Tracking the Railroads
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
11:00 am – 4:00 pm CDT (including a 30-min. break)
What is a “Railroad” by Law? (And Why Does It Matter?)
Highway or utility – public rights and railroad responsibilities
The effects of railroads on development of the US
The evolution of the regulatory framework affecting railroads in the US
Railroad Records and Regulation
Finding information about physical, legal, and historical railroad aspects
The birth of Rails to Trails
Railroad abandonment
• What “abandonment” means, physically and legally
• The process for abandonment
Examining the Extent, Type, Location and Time/Duration of Railroad Rights
Deciphering if railroads acquired ownership or easement or other rights
The extent of railroad rights, and significance to landowners and railroads
Shared uses of the railroad corridor
Decisions relating to Rails to Trails conversions
Webinar Instructions
Each webinar session earns continuing education credit and can be registered for individually. All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited.
Certificates of completion will be provided for each webinar attended and will be sent via email in PDF form about five business days after the conclusion of the series.
Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email.
GoToWebinar App requirements:
Windows 7 – 10 or Mac OSX Mavericks (10.9) – macOS Catalina (10.15)
Web Browser:
The two most recent version of the following browsers:
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer v11 (or later) with Flash enabled
Internet connection: Minimum of 1Mbps Hardware: 2GB RAM or more
For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com
Credits
Professional Engineers:
4.0 PDHs
Land Surveyors:
4.0 PDHs
Certified Planners:
4 | CM
Continuing Education Credit Information
Individual courses for engineers and architects are not subject to pre-approval. HalfMoon Education does not apply for landscape courses in FL, NC, and NJ or land surveyor courses in FL, KS, NJ, TN and TX, unless expressly stated.
HalfMoon Education Certifying Entities
American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System (No. J885)
International Code Council (No. 1232)
Landscape Architect Continuing Education System
American Institute of Certified Planners (APA)
Boards of Engineering: Florida (No. 0004647), Indiana (License No. CE21700059), Maryland,
New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00000700), North Carolina (No. S-0130), and North Dakota.
Course-by-Course Providers:
Association of State Floodplain Managers
American Planning Association/AICP
HalfMoon Education is deemed a New York-approved continuing education provider for engineers, architects, and landscape architects via its registration with the American Insti- tute of Architects Continuing Education System (Regulations of the Commissioner §68.14(i)(2), §69.6(i)(2), and §79-1.5(i)(2)).
Completion certificates will be awarded to participants who complete this event, respond to prompts, and earn a passing score (80%) on the quiz that follows the presentation (multiple attempts allowed).
Speakers
Wendy Lathrop, PLS, CFM, CFS
President and Owner of Cadastral Consulting, LLCMs. Lathrop is licensed as a professional land surveyor in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and as a professional planner in New Jersey. She holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and has been involved in surveying since 1974 in projects ranging from construction to boundary to environmental land use disputes. Ms. Lathrop is also a certified floodplain manager through the Association of State Flood Plain Managers (ASFPM) and a certified floodplain surveyor through the New Jersey Society of Professional Land Surveyors. A former adjunct instructor at Mercer County College in New Jersey, she has also taught as part of the team for the licensing exam review course at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. Ms. Lathrop has been teaching seminars for surveyors since 1986 and has been writing articles for surveyors since 1983. She is a contributing editor for The American Surveyor magazine, and she has four articles included in the American Bar Association’s text, Land Surveys: A Guide for Lawyers and Other Professionals. She and Stephen V. Estopinal, PLS, PE co–authored a book entitled Professional Surveyors and Real Property Descriptions: Composition, Construction, and Comprehension, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2011. She is also on the faculty of GeoLearn, a web-based educational provider. Ms. Lathrop is a past president of the New Jersey Society of Professional Land Surveyors and of the National Society of Professional Surveyors, and she has served on the Board of Directors for the American Association for Geodetic Surveying.