[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR169.23]

[Page 516-517]
 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
     CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 169--RIGHTS-OF-WAY OVER INDIAN LANDS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 169.23  Railroads.

    (a) The Act of March 2, 1899 (30 Stat. 990), as amended by the Acts 
of February 28, 1902 (32 Stat. 50), June 21, 1906 (34 Stat. 330), and 
June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 859; 25 U.S.C. 312--318); the Act of March 3, 
1875 (18 Stat. 482; 43 U.S.C. 934); and the Act of March 3, 1909 (35 
Stat. 781), as amended by the Act of May 6, 1910 (36 Stat. 349; 25 
U.S.C. 320), authorize grants of rights-of-way across tribal, 
individually owned and Government-owned land, except in the State of 
Oklahoma, for railroads, station buildings, depots, machine shops, side 
tracks, turnouts, and water stations; for reservoirs, material or 
ballast pits needed to the construction, repair, and maintenance of 
railroads; and for the planting and growing of trees to protect railroad 
lines. Rights-of-way granted under the above acts shall be subject to 
the provisions of this section as well as other pertinent sections of 
this part 169. Except when otherwise determined by the Secretary, 
rights-of-way for the above purposes granted under the Act of February 
5, 1948 (62 Stat. 17; 25 U.S.C. 323-328), shall also be subject to the 
provisions of this section.
    (b) Rights-of-way for railroads shall not exceed 50 feet in width on 
each side of the centerline of the road, except where there are heavy 
cuts and fills, when they shall not exceed 100 feet in width on each 
side of the road. The right-of-way may include grounds adjacent to the 
line for station buildings, depots, machine shops, side tracks, 
turnouts, and water stations, not to exceed 200 feet in width by a 
length of 3,000 feet, with no more than one station to be located within 
any one continuous length of 10 miles of road.
    (c) Short spurs and branch lines may be shown on the map of the main 
line,

[[Page 517]]

separately described by termini and length. Longer spurs and branch 
lines shall be shown on separate maps. Grounds desired for station 
purposes may be indicated on the map of definite location but separate 
plats must be filed for such grounds. The maps shall show any other line 
crossed, or with which connection is made. The station number shall be 
shown on the survey thereof at the point of intersection. All 
intersecting roads must be represented in ink of a different color from 
that used for the line for which application is made.
    (d) Plats of railroad station grounds shall be drawn on a scale of 
400 feet to an inch, and must be filed separately from the line of 
route. Such plats shall show enough of the line of route to indicate the 
position of the tract with reference thereto. Each station ground tract 
must be located with respect to the public survey as provided in 
Sec. 169.8 and all buildings or other structures shall be platted on a 
scale sufficiently large to show clearly their dimensions and relative 
positions.
    (e) If any proposed railroad is parallel to, and within 10 miles of, 
a railroad already built or in course of construction, it must be shown 
wherein the public interest will be promoted by the proposed road. Where 
the Interstate Commerce Commission has passed on this point, a certified 
copy of its findings must be filed with the application.
    (f) The applicant must certify that the road is to be operated as a 
common carrier of passengers and freight.
    (g) The applicant shall execute and file, in duplicate, a 
stipulation obligating the company to use all precautions possible to 
prevent forest fires and to suppress such fires when they occur, to 
construct and maintain passenger and freight stations for each 
Government townsite, and to permit the crossing, in a manner 
satisfactory to the Government officials in charge, of the right-of-way 
by canals, ditches, and other projects.
    (h) A railroad company may apply for sufficient land for ballast or 
material pits, reservoirs, or tree planting to aid in the construction 
or maintenance of the road. The authority to use any land for such 
purposes shall terminate upon abandonment or upon failure to use the 
land for such purposes for a continuous period of 2 years.