We just lost 50% of the access to the Cape Cod Canal

[mikecc]

I just got off the phone with John Pearson from Cape Rail Inc. I was informed that they will enforce the trespass order on all who cross their property. 1st time a warning 2nd time arrested and prosecution. I was also informed that this will be for all the property which they control, which is all the rail lines on cape cod. He went on saying there is 3 access points on the cape side and only 3 access points all others are not in agreement with the army corps and are not allowable and any use of these areas are not allowed and will be enforced
If you would like to give John a call his direct # is 401-862-5343
This is going to get interesting.

[Clogston29]

its going to be a tough fight to keep access if they decide that they are serious about preventing trespassing. if the railroad owns the property and there are not established legal right of ways (which would require standard, ADA compliant pedestrian railroad grade crossings with gates) they can do whatever they want on their land. Amtrak, CSX, etc. are all very strict on trespassing - you have to take a training course just to walk on their property as a contractor. the "i've always cut through here" argument really will not hold any water. they've always had the right to keep people out, they can decide to do it whenever they want. i was actually always surprised that cutting across the tracks was tolerated along the canal.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Clogston29

its going to be a tough fight to keep access if they decide that they are serious about preventing trespassing. if the railroad owns the property and there are not established legal right of ways (which would require standard, ADA compliant pedestrian railroad grade crossings with gates) they can do whatever they want on their land. Amtrak, CSX, etc. are all very strict on trespassing - you have to take a training course just to walk on their property as a contractor. the "i've always cut through here" argument really will not hold any water. they've always had the right to keep people out, they can decide to do it whenever they want. i was actually always surprised that cutting across the tracks was tolerated along the canal.

The only way to change it is to cause enough outrage to bring bad PR to Cape Rail. These battles are not won in the courts as the corporations have too much money. These battles are won in the newspapers, on the radio and in the news.

Unless the business is losing money or politicians might lose an election, the little guy can't win.

As Clogston mentioned, they are completely in their right to enforce trespass laws since they own the property. The difference is if enough people get outraged that they are forced to go back to turning a blind eye.

[Back Beach]

Great, just great....this means the few remaining peripatetic fisherman must either become canal bikers or take up golf....you know the kind I mean, 3-4 rod holders, fuzzy dice on the handle bars, missing seats, sissy bars, and the like.

I'm moving to Greenland.

[Clogston29]

another way to look at it is that they have a legal responsibility to enforce trespassing on their land as their operations (running trains down rail) endanger anyone on their property. if someone were to get hit by a train or fall while crossing the rails and get seriously injured, i would think that they could be found criminally negligent and responsible for knowingly allowing the general public to pass through their property, which contains known dangers.

an argument could be made that they should provide passage through their land to the canal as a service to the community, but I don't think it could be forced on them - especially if existing right of ways exist and the access road runs between them. and again, if they did it would have to be provided in a safe and ADA complient(read expensive) way.

[tattoobob]

If there land isn't posted with signs saying NO TRESPASSING then they can't enforce the laws of fine you

[MikeToole]

Originally Posted by mikecc

I just got off the phone with John Pearson from Cape Rail Inc. I was informed that they will enforce the trespass order on all who cross their property. 1st time a warning 2nd time arrested and prosecution. I was also informed that this will be for all the property which they control, which is all the rail lines on cape cod. He went on saying there is 3 access points on the cape side and only 3 access points all others are not in agreement with the army corps and are not allowable and any use of these areas are not allowed and will be enforced
If you would like to give John a call his direct # is 401-862-5343
This is going to get interesting.

If you call a company representative of course they will tell you they plan on enforcing the rules. They will always give you the standard company line. If they didn't they would open themselves up to all kinds of legal issue.

I would just keep quiet on this issue and see if they start really enforcing the rule on a large scale. This may just have been a case of one person being a jerk. Make a big deal out of it and others may start enforcing it just the first guy doesn't look like a jerk. Police will often do this to protect their own. Hopefully this will be a non-issue.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by MikeToole

If you call a company representative of course they will tell you they plan on enforcing the rules. They will always give you the standard company line. If they didn't they would open themselves up to all kinds of legal issue.

I would just keep quiet on this issue and see if they start really enforcing the rule on a large scale. This may just have been a case of one person being a jerk. Make a big deal out of it and others may start enforcing it just the first guy doesn't look like a jerk. Police will often do this to protect their own. Hopefully this will be a non-issue.

This is exactly what I would say too. The more you call some flunky in RI, the more they'll realize how widespread this "problem" is and the more they'll send out people to enforce this. Eventually they may even fence off the tracks along the parking spots.

In any event, crossing RR tracks at grade crossings is not trespassing, and there are 3-4 "grade" crossings Capeside where they cannot stop people from crossing--as this clown in RI freely admitted to Mike.

Mike--one question--was the guy who got the summons fishing off the trestle--that popular tautog spot?

[mikecc]

He was crossing the tracks to launch a kayak. The guy that stopped him would not even let him retrieve it, and told him to bring it around to another spot down stream of their property.