So yeh it's gonna cost you - and there is no measurable return on your money... but I'd do it.  

I realized I was measuring it inaccurately and as the crow flies, the tracks are actually 0.1 miles (~400 ft) from the property.

I use excel for organizing most of my work and have gotten pretty good at estimating without the fancy software by having an accurate set of architectural drawings and PDF pro (measure tool) to pull dimensions and figure material.

It's a good preventive measure too.Nice call!

He stated " We are here to assure to the tenants safety is being looked after by the landlords" Pass reputations of previous landlords who came through have left a sour taste on the cities mouth forcing them to take action and implement more strict measures.

What I think that you need to look at is also the rent to tax ratio on the property as it seems that this is never discussed as a measurement of value. 

Do you have security measures in place to protect the property and guests?

For instance, make sure you're setting the sq footage (I typically flex 200 sq feet on either side) and the correct unit type (apt/condo instead of house, which can only be done via laptop).For other tools, I would suggest looking at the available rentals in that area and how they measure up to your prospective property.

Now that I outlined the baseline to measure myself against. 

That means you have to pass the real estate professional exception and then the material participation test.A real estate professional for Federal tax purposes is based on measurable efforts found in two tests, and not on state level designations or occupations.