Does street running still exist in LaGrange, Kentucky. If it does, has CSX done anything to improve the condition of the tracks? Take a look at this link to see what I mean:
I’m sure a telephoto lens acted to enhance those bumps, but it’s still pretty bad looking.
Is street trackage easier to maintain than ballasted track, or harder to maintain? What goes into the maintenance of street trackage?
What are some of the most famous/well known pieces of street trackage from both the past adn present? Where are some of the most active pieces of street trackage located?
I’ve always had an interest in street running and I thought I’d ask some questions that have been nagging me lately.
The best example near to us in Chicagoland is the South Shore’s main line through Michigan City, Indiana. You get the electric passenger/commuter cars and diesel-powered freights competing with cars along a couple of streets there. There has been talk for decades about using other trackage in the city to get around this stretch, but nothing ever comes of it–and you’d now have to rebuild some abandoned trackage to make the most-commonly-proposed route feasible.
There is a three block stretch of road here in San Jose where the train runs down the street (and not down the middle either - it runs in the middle of the northbound lane). As far as I know, the train is only a local, servicing a few local industries. I could probably arrange to get a picture of the track.
There’s a lot of traffic in Jack London Square in Oakland CA. Passenger and freight with restaurants, shops, and the Estuary waterfront. I think there were some pics in Trains a year or so ago?
NYC/PC/Conrail used to run down the middle of about 4 blocks of Factory Street in Watertown, NY. The picture of the “Canton Creeper” coming into the Watertown Station in the article on the same topic a few years ago in Trains had just come down that street. All passenger trains (unless they terminated northbound in Watertown) ran down Factory Street. At one time, the lines north, and east to Carthage ran on that track, and there were a number of industries served by it as well.
It was always a rough mess, and when the last rail customer served by the line opted to go pure trucks (ironically, it was NY Air Brake - a supplier of railroad brake equipment), city residents were only too happy to see the tracks go.
One 40’ boxcar was left stranded (intentionally) at a local cleaning supplies company, painted up in the company logo. I think it may be for sale…
Aside from filling the gap left by the removal of the track, etc, the street hasn’t been repaved since, so you can still pick out where the rails went.
…There are rails {visible}, crossing a residential street intersection here in Muncie left over from our street car operation…If I have my facts remembered correctly, {from reading about it}, no street cars operated after 1931.
Other streets, one can see where rails {probably are underneath}, the pavement left over from some interurban lines leading out of Muncie and they last ran in 1941. So the impresson the rails leave, even after paving in most cases is visible long after the rail cars have left.
It’s too bad that many of those street running locations that have been mentioned are abandoned. I imagine the railroaders are fine with it, but from a railfan’s point of view it’s kind of sad.
Several years ago I visited Augusta, Georgia with my family. They have (or at least at the time they had) some street trackage belonging to Norfolk Southern. I’m not sure if it still exists or not. After asking around we learned that only a few trains operate over it each day. We ate at a restaurant along the tracks and a train actually did come by. The best part of all was that it had a Conrail unit on it (I can’t remember if it was patched or not since back then I didn’t know anything about patched locomotives). I did get a few photos of it, so I’m going to see if I can find them and scan them onto the computer so I can post them.
We had street running in San Antonio, TX (Texas Transportation Company). They had a steeple cab electric (yeah, overhead cantenary as well) that did all the work from the interchange with the Southern Pacific. Once the Pearl Brewery shut the doors, that pretty much killed it. Last I heard all the track has been pulled up and the overhead is gone. It was a really neat little operation. At one time it serviced quite a few industries.
UNTIL SOME TIME IN THE LATE 1980’S PEKIN HAD ABOUT 5 BLOCKS OF STREET RUNNING ON S THIRD ST. THIS WAS A PEORIA AND PEKIN UNION OPERATION (THAT RAILWAY HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY FOR MOST RAILROADS RUNNING INTO THE PEORIA GATEWAY FROM THE EAST). THE STREET RUNNING BEGAN RIGHT NORTH OF WHERE THE CHICAGO AND ILLINOIS MIDLAND (A PREDOMINANTLY COAL ROAD) TRACKS JOINED WITH THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL MATTOON LINE. AFTER URBAN RENEWAL HERE, YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW THIS EXISTED!
Yes Willy CSX does still run trains in LaGrange. This is L&N’s Shortline from Louisville to Cincinnati and as many as ten trains a day run through. I was there last Labor Day but traffic was light, but I am planning a trip back this spring. There is at least one cafe on main street where you can sit eat lunch and enjoy the trains.
One other problem with street running is that the train has to abide by the traffic signals. While many are now synchronized with railroad operations, it was rarely the case in the past. South Shore’s now-abandoned street running in South Bend had several traffic lights which were not synchronized with the train and the train had to wait for the green light like everybody else.
More info I finally had time to look at the picture you posted. The train is running north to south from Cinci to Louisville and has just passed the LaGrange station (now chamber of commerce I think) which is on the other side of the tracks. After it passes the crossing in the photo it will come down the main street in town with cars parked on the side of the street the photographer is standing. The town is full of nice little shops: antiques, book stores (which had an old copy of Lucius Bebee’s (hope I spelled that right) Highball last time I was there, and lots of little curio shops. I get to watch trains while my wife and daughter shop.
