Last week, lawyers representing the Columbus Consolidated Government and Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services appeared before U.S. District Judge Clay Land after the railroad company filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit the city filed to recover about 90 acres of land it claims should have been returned to it because of a 19th-century agreement.
The city filed a lawsuit last August against Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies, including Genesee & Wyoming, to recover land it claims should have reverted to city ownership because of an agreement made over 175 years ago.
CCG, represented by the Columbus law firm Page, Scrantom, Sprouse, Tucker & Ford, argues the railroads requested land from the city for a depot in 1847, which was agreed upon because of the benefits a passenger depot would provide to Columbus citizens…