Oh boy, a hiking trail.

The section of trail from Hendersonville to Pisgah is the Ecusta Trail following the old Ecusta line named after the paper mill in Pisgah. The word Ecusta is a Cherokee word meaning rippling waters, fitting because it somewhat followed the French Broad River. It does not follow I 26 but rather HWY 64. When the mill closed, the line stopped. They tried to get another industry to move in there and keep the line open but with no luck from what I understand.

It is sad when tracks are pulled up but sometimes, they serve no purpose. I agree that someday the railroads will want some of these lines back. I wish that they had kept the old Camden/Amboy line in NJ open, even just for historical reasons as it was one of the first passenger lines in the country and where the John Bull ran. They DID make use of the Trenton to Camden section for light rail. THAT unfortunately brought a lot of trouble to small towns along the line, probably much more trouble than what cyclists and walkers will bring to the homes along the Ecusta Trail.

Personally, I am looking forward to the Ecusta Trail's completion or at least the first phase this December. Eventually it will hook up with Etowah and then Brevard.  As a former long distance road cyclist, I cannot ride my bike in the Hendersonville area because of the lack of shoulders on curved busy roads as well as the steep hills which I can no longer do. Once finished, we can safely ride or walk to Main ST in Hendersonville or head west towards Brevard.

Mikki

I would think that the R-O-W is NOT their property? It was a R O W when they built their homes? My .02.

Correct, the houses are not on the R_O_W, although I understand that in a few instances a small part of their properties were purchased. This is a chance that you take when buying a home that is along rr tracks, highways (which OFTEN have right of way onto what people perceive as a home's property), next to large vacant lots, or in an area zoned commercial. It took me two years to find my new home.  I turned down a few homes once I did my due diligence. One home in particular had the perfect basement for a huge layout and direct access to the outside BUT it was on HWY 64 and even though it was set back behind trees to block some road noise, the area was zoned commercial, and I would not have been a happy camper with certain types of business right at my front door. One should always look to future possibilities when buying a home.

Mikki

Whenever I hear rail-trail I take it with a grain of salt.  I've seen locally where they removed all signs that it ever was a rail line.  An example is in Matawan, NJ where there was an old bumper off to the side of the trail.  They ended up removing that for reasons unknown to me.

@Frank Mulligan posted:

Whenever I hear rail-trail I take it with a grain of salt.  I've seen locally where they removed all signs that it ever was a rail line.  An example is in Matawan, NJ where there was an old bumper off to the side of the trail.  They ended up removing that for reasons unknown to me.

Well, yes, but you need to take into account what a "rail-trail" project is intended to be. It's not a historical preservation endeavor, attempting to preserve the semblance of a working railroad. Rather, it's an attempt to preserve the right of way as a coherent assembly of linear land parcels against a potential future transportation right of way need (light rail, monorail, maglev?), and in the meantime put it to use for community benefit.

And sure, if adjacent property owners bought their properties in the anticipation that the defunct rail operations on the ROW would remain defunct, I can understand their disappointment when their wager proved less beneficial than expected. However, I have yet to see a rail-trail conversion that can hold a candle to the burden those properties endured with active rail operations next door, and frankly any new transportation burden would also pale in comparison to the coal/fuel oil-powered era. I suspect any property adjacent to a transportation ROW has already had its valuation significantly discounted, so the "burdened" property owners have likely already been fully compensated for the potential burden IMHO. To the extent re-use for transportation purposes *does* pose an additional burden on adjacent property owners, the courts can resolve the value of that alleged additional 'taking'.

[And while I'm no authority on rail ROW issues, I *have* in the past occasionally represented the owner of the ROW for the former local short line from Baltimore to Annapolis, on a portion of which the B & A hiking-biking trail was built, presumably ground leased from the fee owner. Others who desired to cross or otherwise use any portion of the ROW needed to negotiate the terms of such use with my client, the fee owner, and such use had to be consistent with the rail-trail use already on that portion.]

@CALNNC posted:

One of the big issues with this Brevard hiking path is that the rail line runs to as close as 50 feet from the front porches of some homes, and through pastures along the way.  Now these homes out in the country, will have strangers traipsing across their property.

If the nearest rail trail to where I live is any indication, the numbers of people using it ought not to be overwhelming.  From what I have seen, small groups (up to 4) hikers take the trail, and -- mostly on weekends -- an occasional group of bicyclists will use it together.  Otherwise, it's just used by an occasional solo hiker or bike rider.

Anyone living out in the country likely has at least one firearm in the house and is cautious when home alone, particularly if a stranger comes onto the property.  It is not good etiquette to approach a farm or ranch house unannounced.  Personally, I'd rather have recreational exercise enthusiasts passing my house instead of hoboes, but that's just me.

The Creeper Trail in Virginia is simply amazing, and has probably revitalized that area of Appalachia more than anything else. Some of the original N&W structures still remain.

@smd4 posted:

The Creeper Trail in Virginia is simply amazing, and has probably revitalized that area of Appalachia more than anything else. Some of the original N&W structures still remain.

I agree, when my kids were at the age they could safely navigate a bike that distance, we took that ride a few times over the years.  In comparison though, it is quite a bit more in the boonies than the Pisgah Branch.  This area has quite a bit of retiree migration, and the one thing that could have saved it as a rail line, was a commercial incinerator planned for Brevard after the paper mill shutdown.  It was supposed to be state of the art, high temps, no fumes, the rail line as its primary connection. but the influx of people on retirement income stopped a chance for those out of work to remain in the area with an actual company in place.    In its heyday, the paper mill used so much power, there was not enough capacity available from Duke Power, so they had their own diesel generator power plant, and tank cars of fuel a major commodity passing down the line.  The primary paper product from Ecusta...paper used for cigarette production.  The plant was bought up by a English 'gentleman', who, after about 2 years, shut it down with $6 million in outstanding orders not fulfilled, and sold the equipment, buildings and land and went back to England.