Along

Posted by: @jph

Does the boundary go to the edge of the power ROW or to the centerline?

Where are the stakes?

@norman-oklahoma

Weird I couldn't find them - I mean, they were there in 1925, right?

First determine if along Main Street is sideline or centerline, then locate Smith's fence. The power line is very likely at an angle to both, so the distance stated can reinforce one opinion or the other. New England Power Company most likely has a recorded easement, most likely in the Miscellaneous Book, which most often would include a sketch. If the easement states "for a pole line" there may be no width to it. While you are locating Main Street and Smith's fence you should also be getting poles or towers and the right of way clear area. You should also be reading the parcel deeds on the opposite side of the power line as well as Smith's deed. The "along" statement gives you a direction and that may be all that is certain.

Paul in PA

Along the side of Main Street ROW,

then along the side of the power ROW 154ft+/- to a fence.?ÿ

?ÿ

Is where I would start looking at fitting things together.

Wouldn't the call preceding the first call you list establish the location of Main Street?

JPH- Is this in Mass??ÿ Derelict Fee may apply.?ÿ Need to see where NE Power's interest came from.?ÿ Is it an easement or a fee acquisition??ÿ If easement then it may run to the center but you need to see if you can determine who NEP received the right from.?ÿ Those are some fun searches sometimes.?ÿ

@dgm-pls

Yes, western Mass.  The 1924 deed conveyed a 250' wide easement within a 100+ acre parcel.  Then a year later a parcel of land was sold off containing the above description.

I agree about the road, derelict fee, etc., and that's not my concern as some others here seem to be. 

I posted this because as with roads and streams, "along" usually means to the center, unless otherwise stated.  In this case, I think that the term "right of way" is what is misleading.  If replaced with, "easement", then it becomes more clear that it's to the edge.  My opinion, obviously.

Without evidence to the contrary, my first inclination is ALONG = CENTER.?ÿ But then I start doing my homework to find if the intent was otherwise.

?ÿ

2 cents

@jph

A right of way is merely an easement, with a specific bundle of rights. Given the facts you presented, the power line easement is clearly a linear monument within the meaning of M.G.L. Ch. 183 Sec. 58, so the boundary of the described lot is the center line of the easement. The word "along" is not sufficient to "...evidence a different intent by an express exception or reservation and not alone by bounding by a side line."

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@peter-lothian

Ok, I can see what you're saying.  The easement deed doesn't refer to it as a ROW, though, just the deed conveying the parcel. 

If this were say a triangular easement for something, then how would you determine the extent of the conveyance, since there would be no center line?

@jph

I would ask, "is this easement a linear monument?" If the answer is "no", then M.G.L. Ch. 183 Sec. 58 does not apply. The full easement parcel is a monument to the conveyed parcel boundary, so hold the boundary of the easement.

@peter-lothian

I guess that's where my hang-up is.?ÿ The fact that this is an easement with a defined width that continues to/from the parcel, makes it a "linear monument"?

I understand roads, streams, rivers, as they're used for travel, commerce, fishing, etc.?ÿ But a power line easement is none of those.?ÿ

?ÿ

And if this easement were given a metes and bounds description vs a width and being defined by the poles/structures, would it still be considered a linear monument?

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?ÿ

I would tend to hold the existing utility as the centerline knowing full well that underground power lines often fall outside the written description while overhead sometimes actually monument the described centerline. How does the existing utility fit the description?

@jph

Is it actually titled "easement deed"? If it is granted by a deed it is not an easement, but a fee parcel.

@jamesf1

It's an easement deed

@jph

Seriously - it's not possible to say absolutely from the information offered. The assumption would be that "along Main Street" means along the centerline of Main Street. But that is by no means a sure thing. And if I'm going to say that "along Main Street" means along centerline, then how could I say that "along said Right of Way" doesn't, in turn, refer to it's centerline? If so, how wide is the easement?

Hopefully you have some extrinsic evidence that will clarify the meaning. What do the adjoiner deeds say? Is there an easement deed? Is there some sort of electric utility? Occupation?   

@mightymoe

The distance along the road and then the distance heading northerly along Smith, both fit within 10' or so of the called for distances, with the sideline of the easement.?ÿ

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@mightymoe

Maybe I misunderstood.  The easement is defined by the CL of the poles/structures

@jph

That strongly suggests that the intent is the sideline. Nevertheless, I'd want to figure out just who did hold the fee that underlies the easement before putting this baby to rest.