What is the most remote rail service actively operating in the lower 48 states for a class 1 railroad?
I have no idea myself, but I thought that there are many people who do and that it would spark many interesting reponses.
Same question for a U.S. regional and/ or short line?.
Same Question for Canada and Mexico
Same question for any international railroads.
Thanx, Road Fan
What do you have in mind when you write “remote” ?
Way back in the woods ? Away from large population centers ?
I’d say that if it’s connected to the contiguous standard gauge network, it’s not remote at all, regardless of where it is - you can get to anyplace else with just a little more time and energy.
Would you measure strictly by distance, or by a general sense of being “out there” ?
In the Lower 48, I can’t quickly think of any Class I that has a disconnected operation. The only contiguous lines that one might call “remote” would be various lines crossing the SouthWest deserts, the Rocky Mountains, the North Woods of Maine, Minnesota, Montana, and the like, and maybe some spots in deep Appalachia or the bayou country, etc.
Good question. I was thinking of being ‘out there’ Driving to some remote valley, deep forest, or prairie town and being surprised to find an active rail operation (and not part of a class 1’s actual transcon thru some remote place) were you wouldn’t expect that anything would be operating. I recall reading about some of the old fallen flags that used to have branches that, though connected to its system, had to travel down some remote valley, or some remote prairie town, or other remote , out of the way place out into the middle of nowhere.
I know most class 1’s have probably shed such operations, but I thought that there may be 1 or 2 that still generated enough traffic to justify a class 1’s ownership.
Thanx,
Road Fan
I’ll give a vote to the Black Mesa & Lake Powell in Arizona. It is a “captive” RR, not connected to any outside railroad, and serves to move coal to a powerplant for the Navajo nation. I visited there in October, 2007, and the only radio station I could receive on my car radio was broadcast in Navajo. Adding to the “remote” flavor is the fact that they use electric motors (locomotives) from Mexico, which were still lettered N de M. This is a heavy-duty railroad, with modern concrete ties and a well-maintained right-of-way, but it is a long way away from most known places. Portions of the line do parallel US 160 NE of Flagstaff, but don’t expect to see many street lights…
Bill
BMLP/Navajo and Deseret Western/Bonanza (Rangely, CO into Utah) both are remote mine to mouth operations…
BMLP also has 2 ex-Amtrak E-60CH’s (trucked-in from Bernallilo NM in the 80’s) and had 3 C-425s…I haven’t been through there in 5 years.
Most-remote Class 1 operation could be UP’s LA&SL between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, which once beyond Toole, Utah on the east end and the outskirts of Las Vegas on the west, is almost completely out in the middle of nothing. The crew terminal at Milford, Utah, is probably the farthest drive from any population center in the continental U.S.
Other very remote Class 1 lines in the lower 48 are UP (former SP) from Ogden, Utah, to Wells, Nevada; UP (former WP) from Winnemucca, Nevada, to Herlong, California. The SP Ogden-Wells line has only one town along it, Montello, which is very small, and the WP Winnemucca-Herlong line also has only one very small town on it, Gerlach.
Almost everything else is within visual distance of an Interstate Highway, or has multiple actual towns along it.
RWM
USS Steel Cumberland Mine was isolated and used an SD38-2.
What about down town Manahatten ? Passenger yse, but freight… ?!
Well, for Canada, two contenders for “remote” are the line going north to Churchill, MB, and the line going to Hay River, on the shores of the Great Slave Lake, in Alberta.
Most isolated in the world? I guess I’d have to nominate the new Chinese line to Lhasa (capital of Tibet), but again the quesion remains – remote from what?
With the operative word being “has”, I think you are correct. The Milwaukee did have a line on the Olympic peninsula that only connected to the contiguous network by carfloat, though at one time there were a couple of other lines that it interchanged with.
The South Pass branch to the Atlantic City ore mine might be one if it was still there. And Atlantic City doesnt count as a populated place… the last census there was 39 people there…
Yeah, I had that operation in mind when I wrote my response. The other key word (phrase) is a [current] Class I - it wouldn’t meet that criteria, since it’s now operated by a shortline/ regional - but would be a contender for that category !
Well we have some Norwegians who post here on occassion, one of them might know more about it, but I believe there is a Norwegian-Swedish ore line in the far north of Scandinavia that is the farthest north rail line in the world and is in a mostly uninhabited area. I don’t recall if the ore is moved by rail down into Norway and Sweden, or if they go to the coast to be loaded onto ships…if the latter, they may be isolated operations not connected with the rest of the Scandinavian railroad system.
The ore line in Northern Scandinavia is not isolated from the Swedish rail network, even sees scheduled passenger trains. The ore comes from Kiruna in Sweden and goes both ways, either to Narvik in Norway on the ever ice-free North Sea or to Lulea on the Baltic Sea which freezes in winter. In both ports its transloaded on ships.
The most remote railroads, isolated from the rest of the system, in my opinion can be found in Western Australia ( ore from Port Hedland ) and Queensland ( passenger line with one train per week from Normanton to Croydon with a battered railcar ).
I interpret the question as where are the rails furthest from “civilization,” regardless of where they may be connected. In this country it would have to be out west, and in Canada as well.
I’d imagine the line across Siberia would be in contention for the rest of the world.
My vote is for the Cartier Railway in Quebec. I flew into Montreal, and took a puddle-jumper through three take-offs & landings to get there (Seven Islands, Quebec), then on the morning of my train photography “hunt” I drove 1.5 hrs. north on a state highway through a national park, and for about the first 45 min. I didn’t realize that the dirt road I was on actually was the state highway! A very, very remote and beautiful wilderness populated by bear, moose, elk, cougar, wolves, deer, etc., etc., and when I found a good spot to sit and wait, I waited 6 hrs before that northbound empty unit train came chugging along (but I got my shot and it’s framed on my living room wall).
Where I was located, I made sure I was within a quick sprint’s distance from the car (with the door unlocked and windows rolled-up), and I had a clear view to my front to see any creature approaching, and the forest behind me was covered in dried leaves so I could hear anything coming up that way. I figured if a bear or cougar got to me out there, my chances of meeting my Maker would be pretty good!
I used to explore Discovery bay on the way to Port Angeles (its probably changed alot since my visits 15 yrs ago). There used to be an abandoned plywood mill along the Port Townsend Railroad (an abandoned Milwaukee Road affiliate I believe) The mills rail loading dock still had the last load of crumbling plywood sitting on the end of the mills loading dock waiting for the train that would never come. The bark stripper still had the last log it pulled from the log pond sitting in it’s cradle- it was like they shut down for the day and never came back. It’d been sitting there since the 60’s.
Side note: There was a shed on the poperty that had a ruined Steinway and Sons rectangular baby grand piano- its twin is/was in the Port Townsend museum and had come around Cape Horn in a Clipper ship- that kind of luxury out in the vast and wild Pacific NW could only have belonged to one of the areas timber barons. There were also Firestone and Norge refrigerators scattered around too.
The Road also had a line (long gone) that ran into the Cascade mountains from Bellingham, WA. I believe it was part of the Milwaukees car float network too.
Happy exploring
Road Fan
I would expect most intermediate areas of the Alaska Railroad would be among the most remote…hike or dog sled to and from the locations, depending on the season.
The most remote active rail service in the world would be a tossup between 3 locations:
The rail line that runs across the outback of Australia from the East Coast to West Coast with no towns for hundreds of miles.
Jengpeng Pass in China on the line that passes over the mountains between China and Tibet.
The Trans-Siberian rail line.