Stanislaus railroad using eminent domain to acquire neighbors’ home, orchard
A shortline railroad has filed an eminent domain lawsuit to acquire a neighbor’s property near Oakdale, as a bitter legal dispute continues.
Sierra Northern Railway brought the legal action in March seeking to condemn the 113-acre property of Robert and Margo Cushing on Sierra Road, which borders a Sierra Northern grain-loading facility built in 2020 without county permits.
Sierra is known for a former Oakdale-to-Jamestown dinner train, as well as Mendocino’s Skunk Train and wine trips that charm customers in California. But the freight-hauling division of Sierra Northern upset neighbors east of Oakdale when in 2020 it built the Wamble Road facility, where ground corn grain is unloaded from rail cars and loaded onto trucks for shipment to dairies.
The Cushings, in a 2022 lawsuit against Sierra, charged that their rural property and lifestyle, including their dream home, pond and almond orchard, were ruined by dust and noise generated by the railroad facility.
The lawsuit stated: “The grain dust is everywhere. It accumulates on the almond orchard and in the irrigation lake. It covers the solar panels, gums up the lake filtration system and covers surfaces of the black-bottom swimming pool.” The Cushings charged that the dust irritates their eyes and fouls the air they breathe.
Their lawsuit has sought damages for inverse condemnation and alleged nuisance, trespass and elder abuse.
Robert Cushing and other neighbors have expressed outrage that federal law allowed the railroad to build the facility without an application for county permits, environmental review and a process to mitigate impacts to the neighbors.
The Cushings in September 2023 also sued Sierra’s truck transportation partner at the Wamble facility, Central Valley AG Group.
Sierra’s eminent domain lawsuit in Stanislaus Superior Court refers to Robert Cushing’s complaints and lawsuit against the railroad. It seeks to condemn the neighbor’s property to protect the safety and usefulness of the railroad operation and facilities.
The suit also seeks to acquire the Cushings’ property for “potential” construction and operation of expanded freight rail facilities. According to the lawsuit, Sierra expects to outgrow the Wamble yard within a few years and expects to add more services to meet customer demand, including transloading between rail cars and trucks, intermodal operations and rail car maintenance and storage.
Kennan Beard III, president and chief executive of Sierra Northern, said the facility provides a public service by transporting livestock feed to hundreds of dairies. As an inland port, it provides rail service for shipments to California ports, he added.
“For every rail car, we are taking four trucks off the highway,” Beard said. “It reduces emissions significantly.”
Cushing countered that the railroad five years ago indicated it would expand the facilities out to Wamble Road, on land obtained from Burchell Nursery through eminent domain. But it has done no further building.
Cushing said his hilly property just south of the Wamble facility is not suitable for storing rail cars. He argued the railroad doesn’t have a genuine project but is exercising eminent domain to be rid of Cushing and his lawsuit. “They filed for eminent domain on our property and it has taken away our ability to sell to another party,” he said.
Cushing noted that railroads are federally regulated but Sierra’s use of eminent domain falls under state law. One issue is whether Sierra can force a sale of property for a potential project.
Angela Freitas, county director of planning and community development, said by email Tuesday that Sierra Northern has not submitted expansion plans to the county and that her department is not aware of plans to expand the rail facility.
Beard said the county has not seen the expansion plans because “railroads don’t submit plans to the county.”
A trial before Superior Court Judge John Freeland, set for January, will determine if the Cushings’ 2022 lawsuit is preempted by federal law. “We are willing to sell to them if they can make us whole again,” Cushing said. “We would sadly leave this property.”
Federal law protects interstate railroads
Federal laws exempt railroads from local permitting so as not to impede interstate commerce. The preemption includes the environmental review process.
According to a League of California Cities legal presentation, the preemption does not apply to tourist trains and railroads operating in a single state, but Sierra is connected to the national rail system.
Normally, a project application to the county would trigger a review of compliance with zoning laws and permit conditions to minimize impacts of the development.
A larger rail operation would raise questions about improvements for large trucks on two-lane Wamble Road, which connects to Highway 120 north of the site. Beard said the railroad isn’t in a position to talk about road improvements.
Beard said Sierra Northern has made many dust-control improvements to the Wamble facility since a Modesto Bee story on the controversy in 2021. The improvements include a large building over piles of grain and covered piles outdoors. “I would say the situation is better to the point there is little dust leaving the property today,” Beard said. “We are far from being the major dust producer out there.”
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District issued a notice of violation to Sierra Northern in August 2021 for commencing construction without an approved dust-control plan. That same month, the air district cited Central Valley AG Group for a facility emitting significant particle emissions and failure to obtain authority before operating a commodity receiving and loading operation.
A spokeswoman said Wednesday that the air district could not comment further because the violations remain subject to pending investigations.
Beard said Sierra doesn’t have other immediate plans for facilities along its eastern Stanislaus County rail line, which dates to 1897. “But we are always looking to expand our rail business,” he said.
Debating a fair price for property
The Cushings stopped harvesting their almonds and replaced the 22-year-old trees with a young orchard.
Robert Cushing said the dust problem is better but not mitigated enough. “We believe the dust is mitigated enough to successfully plant and operate an orchard,” Cushing said. “The dust gets on our cars and solar panels and gets in our house. But we think we can be successful with the almonds.”
Attorneys on both sides of the litigation have discussed a price for the railroad to buy out the Cushings. “It’s way below what the market value is,” Cushing said. “We would want a price to enable us to leave the property and continue farming and have a lifestyle similar to what we are leaving, which is what eminent domain is all about.”
Cushing said he and his wife will turn 80 this year and the prolonged dispute is stressful.
To establish the Wamble facility, Sierra Northern entered a July 2020 agreement with Burchell Nursery to possess and use 76 acres of a 116-acre parcel, including an access for trains and trucks off Wamble Road.
The railroad deposited $2.76 million in an escrow account based on an appraisal of the 116 acres and filed an eminent domain complaint in court in April 2021 because Sierra and Burchell had not come to agreement over price.
After a trial in Superior Court, Judge Freeland’s ruling in August 2024 entitled Burchell to $3.8 million in compensation but granted $1.5 million in relief to Sierra. According to court records, Burchell was paid a net $2.3 million.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM.
