Bangor & Aroostook.
Do I have any abandoned line were I live. Man do I have tons of them. There are more abandond rights of way than active one here in my state PA. The ones that I’m really familiar with are located in the Philadelphia, Lehigh, and Susquehanna reagions.
In Philadelphia area:
Abandoned ex Philadelphia Reading passanger line a cut off from Cresham that lead to Whitemarsh on what is now NS Harrisburg Division ex PRR. I have ex Reading now Septa R5 line, a little cutoff from Orland ex Reading to Allentown PA is abandoned. I know of a branch line that goes from Landsdale, PA up to Quakertown which was Reading now CSX that has part of it’s line abandonded at Hilltop Shelly all the way into Bethlehem Steel. Was ex Reading then East Penn Railroad. I know of ex Penn Central which went from Fernwood to Newtown Square. I know of ex PRR lines that went from Norristown to Oaks which was a branch line. Actually at the old Oaks inerlocking there is an old 45 toner abandoned there.
Lehigh Valley:
I know of ex Northampton and Bath trackage that went from Navarro to Bath yard. I know of Wilkes Barre & Eastern track that went from Stroudsburg over to Suscon. Whole buch of LV trackage taken up or abandoned one place is at Hawk Mountain in the upper portion of Lehigh Valley.
Susquehanna both Upper and Lower Counties:
Near the Endless Mountains who bunch of Erie, Lackawanna, Delaware Lackawanna, and Delaware and Hudson. One line that was sold by NS to a regional railroad includes the famous Struckka Viaduct (spelling) I beleive that was old Erie trackage. Of course there is a whole bunch of abandoned Reading and PRR ROW along with LV.
There are some abandoned railroad lines in Walla Walla that goes from the penitentiary to the east end of town, it was formerly used by the Burlington Northern railroad, then the Blue Mountain railroad took over the BN and the UP lines in the Walla Walla Valley area, the Blue Mountain railroad still uses the UP lines going from Walla Walla to the Boise Cascade as well as north of Walla Walla to somewhere way east in Washington and south to Pendleton, Oregon.
Waba***race,63 miles south from Councill Bluffs.on the old Wabash line from St.Louis to Omaha.http://wabashtrace.connections.net/wbthome2.html
hope the link works.Gives discription and info.
Dave W.
Omaha,Nebr.
Almost every former C&NW R-O-W out of Fond du Lac is abandoned. First to go was the FDL-Sheboygan line, torn up in the "60’s. Then the FDL-Clyman Junction line was torn up about '85. The FDL-Wisconsin Rapids line was abandoned after WC took over the FV&W in '88. And most of the line from FDL-Butler Yard came up about 3 years back.
The FDL-Clyman line became the Wild Goose trail, and parts of the FDL-Wis. Rapids line became the Mascoutin trail.
I live near the old NYC Walkill Valley line, now a rail trail. The old station hear in New Paltz is now an up-scale Italian place. In addition the old New Haven Maybrooke Line passes through the outskirts of town. A sectionb of it, leading up the the Poughkeepsie Bridge is also a trail.
Further north in Kingston, is the old NYC Catskill line. Most of it is abandoned except for two isolated sections, which are now tourist railroads.
WE got a few of them here in wisconsin one is the old SOO line that runs from the old milwaukee road yard (dont know the real name for it ) any way it runs west towrds the old allis chambers plant and I even think it interconnects with. The ex CN&W now Up but not to sure on that last I heard they were going to try to turning that line into a bike path [:(][:(]
yeah the old sanat fe branch form strong city to cottonwood Falls to Bazzarr, you can see it in alot of places they just abandonded the strong city to cottonwood falls part in the early 80’s so alot is still pretty visable, the bridge piers over the cottonwood River are still there.
old wabah abandoned in the 60’s with rails ripped out about ten miles north of town
Yes theres a few near where i live if you count a 30 mile raduis. The one in my town was an ex-CSX / B&O line. ANd 20 miles east is an old ICG/Wabash line. i wi***hey still ran mostly the B&O.
The Ohio River & Western
The Grafton to Cincinnati B&O main (never did understand that abandonment)
The B&O Muskingum Valley line
The B&O Ripley WV branch
the B&O Spencer WV branch
The Little Kanawha
The PRR/PC Marietta Ohio Branch
Cairo & Kanawha
The partially graded but never completed PRR Hannibal to Marietta Ohio Line.
The Federal Valley
The Hocking Valley (the real one, not the present day short/tourist line)
The Ironton end of the Detroit Toledo and Ironton
Two other narrow gauge short lines who’s names are rattling around in the back of what is left of my mind but refuse to come out.
And a surprising assortment of very old coal mining and quarrying industrial lines.
Anywhere in New England the woods are full of them (literally!). As someone said, it’s rather fun finding and seeing them; as MC said, when your job (only occasionaly on my part, sadly) includes identifying them and tracking their history, it’s even more fun! Just a partial list in my immediate area: Central New England (Boston to Maybrook via Putnam, Willimantic, Hartford, Winsted, Norfolk and the Poughkeepsie Bridge) – a few odd bits here and there, almost all gone, a few bits preserved as trails; New Haven & Northampton (New Haven RR Canal Line) – much of it gone; a few pieces as trails, a very few pieces still live track; New Haven Waterbury branch north of Torrington, CT to Winsted (junction with CNE); may become a trail; New Haven Unionville branch (Plainville to New Hartford CT, junction with CNE) – a bit of it is a rail trail, otherwise gone; the New Haven’s Air Line; Cedar Yard New Haven to Putnam via Middletown; the south end still in service, the rest of it trails or gone completely. Etc. etc.
When I note ‘gone’ in New England, because of the way ownership is determined, I do mean gone – houses, industrial parks, whatever built on them. At least one Town in Connecticut (Farmington) deliberately sited an industrial park on the old Canal line, to prevent its ever being used again for rail, particularly commuter rail. Go figure that one…
The old Erie Lackawanna Cut-Off crosses my road about a mile from my house.
Not far from where I live is the abandoned ROW for the Rio Grande’s line to Ogden, Utah. The line goes as far north as West Bountiful (small town north of Salt Lake City) to reach a Holly oil refinery. Beyond the refinery, it’s nothing but miles of ballast without tracks, and paved over crossings. The Utah Transit Authority has purchased the ROW for possible use as a light rail corridor.
I would have to answer yes, there are abandoned rail lines near me. [:(]
Some of them are from the Rock Island, some of the rail has been taken up.
Some of them are Cotton Belt.
There are a few near me. The closest abandoned line is the old Montour RR. Most of the line was made into a hiking trail, but the rest is overgrown.
The former Waynesburg & Washington narrow-gauge railroad isn’t too far away. It was widened during WWII (and leased by the MGA), but the rest of it was abandoned.
I think the Monongahela Connecting RR is abandoned now, but I might be wrong. I’d be surprised if it survived…especially since all the mills it once served are gone.
Daniel,
How about the proposed Kansas, New Mexico, & Orient whose grade can still be seen south of Matfield Green?
The former Neva to Superior, Neb. branch west of Strong City?
The former MKT and Missouri Pacific Lines south of Council Grove and east to Herington?
How about the former Missouri Pacific Lines around and west of Marion??
And then, there is the former MKT southeast to northwest of Americus?
What happened to the Santa Fe items and literature that your grandfather and great uncle would have accumulated while working for the AT&SF?
[quote]
Originally posted by mudchicken
06:
… When you have to retrace old R/W’s as part of your job, it never gets dull.
[:p] … I’m green with envy
Roland
We sold some stuff at the auction a few years ago, and i ahve some stuff, mainly my most prized possesion the scrapbook me and my grandfather used to keep together it is full of railroad stuff around kansas.
welll i guess i will ttyl
D-Man
Yes is the answer here in Georgia. Even more interesting (and sadder, to me) is that some of the oldest lines running through my neck of the woods are in the process of being abandoned or are getting ready to close down. FDR (the President, not the highway in NY) took the train to Warm Springs, Georgia. When he died at Warm Springs, a special train took him back to Washington. There are passenger cars still there… but the tracks are long gone.
Erik