Boise Cascade Corp. v. Union Pacific Railroad

454 F. Supp. 531, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18825
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedMarch 24, 1978
DocketNo. C 76-374
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 454 F. Supp. 531 (Boise Cascade Corp. v. Union Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boise Cascade Corp. v. Union Pacific Railroad, 454 F. Supp. 531, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18825 (D. Utah 1978).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ALDON J. ANDERSON, Chief Judge.

This matter is presently before the court on the motions for summary judgment of the plaintiff and of the defendant railroad companies, and the motion to dismiss of the defendant United States. Inasmuch as the motion to dismiss of defendant United States is based in part upon Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and matters outside of the pleadings have been presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion to dismiss shall be treated as one for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 12(b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and disposed of in accordance with Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The matters presented by the motions have been thoroughly briefed by the parties, the matters were argued orally before the court on December 27, 1977, and the parties filed a stipulation of facts on January 3, 1978. Having fully and carefully considered the matters presented by the motions and concluding that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, the court is prepared to enter its ruling.

Essentially, the present controversy is a property dispute concerning a certain strip of property located in Utah County. According to the stipulation of facts, “[t]he defendant railroads claim title to an easement for railroad purposes across the property extending 100 feet on each side of the center line of its trackage, based upon the General Right-of-Way Act of Congress March 3, 1875.” Stipulation of Facts ¶ 4 (hereinafter “Stipulation”). The property in dispute is one side of the trackage only, that side being the west side. Rather than fencing the property to include the entire claimed 100 feet on each side of the track-age, the defendant railroads have, “for more than 20 years,” fenced in only 33 feet on each side of the trackage. The remaining 67 feet of the 100 feet on one side of the trackage claimed by defendants is also claimed (and fenced) by plaintiff and, thus, it is this property area that is in dispute in this litigation. Stipulation ¶ 7.

As fully set forth in the stipulation of facts, plaintiff has a record chain of title to the real property in question based upon a patent issued by the State of Utah to plaintiff’s predecessor in interest. Stipulation ¶ 1. “The State of Utah’s rights, if any, in and to the subject property, are based upon the Enabling Act which granted Utah Statehood and purported to convey to the State of Utah as a ‘school section’ all of Section 16 of Township 6 South, Range 2 East. The Enabling Act does not make any specific exception for the railroad right-of-way claimed by the defendant railroads, but does state that all lands granted the State under the Act are to be selected from the unappropriated public lands of the United States.” Stipulation ¶ 3 (emphasis added).

The respective positions of the parties may be briefly stated as follows. It is the contention of defendants that defendant railroads, or their predecessor in interest, complied fully with the General Right-of-Way Act of 1875 and thus obtained from Congress the 200 foot right-of-way across the west half of Section 16, which includes within its westerly boundary the property in question. Under the law, defendants argue, this right-of-way obtained from Congress is not subject to defeasance by any theory of state law or any type of equitable consideration. Defendant Railroads’ Reply Memorandum at 10. Plaintiff, on the other hand, claims that defendant railroads, or their predecessor in interest, did not comply fully with the General Right-of-Way Act of 1875 in that said parties filed an erroneous profile map with the Secretary of Interior and that, as a result thereof, defendant railroads have only “a possessory adverse [533]*533right to the area” presently occupied by them. Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Defendants’ Motions at 4. Plaintiff further claims that it is the fee title owner of the property in dispute by virtue of one or more of the following statutes and doctrines: that it is a bona fide purchaser for value of the realty; that plaintiff has adversely possessed the property for the required time; that defendants have abandoned the right-of-way; that plaintiff has obtained the property by the doctrine of boundary by acquiescence; that plaintiff has a sure root of title from the State of Utah as described earlier; that the Utah Marketable Title Act (Utah Code Ann. §§ 57-9-1 to 9) constitutes a bar to defendants’ claim to the property; and that plaintiff is a bona fide occupying claimant entitled to the benefits of Utah Code Ann. §§ 57-6-1 et seq. Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Defendants’ Motions at 1-2.

It is the opinion of the court that the defendant railroads, or their predecessor in interest, complied fully with the General Right-of-Way Act of 1875 and thereby acquired an easement for railroad purposes that was not affected by the patent granted by the State of Utah to plaintiff’s predecessor in interest, and that has not been and cannot be subject to defeasance by the common law and state property doctrines and provisions relied upon by the plaintiff. On the basis of 43 U.S.C. § 934 and Jamestown & N. R. Co. v. Jones, 177 U.S. 125, 20 S.Ct. 568, 44 L.Ed. 698 (1900), the court concludes that defendant railroads have a right-of-way that was perfected in the following manner: first, the filing of defendant railroads’ predecessor in interest, Utah Southern Railroad Company, with the Department of Interior its articles of incorporation and due proofs of organization by no later than September, 1875 (Stipulation ¶ 6); and, second, the construction of the railroads’ trackage in 1873 (Stipulation ¶ 5). The above filings together with the previous actual construction of the trackage was all that was necessary to comply fully with the 1875 Act. As defendants correctly contend, the filing of the profile map pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 937 and upon which plaintiff hinges its non-compliance argument is required and relevant only in connection with those situations in which the trackage is not already actually constructed at the time of the other required filings. Jamestown, supra, at 130-31, 20 S.Ct. 568.

Since the grant of the right-of-way under § 934 was secured by the actual construction of the trackage and the filing of the articles of incorporation and due proofs of organization, the only remaining question is whether the claim of the railroads based upon the Congressional grant to the railroads is inferior to the claim of plaintiff by virtue of the doctrines cited by plaintiff. First, the court concludes that the right-of-way granted by Congress cannot be diminished by conveyance, or by the doctrines, of adverse possession, abandonment or boundary by acquiescence. See, e. g., Northern Pac. Ry. v. Townsend, 190 U.S. 267, 23 S.Ct. 671, 47 L.Ed. 1044 (1903);

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Bluebook (online)
454 F. Supp. 531, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boise-cascade-corp-v-union-pacific-railroad-utd-1978.