"They called once last year to see if they could check the property and check the soil, but they never called back," Ares said. "Same thing this year, they called once and never called back. I don't know what to do."

He's bothered by the uncertainty of whether the agency will need any of his property for the right of way. "I would like to keep my property, but my wife is worried about how close it will be -- right next to my window, maybe?"

Juan Ureña, who owns 32 acres along the BNSF tracks at Road 27, east of Madera, said he'll lose about 2 acres of land to the high-speed train line.

But far from despairing, he's looking forward to the project, even though a map he pointed to shows the tracks passing not far from the house he built six years ago.

Instead, he's excited about a planned Road 27 overpass over both the high-speed line and the BNSF tracks. "Once they put in that overpass, the freight trains won't have to honk their horns," he said. "That's noisy, and it drives the dogs nuts."

Unlike other landowners who vow to force the rail agency to go to court for their land, "I'm going to work with them," Ureña said, "but I want to make sure I'm fairly compensated."

Jeffrey Morales, the rail authority's CEO, said he understands the concerns and skepticism of many who showed up Wednesday night, and more who are expected to attend a similar meeting this afternoon in Merced. "But that's in part why we do meetings like this, so people can learn about the project and talk with us one on one to ask questions."

Morales said the authority has not yet awarded a contract for a consultant to handle negotiations with property owners whose land is in the path of the rail line. That could happen within days, he added.

The agency is, however, continuing to work on identifying and assessing parcels that will be of importance for would-be contractors early in the construction phase. Morales said land buying will pick up next year.

Morales said he believes that some of the resistance will ease up once HSR negotiators are able to meet with property owners.

"We think eminent domain will be a minority of the parcels," he said.