Section 16. Location of route

Every railroad corporation, except a street
  surface railroad  corporation  and  an  elevated  railroad  corporation,
  before constructing any part of its road in any county of this state, or
  instituting  any  proceedings  for  the  condemnation  of  real property
  therein, shall make a map and profile of the route adopted by it in such
  county, certified by the president and engineer of the corporation, or a
  majority of the directors, and file them in the office of the  clerk  of
  the  county in which the road is to be made.  The corporation shall give
  written notice to all actual occupants of the lands over which the route
  of the road is so designated, and which has not  been  purchased  by  or
  given  to it, of the time and place such map and profile were filed, and
  that such route passes over  the  lands  of  such  occupants.  Any  such
  occupant  or  the  owner of the land aggrieved by the proposed location,
  may, within fifteen days after receiving such  notice,  give  ten  days'
  written  notice  to  such  corporation and to the owners or occupants of
  lands to be affected by any proposed alteration, of the time  and  place
  of  an  application  to  a justice of the supreme court, in the judicial
  district where the lands are situated, by petition  duly  verified,  for
  the appointment of commissioners to examine the route.
    The petition shall state the objections to the route designated, shall
  designate the route to which it is proposed to alter the same, and shall
  be accompanied with a survey, map and profile of the route designated by
  the  corporation,  and  of  the  proposed alteration thereof, and copies
  thereof shall  be  served  upon  the  corporation  and  such  owners  or
  occupants  with the notice of the application. The justice may, upon the
  hearing of the application, appoint three disinterested persons, one  of
  whom  must  be  a practical civil engineer, commissioners to examine the
  route proposed by the corporation, and the route to which it is proposed
  to alter the same, and after hearing the parties, to  affirm  the  route
  originally  designated, or adopt the proposed alteration thereof, as may
  be consistent with the just  rights  of  all  parties  and  the  public,
  including   the   owners   or  occupants  of  lands  upon  the  proposed
  alterations; but no alteration of the route shall be made except by  the
  concurrence  of  the commissioner who is a practical civil engineer, nor
  which will cause greater damage or injury to lands or materially greater
  length of road than the route designated by the corporation,  nor  which
  shall substantially change the general line adopted by the corporation.
    The  commissioners  shall,  within thirty days after their appointment
  make and certify their written determination, which with  the  petition,
  map,  survey  and  profile, and any testimony taken before them shall be
  immediately filed in the office of  the  county  clerk  of  the  county.
  Within  twenty  days after such filing, any party may, by written notice
  to the other, appeal to the appellate division of the supreme court from
  the decision of the commissioners,  which  appeal  shall  be  heard  and
  decided  at  the  next term held in the department in which the lands of
  the petitioners or any of them are situated, for which the same  can  be
  noticed,  according  to  the  rules  and  practice  of the court. On the
  hearing of such appeal, the court may affirm the route proposed  by  the
  corporation or may adopt that proposed by the petitioner.
    The  commissioners  shall  each be entitled to six dollars per day for
  their services, and to their reasonable and necessary  expenses,  to  be
  paid  by  the persons who applied for their appointment. If the route of
  the  road,  as  designated  by  the  corporation,  is  altered  by   the
  commissioners,  or  by  the  order  of  the court, the corporation shall
  refund to the petitioner the amount so paid, unless the decision of  the
  commissioners  is reversed upon appeal taken by the corporation. No such
  corporation shall institute any proceedings for the condemnation of real
  property in any county until after the expiration of fifteen  days  from

  the  service  by  it  of the notice required by this section. Every such
  corporation  shall  transmit  to  the  commission  the  following  maps,
  profiles  and  drawings  exhibiting  the characteristics of its road, to
  wit:
    A  map or maps showing the length and direction of each straight line;
  the length and radius of each curve; the point of crossing of each  town
  and  county  line,  and  the  length of the line in each town and county
  accurately determined by measurements to be taken after  the  completion
  of the road.
    Whenever  any  part  of  the road is completed and used, such maps and
  profiles of such completed part  shall  be  filed  with  the  commission
  within  three  months  after  the completion of any such portion and the
  commencement of its operation; and when any additional  portion  of  the
  road  shall  be completed and used, other maps shall be filed within the
  same period of time, showing the additional parts so completed.  If  the
  route,  as  located  upon the map and profile filed in the office of any
  county clerk, shall have been changed, it shall also cause a copy of the
  map and profile filed in the office of the commission, so far as it  may
  relate  to the location in such county, to be filed in the office of the
  county clerk.