§940 Forfeiture of Rights Where Railroad Not Constructed in Five Years After Location

Summary

Any railroad right of way or station land given before February 25, 1909, under sections 934 to 939 will be canceled and go back to the United States for any parts of the line that had not been built, if the five-year building period after the road was located had already expired by that date. The United States becomes full owner again, free of the old railroad rights, without any extra transfer paperwork. People who received land from the United States before February 25, 1909 that had been subject to those grants automatically get the benefit of the cancellation. If construction was actually happening in good faith on February 25, 1909, those rights are left alone.