Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Minnesota

Re: railroad property

That depends. Most likely if the railroad had outright ownership of the land, the answer would be no. If all the railroad had was an easement, however, their right may have been limited to using the land for railroad purposes only - so that if the line is abandoned, the underlying owner gets the use of the land back.

Only way to find out for sure is a thorough check of the records at the courthouse having to do with the property in question.

My suggestion: gather together every piece of paper you have concerning the property in question, and consult in person with an attorney. If further work checking on the propery is possibly worth the expense, the attorney will tell you - and then you can hire him or her to do the research.

Good luck.