Over the years we’ve all read about many “Short Line” Railroads. As it turns out some of them are not all that short. Some are quite busy and are responsible for looking after many businesses over a large area. In some cases they are the only link to the outside world for some people who live in remote areas.
Now excluding Tourist Excursion Trains. Can someone tell me about the shortest “Short Line” they know of. And why is it there? I am wanting to find a very funky little operation to model from my layout room to other parts of the house.
If someone points me in the direction of a very small Shortline Railroad operation that catches my eye, I am willing to do more research on it. I can’t research something that I don’t know exist or ever did. Era is not important. Reason for existence is. I could ask this question over on Trains but I like the answers I get from a modelers perspective. I look forward to your answers. As always thanks.[:)]
East Washington Railroad the remnant remain of the Chesapeake Beach Railroad.
from Wiki
The East Washington survived for 40 years after the Chesapeake Beach Railroad stopped running in 1935. Its main customers were a liquor company, a cement company and PEPCO, the local power company. PEPCO needed coal delivered to its Benning Road Plant from Chesapeake Junction, the interchange with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1975 the power plant converted to oil, and shortly thereafter the cement company moved. In 1976, the railroad, which by then included four employees and a single Whitcomb ceased operations.
One of the shortest I’m aware of was the Hoboken Shore RR, which was under a mile long. It served the industries along the Hoboken waterfront, and started out as the Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad. As the HSRR web page says, “The line had tight curves, street trackage, a float bridge - all elements that endeared the railroad to its fans” I prefer more rural shortlines, but as urban lines go this one was quite interesting. It’s all gone now, and the the street the railroad used to run through was changed from River Road to Frank Sinatra Drive. Yoo gotta problem widdat, pal? [;)]
We have a very large social circle ( because of my wife’s interest not grumpy old me[:D] ) that come through the house. There are always people here. My main layout has a story behind just about everything that’s going to be on it. Rail Road history runs deep in the family though more in an indirect way.
If I am going to put a line out of the train room to another part of the house I want to tell people the story behind it. Many visitors are fascinated by things they see along the tracks. A funky little short line with strange stops along the way gets them interested and they ask questions. Some short lines have peculiar reasons for there existence and I guess that’s what I am looking for.
There are 7 miles of track left of what used to be the San Pedro & Southwestern Railroad. The remaining track serves only one industry, the Apache Nitrogen Products plant in Saint David, Arizona, on a spur off of the Union Pacific at Benson. They have one former Kyle GP locomotive to shuttle cars between the UP set-out track at Benson and the Apache plant.
During World War II and later, the Apache plant made dynamite, gunpowder, and other explosives. They have two fireless steam engines in a museum at their plant.
The Marion Carry Railroad in NY state was 1,320 yards long. It used a tank engine to pull 1 or 2 former horsedrawn streetcars and an occasional freight car.
The Ponchartrain Railroad in Louisiana was 4.9 miles long.
The Raritan River Rail Road in NJ was 12 miles long.
There was quite an extensive thread on this very subject on the Trains Magazine forum a while back. My contribution to that was the Texas Transportation Company.
One shortline that has always caught my imagination was the Springfield Terminal Railway in Vermont. About six miles in length, it ran from Springfield, VT, across the Connecticut River, to Charlestown, NH, where it interchanged with the B&M. During the first half of the last century it was an electric operation, utilizing steeple cabs and street cars. Following WWII, most of the traffic was handled by 44-tonners, or leased B&M switchers.
Plusses were that businesses served on either side of the river were both diverse and interesting, the terrain classic spectacular New England, the west end of the RR terminated right in the center of town next to some impressive water falls on the Black River, there was street running and the narrow bridge carrying trains across the Connecticut River also handled vehicle traffic. Finally, an HO layout plan for the STR was published in RMC in recent years.
How about the Cassville & Exetor Railroad in Barry County, Missouri? It ran 4.8 miles from the town of Cassville to connect with the Frisco at Exetor. Here is a link to a short history:
One of the railroad magazines I purchased back in those days actually covered the last run of the East Washington. It delivered one boxcar to the liquor distributor then the curtain fell. I believe the article stated that East Washington was the shortest shortline of that era but I may be wrong about that- lots of brain cells have passed from the scene in the ensuing years.
Probably not the shortest of the short lines (7.5 miles or 450’ of HO track) but a nice short one to model - Arcata & Mad River - near Eureka, CA on Humbodlt Bay just south of OR
Reporting marks AMR and it was affectionately known as the “Annie and Mary”.
“During the lumber boom of the 1950s, the Annie and Mary served fifteen shippers on its 7.5-mile (12.1 km) railroad. The average daily car loadings were enough to place the road among the highest paying railroad properties per mile in the United States”
Operated from 1854 to 1983 so you could model just about anything other than the most current equipment. Athearn did some modern day cars in both N and HO
One of the shortest short lines I know off is the Chiemsee Railway in southern Bavaria. It connects the train station in the town of Prien with the pier at lake Chiemsee, covering a distance of 1,1 miles. It was opened in 1887, shortly after the death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his successor, Prinzregent Luitpold, turning Ludwig´s favorite residence into a tourist attraction, in the attempt of paying back the debts Ludwig amassed during the construction of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle.
The railway is still operated with its original equipment and is protected by the Bavarian Heritage Act as a national Bavarian monument.
Here are some pics:
Some data:
1 loco
9 cars
7 turnouts
2,200 m of track in total
20 daily trains - weekends and holidays only.
Wouldn´t that be an ideal road to model - only 67 feet of track and you have modeled every inch of the prototype!
There are 3 in Southern Indiana , AW&W which survived up until 2003 which served several coal mines and a tie treatment plant , it used Alcos in the 1960’s and early 70’s and then had 4 SD 9’s it got from the Southern RWY . It was headquartered in Oakland City , IN , I am not sure of the total miles , but not very long .
Then there is the Ferdinand RR which pulled up it’s tracks in the early 1990’s it was 7 miles long that ran from Ferdinand , IN . to Huntingburg , IN , it served several furniture and cabinet plants and at one time a small grain elevator . It used a 44 ton switcher until it shut down , before that it was one of the last Railroads to use a 4 4 0 steam locomotive in the 1950’s . it also had a gas doodle bug for passenger service .
Then there is the LNAC in Corydon , IN . also 7 miles long. ( my personal Favorite ) it is still in operation but it is currently very limited . It serves a large furniture plant in Corydon , as well as several other plants and warehouses including a small chemical plant . up until 2005 it also had 2 large Ford parts plants , 1 being a frame plant for the Ford Explorer and a brakes parts plant that recieved 86 ft box cars .
There main power was also a 44 ton switcher as well as several alco switchers and road engines , through the 1990’s they ran several RDC’s for a tourist line as well .
They interchange with the NS at Corydon JCT .
It is the oldest continuely operated railroad in Indiana , in the days of steam they operated 2 , 4 4 0 steam locomotives they also had a branch line that crossed Indian creek by running through the creek instead of a bridge , this brach served a grain elevator and a stone quary .
The railroad follows Indian creek through some very hilly countryside and watching a little 44 ton switcher lug 86 ft box cars trough these hills is just begging to be mo
