The idea for
converting the
abandoned
Pumpkinvine
Railroad into a
multiuse trail
began with John
Yoder in 1988.
from State Road 4 to County Road 28
to see what condition it was in and
discovered that the corridor was intact,
though overgrown with prickly rose
bushes and downed trees. On Dec. 4,
1989, John convened a meeting of four
other Goshen residents, John Kolb,
Chet Peachey, Ervin Beck and Norm
Kauffmann, to talk about the possibility of converting the corridor into a
linear park. They agreed to explore the
possibilities with the help of the Railsto-Trails Conservancy and the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources. In
March 1990, attorney Galen Kauffmann joined the ad hoc committee.
One of the first things that the
He was on sabbatical with his wife committee did was to have a title
company look at the deeds the railroad
and daughter in Oak Brook, Illinois,
which happened to be a few miles from got when they built the railroad. If
the deeds were fee simple, the railone of the first rails-to-trails conversions in the country, The Illinois Prairie road under Indiana law, could sell the
Path. After riding on that trail with his corridor to anyone. If the deeds were
easements, the corridor would revert to
twelve-year old daughter, he began to
the original landowner or their sucthink about the possibility of convertcessors in interest. That title search
ing the Pumpkinvine corridor into a
showed that eighty-five percent of the
similar trail and greenway.
In May 1989, John and Ervin Beck, corridor was fee simple. However, the
local trail opponents decided to contest
a fellow faculty member at Goshen
the ownership.
College, walked the Pumpkinvine
In 1992 the Friends of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail formed an Indiana
not-for-profit corporation to purchase
the corridor, which happened in December 1993. According to Yoder, “We
paid Penn Central $100,000 for what
it owned of the corridor. A few months
later we purchased a section in Middlebury from the owner of Big C Lumber.”
Over the next 17 years, the Friends
of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, Inc.
were involved in nine legal challenges
to their ownership. Yoder went on to
say, “All cases were resolved in our
favor, or we reached an agreement
with the other party that permitted
the trail to be rerouted around farm
fields.” According to Yoder, “In the first
two law suits, we had pro bono legal assistance of Jim Byron, Chuck Grodnik
and Jim Brotherson from two Elkhart
law firms.” He went on to say, “Without
their assistance in “quieting title,” the
project would have died because the local park departments did not have the
resources to clarify the titles.” Board
members who worked very hard in
negotiations with adjacent land owners
were Jim Smith and Bob Carrico.
continued on next page
TheThe Hometown Treasure Apr. ‘12 ·· pg 13
Hometown Treasure · · Apr. ‘12 pg