When we purchased the lot and built the home there, that’s exactly what we were told — just as he was — that Brandon was putting a bike trail through there, that the rail line would be torn out,” Sitzmann said. “I just think it’s really sad that we’ve been lied to for 10 years on this whole deal.”
After a meeting with representatives from Ellis & Eastern and Concrete Materials, Brandon City Administrator Bryan Read updated the city council on plans to repair and use the railroad, the Argus Leader reported. Read said the tracks between Manley and Brandon will be repaired over the next two to three years. When repairs are completed, the Ellis & Eastern plans to store some cars in town, Read said.
One Alderwoman complained about car storage but Alderman Blaine Jones but acknowledged that the railroad existed before the city.
Read said trains that operate from Concrete Materials in Corson, S.D., to Sioux Falls are slated to double from 20 to 30 cars to 40 to 60 with the operation of a new quartzite mine north of Corson that will be opened in the next five to seven years. Production at the current sand mine could increase in the next few years as well.
Before the Minnesota Southern acquisition, Ellis & Eastern operated mainly in the Sioux Falls area. The ex-Chicago & North Western (Omaha Road) lines were purchased by Sweetman in the late 1980s and reopened in 1989. The railroad operates from Brandon through downtown Sioux Falls to Ellis, S.D. It also has trackage rights on BNSF from Sioux Falls to Corson to serve the Concrete Materials plant there.
Realtors have been known to ‘under exaggerate’! But hey, unless it is certified by local government, assume tracks will sooner or later be used. A sort of funny example. My wife and I were visiting my home town of Scranton PA for my high school reunion, staying at the hotel that now occupies the former HQ and station of the Lackawanna Railroad. We head out to go somewhere, and suddenly traffic stops. We look ahead as far as we can, and we see a freight train crossing the street, on tracks that were beyond dead when I grew up there decades earlier. A few minutes later, train was through and we were on our way. Railroading is part of what is bringing Scranton back from near dead.
I now live on Long Island, and piles of NIMBY’s are protesting LIRR adding a 3rd track 2 the two rack mainline for about 10 miles to where things split at Hicksville. They’ve had a major commuter and freight railroad there for a very long time, and the need for a 3rd track has been obvious most of that time, yet people claim they never thought it would happen, and are now upset that it is. Construction will be a pain, but when done, 7 grade crossings will be eliminated, less train horn noise, sound barriers added. Most neighbors will be in better shape, yet they fight it tooth and nail. And it is very badly needed. People can be delusional, like the people in the article.
Took some “before” pictures of all that… Missing rail east of Valley Springs, track paved over on county roads, and track seeming to vanish into a forest. I have never seen how a rail line gets put back into service after being dormant for almost 25 years, so for a train buff this should be a very educational project to follow. Nice to be living close by.
The railroad is a responsible business and pays taxes onwhatever land and right of way they own and operate on.
Besides trains are not running every 5 or ten minutes. If its a freight line, there are times or days when maybe one or no trains will operate due to the amount of traffic and business at any given time These residents are
complaining about trains. What about people that live next to a freeway and have to deal with nonstop noise and
pollution of cars and trucks roaring past 24 hours a day. If these NIMBYs don’t like it, they can always build a high fence or wall to block out the sight and noise of one opr two trains passing by a day. Same goes with bikers
riding past making noise, creating litter and looking into residents yards and windows. And just one more question: Who is paying for the upkeep and maintence of this bike path? Is it coming out of taxpayer’s money/
At least the railroad pays its way and its taxes.The bike path don’t and lets not forget that the railroad provides
jobs and employment for people including some of those NIMBYs who think trains are so vulgar and Public Enemy Number 1. Many years ago towns and residents welcomed the railroad for what it done. Now we have
politically correct folks and enviromentalists who want to turn the clock back by 200 0r 400 years.
Jopseph C Markfelder
“his realtor told him the City of Brandon planned to make a bicycle path”
Anybody who doesn’t work to verify a claim like that by a realtor really has nobody but themselves to blame.
I am a member of a group of volunteers who are clearing these very tracks. We have cleaned about 2 miles of trees and vegetation from Brandon east and will continue working easterly. We own ‘speeders’ and use them to pull a trailer with our tools. We put our equpement on at the lumber yard crossing and go right by these houses on the way east. I recall looking in a guy’s patio door, seeing him drinking his cup of coffee as we went by. I could see him watching us with a puzzled look on his face. Guess he know what’s going on now!!! Too bad I can’t post pictures here.
In Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, CN are planning on extending a line a few kilometres from a yard to an auto carrier dock. The right a way has been cleared but no track work has yet been done. A few years ago an apartment complex was built next to the proposed line. Just to make sure there were no misunderstandings, CN erected a very large sign explaining their plans.
Yeah, I’d rather have a train rolling by 50′ from my house than people running, biking, etc. that close to my house. Crime rates are higher for houses along bike paths than railroad tracks.
I seem to recall there were some folks in northern NJ who had pretty much the same reaction when the NYS&W was reactivated through Sparta as a way to run freight over the ex-Erie Southern Tier main line without interference from NJ Transit commuter trains. I don’t recall what the realtors had said in that case–it’s a couple of decades ago now–but I *do* remember that the trains ran regardless.
I’m reminded of a story done years ago about real estate sales in Daily City California which is South of San Francisco. The story was about people that had just bought real estate and were told the San Andreas was nearby but they did not know what it was. The Realtor that sold them the property did tell them the “San Andreas” was nearby as required by law but did not tell them what it really is. When they were told it was a major earth quake fault line they wanted to know why the realtor did not explain exactly what the “San Andreas” really was.
I looked it up. His back wall is 50 feet from the centerline and just 25 feet from the railroad right-of-way – his deck is even closer. Railroad could put up a fence and he’d “lose” half his backyard.
Buyer beware. If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist. Yes, the law provides for verbal promises, but real estate contracts (and any well-written commercial contracts) have “complete agreement” clauses declaring that any representations outside the written agreement are null and void. To avoid exactly this situation.
I’ve been lied to by real estate people, and so have a number of my family members. They are careful never to put any of their comments in writing, and they always manage to preface the lie with “I think”. If anyone relies on the information from a real estate agent, he is a fool. If some matter is important enough, research it for yourself. While those commissioned real estate people should be willing and able to find out such details and provide an explanation, there is no incentive for them to do the extra work. They are paid the same when they just pull something out of the air and tell you what they “think.”
Oh the humanity, my whole day is ruined.
SDOT was maintaining the crossings, including the ones right by the house, even before they were built. It’s not the realtor’s responsibility to verify the railroad in the backyard, its the prospective owner. I have heard this “realtor told me” story a thousand times.
So their realtor lied to them, and now they are angry because a 20 mph freight train will be going by there house about 6 times a week. I’d rather have the train than a steady stream of bicyclers.
Those residences next to the railroad are being given a financial break by being near the railroad account of tax rates are lower if near a railroad. And also taxes are based on value of property by recent sales so having a railroad there will make the taxes less based on value. Buyer beware.
For Civil War historians, Graffiti House near NS main line in Brandy Station, VA.
I would be jubilant that a railway line will be built or reactivated next to my house. Those residents are glinches when it comes to trains.
Sounds like these residents were misinformed by their realtors. I would think that anyone who might be considering building near a railroad right of way would want to check things out very carefully….not just taking the word of your realtor who might not know the whole story or maybe is just trying to get a fast sale. I know that if I were buying property for any purpose, I’d check everything very carefully (a title search perhaps?) and if I saw any trace of a railroad right of way, I’d want to know who owned the property at the present time so I could at least know what to maybe expect in the future. I happen to love trains but I would still like to know whether or not part of my presumed property could or would be reactivated as an operating railroad.
Why in blazes would anyone want to build a house next to a bike path? Hordes of alien-looking sweaty spandex clad hipsters hogging the right of way, throwing their water bottles and Gu energy packs all over the yard. I’d rather have the trains!
@JERRY CONAWAY, ditto that.
E&E will have to cut thru a lot of trees coming up thru the rails and put the diamond/interlock back in at Manley to complete the connection. So when the first train comes thru Valley Springs in some 25 years I will stand and salute them. Hallelujah! Have a happy July 4th.
Too bad the line was split in half (and this part taken out of service) in the first place. Why did that happen?
If you search the Minnehaha County GIS you will find one empty lot in the Railroad Edition along Main Avenue. It’s owned by the adjacent lumber company. A lumber company selling lots to build houses- what are the odds! It appears the residents have been misled by their neighbor.
Look at Google Maps and Street view. That house and several others were shoe-horned in on a narrow strip of ground between the tracks and the road. They are all relatively new homes. To get those in there setback variances would have to have been given by the city, and the developer and real estate agents would all have had to turned a blind eye to the possibility of future rail traffic. I think the owner has a point, and i think it will be a slam dunk case in court. The railroad is clear on this.
NIMBYs are rapidly becoming NOPEs — Not On Planet Earth.