Nickel Plate Trail landowners secure $7.6M in federal settlement

The federal government will pay out $7.6 million to landowners along the Nickel Plate Trail—formerly the Nickel Plate Railroad—to settle a nearly 6-year-old legal fight over property, Kansas City, Missouri-based law firm Stewart Wald & Smith announced.

The settlement involves 168 property owners along more than 20 miles of the Nickel Plate Trail from just south of East 16^th Street in Indianapolis to just west of the White River in Noblesville.

Stewart Wald & Smith, which specializes in rails-to-trails litigation, filed multiple suits against the federal government in 2018 on behalf of the landowners, alleging the owners weren’t compensated for their property beneath the tracks when the railroad was converted into a trail.

Local and federal officials organized in 2018 to convert the former railway into the Nickel Plate Trail as part of a commonly-used practice that maintains the right of way for potential future usage as a rail line, called railbanking. But the companies who constructed railroad tracks were granted easements for the land, which was meant to revert back to landowners when the railroad was no longer used.

Law firms focused on rail-to-trail conversions began approaching Hamilton County property owners in 2018, including Stewart Wald + Smith. Ultimately, two cases in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims from the same firm were consolidated to represent the 168 landowners. 

“It has been a long fight, and our clients have been very patient, but individuals’ property rights are very important, and it is satisfying to see them vindicated despite resistance from the federal government,” Steven Wald, an attorney with Stewart Wald + Smith, said in a statement.

The awards range from four figures to six figures, according to Jackie Tebbe, marketing manager with Stewart Wald + Smith. 

The individual awards are based on the square footage of land owned within the Nickel Plate corridor, which is measured from the amount of frontage owned and how far it is from the centerline of the corridor. The award amounts are determined based on the value of the land on the date of the “taking,” which Tebbe defined as December 21, 2018.

Tebbe said all of the $7.6 million will go to the landowners. The firm is receiving separate legal fees—which she did not disclose—and that all legal expenses were paid by the firm and will ultimately be reimbursed by the federal government.

The firm is still representing an additional 175 landowners along the Nickel Plate Trail in ongoing cases. Additionally, it said in a statement that there are at least 100 other landowners that have the right to file claims ahead of Dec. 21, 2024—the date the six-year statute of limitations ends.