Federal Farm Mortgage Corp. v. Smith

The opinion of the court was delivered by

DawsoN, C. J.:

This appeal presents a somewhat novel phase of the not unfamiliar question: What becomes of a strip of land taken from a farm by condemnation for a railway right of way when the right of way is abandoned?

Some half century ago a strip of land half a mile long and 100 feet wide, along the west side of the southwest quarter of section 28, township 18 south, range 17, in Osage county, was condemned for a railway right of way. The dominant estate thus created was used by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company until a few years ago, when the…