EASLEY — A tree has fallen across a stretch of railroad just north of Easley.
The steel rails are rusting; the wooden ties are disintegrating in many places; erosion has cut deep gullies along the railway — and between the ties in some spots.
The railroad that locals call the "Doodle Line" cuts an 8.5-mile path through mill villages, over creeks, across hayfields, up and down rolling hills and through forest land between Easley and Pickens, where its operator, the Pickens Railway Co., is headquartered.
But the picturesque single line of rail is rarely used.
The Pickens Railway is seeking a buyer for the rail line under a federal "rails-to-trails" program that proponents say could convert the largely abandoned right of way into a tourist attraction.
The idea, still in its infancy, has also attracted its share of critics worried about the expense to taxpayers.
Donnie Sims, general manager of Pickens Railway, said he's in talks with the cities of Pickens and Easley about a sale. His business' operations are moving to Anderson, and the company no longer needs the Pickens-Easley route.
The Swamp Rabbit Trail has been an economic and recreational boon for neighboring Greenville County, he said, and the cities approached him when they learned of his railroad's sale.
"When I was growing up, as a kid you could ride a bike," Sims said. "We used to go everywhere. Now, riding on Highway 8, you'd get killed. These are country roads, too narrow. There's no where to do it safely."
Jonathan "Fox" Simons Jr., city administrator of Easley, said the cities of Easley and Pickens filed a notice of interim trail use with the federal Surface Transportation Board last month concerning the Pickens Railroad. Pickens city administrator Katherine Brackett also confirmed that her city is negotiating with the railroad for the line's purchase.
"All this means is we have about six months to work out an agreement with the railroad," Simons said.
Pickens County has also been approached about helping with the trail project, council Chairwoman Jennifer Willis said. The county's role so far has been to study environmental effects.
Pickens County Councilman Trey Whitehurst said people have attended council meetings speaking for and against the project.
"We tell them we are happy to be a forum, but this is not something we are proposing," Whitehurst said.
The Pickens Railway, often referred to as the Doodle Railway, began operating at full throttle in the 1890s. It carried timber and kaolin; running trains backward between stops inspired the nickname from the doodlebug.
Those supporting the project say the railway would become a linear park, providing hiking, biking and recreation opportunities for tourists and residents alike. They also see the trail as a way to increase business and tax revenues — as the Swamp Rabbit has done in Greenville.
Sims said he could not discuss the railway's sale price. Associated costs of developing the trail also have not been determined at this time.
According to Upstate Forever, a local environmental group that supports the trail concept, the railway is on the market for $500,000.
Under authority granted by the U.S. Congress and affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1990, owners abandoning a railroad can in theory reacquire rights for rail service at a later date.
Known as "railbanking," the procedure allows a railroad to reclaim a corridor and put a transportation system in place at any time. The railroad would also have to reimburse users for the land and any development costs.
The railroad's Sims said one long-term advantage of the rails-to-trails program is keeping the corridor intact.
"It is very important to have these transportation corridors in the hands of one owner in case they need to be reclaimed," he said.
"It's a once-in a lifetime opportunity," he added.
Some of the corridor cannot be purchased outright, Sims added. New owners would only obtain the right to control and use the land.
"It is no different than any utility easement that runs across someone's property," Sims said. "The utility has the right to maintain their interests. It is the same in this case."
Some opposed to the recreation corridor cite the original intent of federal law that promised to give adjacent landowners first shot at repurchasing property used for railway right of way.
The Doodle Line starts in downtown Easley and heads west along Main Street before turning north and then west to roughly parallel S.C. 8, where it passes through modest neighborhoods and industrial areas. The railway takes another sharp turn north just past Rice Road and continues along the road through increasingly rural countryside. When Rice hits Welborn Road, the generally westbound railroad again takes a sharp turn northward and crosses over Wolf Creek before banking west toward the city of Pickens along S.C. 183.
It is along Welborn Road that the trail offers a view of farms, hayfields and — in the distance — Glassy Mountain.
After passing an abandoned, largely dismantled mill off Railroad Street in Pickens, the line ends in downtown Pickens at the rail yard near Hampton Avenue and Railroad Street.
Sims said the rail line is still used to move remanufactured locomotives from Pickens to Easley to be sold to the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
Lisa Scott Hallo, director of Upstate Forever's sustainable communities program, said her environmental organization strongly supports the trail — in part for how it can revitalize rundown areas of town.
"It invites people to utilize that space," Hallo said. "In many ways, it attracts higher uses than ways that may be blighted at this time."
Pickens County administrator Chap Hurst said he is concerned that some properties abutting the 25- to 50-foot-wide corridor do not have fee simple title, meaning ownership could be muddled. Hurst also questioned the safety of trestles along the route, the cost of removing the old railroad track, where the money would come from and whether the project would meet federal requirements for recreational use."I don't think this is a good business deal," Hurst said. "In my experience, railroads give abandoned property for recreation, not require it be purchased."
The Pickens County Taxpayers Association, a conservative watchdog group, recently decided to officially oppose the project "after much deliberation."
Whitehurst said the county could be asked to help pay for developing the trail.
"If taxpayer money is involved, it is off the table as far as I am concerned," he said.
Whitehurst said he would, however, consider dedicating hospitality tax money to the trail. Brackett said hospitality funds, which must be used for tourism activities, would be one way the city of Pickens could pay for the property.
"We have to be careful about problems that could cost the taxpayers a lot of money," Whitehurst said. "I am told there is an endangered plant growing in the right-of-way that would need protection and creosote in the railroad ties may have created an environmental cleanup situation. That sounds like money to me."
Other concerns such as people using the throughway for dumping garbage or mugging unsuspecting joggers, Hallo said, are generally alleviated once trails open and people start using it. In Greenville County, a sheriff's deputy regularly patrols the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
"Crime happens anywhere," the railroad's Sims said. "Don't let the criminals direct what you do."
Surveys through the Pickens County YMCA and Easley Chamber of Commerce members found that 80 to 90 percent of members support the trail concept, according to Upstate Forever.
Hallo said that a recent study her organization undertook in partnership with Furman University found that more than 359,000 people a year use Greenville's 17.5-mile Swamp Rabbit Trail.
Businesses surveyed near the trail also reported a 30 to 85 percent growth in revenue since the trail opened in 2009."From our perspective, with the economic benefits of trials like the Swamp Rabbit, we would expect similar results for Pickens Doodle," Hallo said. "That's not even getting into the benefits to health and quality of life."
Most people get everywhere in their cars. With the opening of Swamp Rabbit, she said, 6 percent of users report taking the trail to work — a higher number than researchers had expected.
"Any time we can get out of the car is a benefit to all of us," Hallo said.