Marathon Pundit: "Rails to trails" fails for property owners

I'm a runner, and I enjoy working out on trails that have been converted from abandandoned rail road lines, such as the Illinois Prairie Path west of Chicago, the first path of its kind in the United States.

Lately the federal government has taken an interest in "rails to trails," and is something that should surprise no one, private property owners are getting trampled on.

From the Wichita Eagle:

(A) Butler County couple, Jerramy Pankratz, 31, and his wife, Erin, 29, own a home just outside the Andover city limits with an abandoned rail track in the back of their 11 acres.

They got word this month that a federal judge will consider whether the government should pay them for the nearly three years it has held the rail easement, while the cities of Andover and Augusta continue to debate if it should be converted into a trail.

(A) McPherson County cattleman, Royer Barclay, hasn't been paid for a former railway converted to a trail that cuts a swath across his 300-acre farm south of Lindsborg.

A different court ruled two years ago that he's not owed money because he didn't file his claim on time.