GAYS MILLS - Local residents have raised some doubts about the sale of a portion of a former railroad bed by the Crawford County Delinquent Tax Committee to the Village of Gays Mills.

The portion of the old railroad bed is located behind the Gays Mills Community Center and runs north through property owned by Dr. Richard Dudgeon, a local veterinarian. Actually, as defined by a map it appears the railroad bed in question starts at the Carter property runs north on the Dudgeon property toward land owned by Ritchie Stevenson, who owns BAPI (Building Automation Products Incorporated.)

Dudgeon says the deed he received when he purchased the property in the early 80s has deed stamps on it confirming his ownership of the railroad bed, which the previous owner had acquired.

On a walk over the portion of the railroad bed on Dudgeon’s property Saturday, the position of the bed on the land owned by the veterinarian seemed pretty clear. At one point, it is just on Dudgeon’s side of a line fence with the Robin and Mary Babb property. At other points Dudgeon owns the land on both sides of the bed.

Does he own it? It may come down to court decision. Will deed documents confirm Dudgeon’s ownership?

The train that once ran on the  tracks of the now abandoned railroad bed was nicknamed the Stump Dodger. It made its final scheduled run on August 17, 1939. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was the owner at that time. There were three previous owners. 

The train’s initial run was in 1889. It ran daily from LaFarge to Wauzeka.

As long as the owner of the railroad bed was a railroad company, the land was exempt from property taxes.

In 2014 with the identified owner as Railroad Properties LLC, the property was assessed because it was determined the owner was not a railroad. The seven-acre property was assessed at $8,400. No property taxes were ever paid. 

After a lengthy process of attempted notification of the owner, the property was foreclosed upon by Crawford County for unpaid property taxes in 2022. With the foreclosure completed, the county has offered to sell the property to the Village of Gays Mills for $3,200.

Crawford County Treasurer Deanne Lutz stood by her claim that the county had a deed, based on a mappable legal description of the property. 

Lutz referred any further questions to Equity Assessors, the firm that does assessments for the Village of Gays Mills. An Equity spokesperson confirmed the company had assessed the property in 2014 and the 2015 tax roll showed the property assessed at $8,400.

The property taxes were never paid and that brought on the county’s foreclosure. 

Josh Dudgeon, a son of Dr. Richard Dudgeon, runs a real estate investment firm out of his offices in the Gays Mills Mercantile Center. Josh joined his father Monday afternoon to help explain the situation.

Josh noted that Railroad Properties LLC seemed to exist in name only. He believes the company may have used quit claim deeds to gain access to a warranty deed for the property.

Josh and his father Richard believe that Elgin Lee, or possibly his Elgin’s father, drove down to the county offices and secured the railroad bed parcel. It was made a part of the farm property deed at some point after the railroad ceased operation.

Richard Lee, the son of Elgin Lee, remembers the railroad bed running through the family’s farm property. Richard Lee remembers happy days walking to school in Gays Mills on the cinders of the track bed after the rails and ties  were removed.

Richard Lee also remembers being told by his father, and maybe his grandfather, that the railroad bed was transferred to the farm by the railroad.

So what’s at stake?

Dr. Richard Dudgeon pastures cattle on about 100 acres he owns, which includes parts of sloughs and even some of the banks of the Kickapoo River. Dudgeon believes that to make a trail on the railroad bed would involve lots of sturdy fencing to keep his cattle on the pasture and off the trail. Given the wet nature of the property and its propensity for flooding, the fencing would require ongoing maintenance to insure it remained functional.

The local veterinarian has a couple of concerns. One is the interaction of people using the trail with his cattle–especially when the trail users may be unfamiliar with cattle. Another major concern is the cattle taking advantage of downed fences to get on the trail and escape the pasture. There would be nothing stopping them from taking the trail into Gays Mills once they were on it.

So where is this going?

Josh Dudgeon summarized it this way–they (trail proponents) may be winning the battle, but they’re losing the war.

Josh, who thinks the trail could be a positive for the village, believes that attempts to force landowners into it rubs people the wrong way. He cites the latest attempt to sell the railroad bed parcel to the village, instead of to the landowner whose property mostly surrounds the railroad parcel in question, and actually may well be the owner of it presently.

In an earlier discussion, Lutz, the  county treasurer, said the county would typically look to neighbors or municipalities to buy parcels like this. The treasurer said the village had shown interest in buying the property, so they were the first choice for selling the property.

(Editor’s note: The statement in a previous story that the railroad bed ran on the property of Robin and Mary Babb was in error. The railroad bed actually is located on property owned by Dr. Richard Dudgeon and is directly adjacent to the Babb property at one point.)