MENDOCINO CO., 1/13/26 — A California state appeals court last week denied a landowner’s request that the court reconsider its decision that the owner of the Skunk Train in Mendocino County has the power to condemn private property.
The decision is the latest salvo in a long-running dispute over the attempt of Mendocino Railway — the owner and operator of the popular Skunk Train excursion service — to condemn a 20-acre undeveloped parcel in Willits, allegedly to be used for current and future passenger and freight rail operations.
In California, a public utility is authorized to condemn private property for public purposes, providing that it pays the owner “just compensation” for the land.
The owner of the parcel, John Meyer, challenged the condemnation on grounds that Mendocino Railway is not a “public utility” for purposes of the eminent domain law and therefore had no power to pursue condemnation. Meyer also argued that even if the railway was a public utility, the proposed use of the condemned property was not for public purposes and therefore did not qualify for condemnation.
After a six-day jury trial in 2022, Meyer’s arguments prevailed in Mendocino County Superior Court.
Under California law, to be deemed a public utility, a rail operator must be open to, and actually serve, the general public, not a private group, and the property to be condemned must be for public purposes.
The railway owns a roughly 40-mile rail line that runs from Fort Bragg to Willits. The track’s primary operations and revenues (over 90%) come from running private Skunk Train excursions. In addition, the line provides passenger commuter service to a small number of individuals and families that commute to their properties on the line. The train also has some modest freight operations and hopes to have more in the future.
The line was open for the full 40-mile run until 2015 when a collapsed tunnel — yet unrepaired — severed the line into two parts. Notwithstanding the collapse, the railway continued offering the Skunk Train excursions. It also continued to offer out-and-back service on either side of the tunnel, both for passengers and freight, but there was no longer end-to-end service. As before, the passenger and freight operations were dwarfed by the excursion operations.
Meyer argued that the private excursion business was the predominant business of the railway and it overwhelmed the small freight and passenger commuter business. On that basis, he argued that the railway was just a private business and not a railroad public utility.
Meyer also contended that the land was not being acquired for a public purpose but was intended to enhance the railway’s excursion business. In that regard, Meyer pointed out that the original project description included a campground, pool and an RV park, uses that had little relevance to railroad operations, the asserted public purpose of the condemnation.
On April 19, 2023, Superior Court Judge Jeanine Nadel found that the railway’s limited commuter and freight operations were far outweighed by the railways’ private excursion operation. She also found that the railway had not met its burden of showing that the land was being acquired for public purposes. She ruled in Meyer’s favor and awarded him $265,000 to reimburse the legal fees he incurred in his successful battle against the condemnation.
The railway appealed and on Dec. 9, 2025, a panel of the California Court of Appeal reversed the decision of Nadel. The court found that if an operator is offering to provide the general public with a service that is in the public interest, it should be recognized as a public utility even if it also has private operations. In its view, the passenger and freight operations were offered to the general public, and its private operations, though more substantial, did not defeat its public utility classification.
The Court of Appeals also noted the testimony of the railway’s chief executive officer and president, Robert Pinoli, to the effect that the campsite and RV uses had been abandoned. According to Pinoli, the acquisition would allow the railway to “fully operate its freight rail services with storage yards, maintenance, and repair shops, transload facilities, rail car storage capacity, and a passenger depot.”
The court found that this testimony was sufficient to meet the railway’s burden of proof that the condemned property was being acquired for public purposes.
Based on the findings, the court set aside the lower decision and vacated the attorney’s fee award. The court ordered that the case go back to the trial court to determine the amount of just compensation Meyer is due for the taking of his property.
Meyer asked the court to reconsider its decision, arguing that the appeals court failed to give proper weight to Nadel’s findings even though she had heard six days of in-court testimony and, as a result, had ample opportunity to assess the credibility of the witnesses on the key factual questions.
Meyer argued the supposed use of the property to support passenger and freight uses “on its isolated 40-mile-long line [make] no financial or logistical sense.”
With the collapsed tunnel severing the line, Meyer’s court filing said, Mendocino Railway “is, in essence, attempting to proceed with the taking of the Meyer property to create a freight and commuter passenger line to nowhere.”
In Meyer’s view, the railway’s primary objective is to obtain the property to serve the excursion service.
The appeals court last Wednesday denied Meyer’s request for reconsideration without further elaboration.
The ruling is unlikely to end the dispute. Meyer’s lawyer intends to file a petition for review with the California Supreme Court.
Counsel for Mendocino Railway did not immediately return a request for comment on the ruling.
This is good. If the tunnel is repaired would 100% ride the train to the coast. Mendocino County needs all the tourist draw it can put together. Weekenders park, head over b n b. We need opportunity. Nadel…have experienced her limited scope. Doenot dig, defers to a few nasty local attorneys to write and submit judgements. Its weird, law is off in her courtroom, justice is blinded by $ and cliques of familiar faces. To win, strip the bad stance is amazing. Congratulations.
The skunk train commission has had 10 years to fix that tunnel and they have done nothing but ignore it.
Most people don’t realize that this ride would take about four hours.And would cost about two hundred and fifty dollars a person.
The court should limit the use of Mr Meyer’s property to the ones he most recently presented and not allow a campground, pool, and RV park. Pinoli will say anything that will allow him to take Mr. Meyer’s property. The Disneyland rail excursions are all he’s interested in. With his money, he has pursued this issue until he finally got what he wanted. Shameful. The court should have stated they will reconsider the case once the tunnel is again open. Given the millions of dollars, it never will.
This is the use of law to enrich a few business men, not serve the public. It is one more capitalistic effort off the rails.
John Allen, you hit the nail on the head. I hope the California Supreme Court will reverse this ruling.
The Skunk train has always had its eye on real estate. Even if the tunnel were open (in which they seem to have little interest) who is going to pay their exorbitant ticket rate to ride to the coast?
Hey guys! I think I can take care of this right now.
Let me know and I’ll broker a deal that will make everyone happy and celebrate! COME ON NOW! WE ARE GONNA MAKE A DEAL RIGHT NOW FRIENDS! Everybody loves trains, right? John, let’s move on and find something spectacular for you that’s waiting on the horizon. Be blessed! Love ya!
Leave that man’s land alone!!!!
Have ridden the rail bikes many times. Also have done the short FB trip. There are several reasons they have not fixed the tunnel. The earth is still unstable there, they have movement sensors on site. There are also some coastal commission environmental needs that can not be easily fixed/addressed. Wouldn’t it be amazing to let the sale happen and name the new building or site for Mr Meyer’s family and legacy??? Think of years down the road rail can be vital. It is sad to see West Coast raisl so diminished.
Freight? How about running the service down to Ukiah? Or down to Cloverdale to connect with the SMART train? Seems like the Mendo Railway is always embroiled in controversy.Can’t the railroad lease the property in question so the property owner can keep the property in his name?
Paul,
Mendocino Railway is trying to see the Willits – Cloverdale connection renewed, linking up with SMART. This fight to keep Mendocino County connected to the national rail network is one of the legal fights that the company is embroiled.
County leadership won’t help solve problems and has seemingly given up on anything other than personal cars and trucks for the County.
the skunk train is a for-profit private endeavor. full stop.
i never have, and i never will use it. it provides ZERO public service, regardless of how they want to dress it up on paper
Thank you for your pronouncement as I will never have to worry about running into your negativity when enjoying a train ride on the skunk train with my family. Now if you can keep the rest of the whiners with you that would be great.
I AM THINKING…WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE! EVERYTHING!!! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I RIDE ON THE “SKUNK TRAIN” I’VE BEEN AROUND FOR MANY DECADES! I AM AWARE OF THE DAMAGE IT CAUSES TO THE ENVIRONMENT! FOR THE WEALTH OF OTHERS. P.S. PLEASE BE KIND I TYPE IN CAPITAL LETTERS BECOZ IT’S EASIER ON MY EYES! I’M A LOCAL TOO RIGHT HERE IN FORT BRAGG,CA.
Just fix the tunnel already and run full excursions. Remember, youre not Denver &Rio Grand so be mindful of the ticket prices and set them realistically. I remember a day when riding the Skunk was a big deal. All steam, zero diesel and it went to willits, stopping half way for return trip for those who didnt want to do the whole line. Now its just blah.
There are several CA Courts of Appeal, which one heard this case ?
When my Father Richard Biddinger and his wife Donna move from Vallejo they landed at the KOA campground out on highway 20 has caretakers for the owners. My dad would often take on different jobs and tasks up there and he would get his labor work from going into town to the park there and hiring guys that were sleeping in the park to help him. So he went into the park there picked up a couple guys one day and came out and he built the first stop for the skunk train that is on highway 20 at the KOA campground out of willits. I remember riding that train whenever I used to come up for holidays or to visit my family. Before that stuff was built the customers used to have to go into town and board the train by the park. I remember people getting on the train looking way different than I did me coming from the city and I’m coming from wherever they were coming from or going to I never knew that train would stop every once tomorrow and somebody would just jump off it into the hills we’re down along the side of some Rivers somewhere. My dad would just say those are one ways not coming back till later. I never remember any freight being loaded on that train or unloaded when we made it to fort Bragg. I still remember that slow ass train taking all day she like to go nowhere and come back but at least like it. And I miss my dad and those times I’m in Willits.
As far as this land grab goes I’d like to say how in the hell can you run a railroad if it doesn’t go all the way through are you going to put some kind of unloading and and loading system in the middle of that track where it ends at that caved in tunnel or whatever in the middle of the tracks so that makes you go all the way through. If you start on one end of the tracks and it doesn’t go all the way through to fort bread it’s not a railroad and if you don’t have any other way to switch to switch the freight or the people in between where the problem is in the middle of the track how can you take a man’s land from him on a railroad that isn’t even complete. I’ll tell you one thing I’m a landowner in Napa county, Napa California U.S.A. I invite you to come down here and try to take some of my 138 acres. Do the words High-Speed rail mean anything but another California failure? What about the Bay area hiking trail that now has been added to the California trail hiking trail , another California failure.