Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 1:09 pm
@Ken W2KB I suppose that makes sense provided the poles are on Conrail property. Typically anything within 25 feet of the either the tracks center or the edge of a tie (forgot which one) is considered railroad property. There are exceptions to this though.
To just cut around the poles, I don’t see why they would need Conrails permission. They do however, need permission if the trees along the track are in the way.
Either way, we will have to wait and see if anything else comes of this.
I checked the records, and the JCP&L electric line is on Conrail property. Although not the grant for this specific electric line, I have read over the years at least a dozen or so electric and gas utility easement deed grants conveyed by railroads and none required permission as such from the railroad to do maintenance on the lines. The easements grant the right to the utility to enter and perform inspections and work on the railroad property, subject only to prior notification to the railroad. The provisions governed entry anywhere on railroad property, not just in close proximity to the tracks, and typically required around a 10 day prior notice for routine work, and the railroad could not deny entry at the end of that 10 day period. If the tracks were active the railroad could legally require that the utility pay the reasonable cost of one or more railroad employee flaggers during hours the utility work was performed. If emergency utility repairs were required, the railroad had to grant access as soon as reasonably practicable, which would generally be at most several hours to get flaggers to the job site. So unless the grant by Conrail or its predecessor railroads owning this trackage had some highly unusual language in the deed conveying the easement to JCP&L, Conrail cannot deny entry if proper advance notice is given by the utility.