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Hartwell R.R. Co.v.Hartwell First United Methodist Church

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A23A1021
DecidedOctober 27, 2023
Reporter370 Ga. App. 134; 894 S.E.2d 481; 2023 Ga. App. LEXIS 520
JudgesBROWN, Judge. McFadden, P. J., and Markle, J., concur.
Tags
CivilProperty LawRailroad EasementDeclaratory JudgmentPermanent InjunctionHistoric Right-of-WayTitle Dispute
Case Summary

Hartwell Railroad and Great Walton Railroad disputed a 10-foot strip beside Hartwell First United Methodist Church, where a spur built in 1913 stood outside the railroads’ 20-foot mainline right-of-way. The railroads claimed a gap between the church’s parcel and the right-of-way; the deeds consistently used the railroad right-of-way as the parcel’s southern boundary, despite varying frontage measurements. After Walton removed the spur rails in 2008 and rebuilt the track in 2016, the trial court declared the church owned the strip and ordered the railroads to remove the track. The Court of Appeals affirmed title: the deed’s boundary call controlled over frontage distances, and the railroads showed no title to land outside their mainline right-of-way; license agreements could not give them ownership they never held. But it vacated the removal injunction because the Surface Transportation Board retained jurisdiction over the ancillary track and had deferred deciding whether it remained part of the interstate rail system. Further Board action may be needed before the track can be permanently removed.

Opinion

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