Pchas, Missouri Central did take over the line but they only use it from St. Louis to Union Missouri. Most of the line is still left but “un useable” do to neglect. Only one train a day goes to union to pick up some cars from local industries.
The D&RGW line to Ogden is partly abandoned with the tracks ending in West Bountiful a short distance from a Holly Oil refinery (formerly Philips 66). The Utah Railway sends a train out to work the refinery and some other businesses along the line. Further north, the tracks are gone, and the crossings are paved over, but the Utah Transportation Authority has purchased the ROW for possible reuse as a light rail line.
Would Stampeed Pass count as one of theses?
CSX has restored double-track mainlines in Ohio along lines that had been reduced to single-track. I suspect you’ll see a lot more of that in and around Ohio as Ohio pursues it’s Ohio Hub passenger & freight rail plan, since the plan calls for increasing speeds and capacity… and eliminating or minimizing interference between passenger and freight trains. That will require restoring tracks in existing rights of way that have been “downsized” over the years.
keep hold of em. When the oil runs out ye might never know when you need them. Its getting to be a fashion over here in bits of the UK rebuilding “dismantled” lines - There are about 4 projexts which are happening in Scotland at the minute. Including rebuilding a portion of the fabled “Waverley”. This is, mostly for passenger traffic though. Although there is one exception.
Thanks, MoPacFan! I read a number of stories about MoCentral trying to buy it from UP, back around 1998 and 1999 then nothing. I recall that some NIMBYs in KC wanted to keep it out. Plus, a lot of crossings had been paved over, bridges removed… Is the State of Missouri trying to turn it into a Rails-to-Trails project?
Another line I regret losing was the Western Pacific line that paralleled the SP Main out of the Oakland yard . As a small boy, it was always a treat to see the California Zephyr! Now the line has been torn out south as far as Melrose. UP still uses the track south of Melrose as an auxiliary main line.
I always thought the MoPac, DRGW and WP should have merged up to give the SP some competition. Then theUP went and swallowed 'em all.
No - It was EMBARGOED, not abandonded. BNSF bought out Washington Central to re-establish single ownership of the line. BNSF has looked hard at the former MILW going both ways out of Ellensburg as a future relief valve.
As far as abandoned and then reborn, look at the former ATSF York Canyon Sub that SP abandoned in 1961 (Dawson RR) and then had ATSF occupy the old fill from French to Colfax in 1965 …and now it is to be abandoned again for Ted Turner’s Bison Ranch.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas
Chad,
That’s “Owens (dry) Lake”
Michael
Pchas I have not heard of anything about a trail although it would be interesting to have another cross state trail. I am reffering to the katy trail that spans from St. Charles to KC. You night check this site out, and you can see pics of what shape the line is in today. I havent heard of anything lately…?
I have been in Albany, Ga since 1972 and when I came there was no passenger service, I missed it by a few years. They still had a turntable and a stall of the round house, gone now. We had a line abondoned and the attempt to convert to trails did not go well with the landowners. They cited security issues. And as I write more and more sidings,switches and line lie fallow. Remember, “First the weeds grow and then the rails go” Phil
This is a good point, and I think that may be one of the big reasons for the current abandonment process in the US, i.e. trail use or railbanking. There have been a few lines in Wisconsin (especially ex-C&NW, which practically gutted its Wisconsin trackage between the 1970s-1990s) that have had good reason to be rebuilt, except they were abandoned prior to the current process, so they were a no-go. [:(]
The Wisconsin and Southern runs to Chicago between Fox Lake and Janesville over a line that was not used for awhile. I don’t know if this counts as abandoned.
Part of the old Montour RR line south of Pittsburgh currently serves the Port Authority as a section of their subway line. The rest of the Montour is now a hiking trail.
As long as AMEREN holds the controlling interest in the line (Indiana RR is a contract operator), the line is an embargoed line and will stay that way. The previous owner had intentions of rehabbing the line as it heads west and had started to clear line (as far west as Owensville)…I walked the line for the previous owner and some of it is truly frightening…Where the Katy trail crosses it overhead is an absolute jungle. The line is continued to be held as a bargaining chip with BNSF and UP over coal rates at LaBadie and other locations.
i don’t know if this counts, but it makes a good story.
the virginia & truckee railroad died around 1939 along with it’s patron owner. 1950 the estate was settled and the tracks pulled. the “great stone fort” (engine house) dissappeared sometime in the '80’s when i was’nt looking.
also during the '80’s, some toy train nut (one of us) got elected govenor of nevada and dumped a big pile of money on the nevada state railroad museum, and things have been going crazy ever since. the plan is to reestabli***he v&t right of way between carson city and virginia city and run a tourist railroad.
some of the original right of way has been usurped by private interests and carson city has caught a bad case of urban sprawl; otherwise most of it is intact.
movie companies bought the rolling stock back in the thirties and managed to preserve most of it until we bought it back. much of it is in really good shape, and dedicated craftsmen are restoring the remainder.
imagine a complete old time railroad, plucked from history, and traveling forward in time 130 years. that has got to be really cool.
thanks to the rich people who kept this railroad alive until well after it quit making money, and that toy train nut that got the state thinking this might be a good idea.
-rrick
Mudchicken, what do you mean when you say that the line is embargoed? I dont know what that means, but is there any chance this line will be rebuilt? What is the missouri central doing with it, there page has not been updated since 99.
In general, embargoed means no traffic accepted.
Well, unfortunitly I don’t believe my area, the Greater Philadelphia Valley, has or is going to rehash any abandonded Rights of Way. It seems to me that the railroads around here are always anouncing abandonments than reopenings, or grand openings.
There is a line that used to belong to the PRR, that ran from Cresham on the now SEPTA R8 line, to Fort Hill near Fort Washington. I like to call this line the connection line. This strech of track connects to NS’s mainline on the Harrisburg Division. They funny thing is that I believe either NS, SEPTA, or PECO (Philadelphia Electric) sends weed crews along the old right of way. I personlly, don’t understand why they would do something like that considering the fact that the line is abandonded. Personally, I wi***hey hadn’t abandoned it because, there would of been a grade crossing only a hop, skip, and a jump from my house.
Lake Radnor was built in the 30’s by L&N to feed their steam engines. Now it is a very popular State Park & Natural Area.
Abandoned lines are rarely rebuilt but embargoed lines have been restored to service. In the Northeast, much of the NYS&W was embargoed but was restored to service for double-stack trains in the early 1980’s.
In the Chicago area, CTA’s Yellow Line (the Skokie Swift) began service in 1964 after the North Shore Line was abandoned.