Abandoned Railroads

[John Hartwell]

I offer this map without comment:

Abandoned Railroads in the United States
[from Explored Planet]​

 

[uaskme]

Amazon?

 

[Peace Society]

Passenger rail was nice. Guess most of what's left is coal haul.

 

[111thNYSV]

Well they make great walking trails now.

 

[Lubliner]

Woodlands and forests.
Lubliner.

 

[Lubliner]

Amazon?

"Explored Planet"
Lubliner.

 

[Lubliner]

I offer this map without comment:

View attachment 386982
Abandoned Railroads in the United States
[from Explored Planet]​

I like the Number #31--Explosion at City Point. It beckons my investigative instincts. Thank you for posting, and the link.
Lubliner.

 

[JOHN42768]

So how many mega tons of rusting rails are we looking at?

 

[jackt62]

So many of those abandoned rail lines have been repurposed as civilian walking/hiking/biking paths. There is an abandoned elevated rail line in Manhattan that was once the New York Central that has been converted into a beautiful landscaped pathway.

 

[Lubliner]

So many of those abandoned rail lines have been repurposed as civilian walking/hiking/biking paths. There is an abandoned elevated rail line in Manhattan that was once the New York Central that has been converted into a beautiful landscaped pathway.

High Bridge in Virginia is a biking trail now.
Lubliner.

 

[John Hartwell]

So how many mega tons of rusting rails are we looking at?

Railroad iron is valuable. I'll bet most of it was taken up and recycled long ago.

 

[steamman]

Well they make great walking trails now.

Yes they do

 

[Waterloo50]

I offer this map without comment:

View attachment 386982
Abandoned Railroads in the United States
[from Explored Planet]​

Hence the emergence of extreme rail biking.

 

[NFB22]

I love old maps like these. The town I grew up in back up in Northern Indiana as a youngster still has it's station for the Erie Railway/Railroad that ran through town. I can remember biking along the railroads trails as a kid. It also still has one of its stops for the interurban that ran through town.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

So many of those abandoned rail lines have been repurposed as civilian walking/hiking/biking paths. There is an abandoned elevated rail line in Manhattan that was once the New York Central that has been converted into a beautiful landscaped pathway.

Yes, I was sorry that the map wasn't zoomable-- my first question was, "Are they including former railroad rights-of-way that aren't even there any more?" Ohio is developing a statewide bicycle trail system on the Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland route, roughly paralleling I-71... not complete yet, but it will be awesome once it is. It goes close by where I live, and the city even built a little "depot" rest stop along it in the center of town, with restroom facilities (which presumably have been closed recently due to COVID, unfortunately), water fountain, bike racks, and even bike lockers for an extended rest break.

https://cloudfront.traillink.com/photos/westerville-bw_137192_lg.jpg

(I'm old enough to remember when freight trains traveled that route...)

 

[Lubliner]

Hence the emergence of extreme rail biking.
View attachment 387029
View attachment 387033

As long as the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train. (old joke).
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind; the answer is blowing in the wind....(Mama's and Papa's).
The Marvels of Advancement. (?)
Lubliner.

 

[lupaglupa]

I love train travel so I'm sad to see it dying. But I do love the rail trails that have sprung up on the old beds. We have one that runs through our town - it's wonderful for walkers, runners, bikers - even skiers in the winter. One of the old stations that survived is being turned into a visitors center, which is great for everyone using the trail (and also for the local businesses - the trail is so popular they are complaining about crowds in their bathrooms).

 

[Lubliner]

I love train travel so I'm sad to see it dying. But I do love the rail trails that have sprung up on the old beds. We have one that runs through our town - it's wonderful for walkers, runners, bikers - even skiers in the winter. One of the old stations that survived is being turned into a visitors center, which is great for everyone using the trail (and also for the local businesses - the trail is so popular they are complaining about crowds in their bathrooms).

I grew up in Newport News that had the coal piers at the tip of the Peninsula in Virginia. We would get long coal trains run through the length of our city and congregate at the rail yards downtown. We had to cross the tracks by carpooling to high school and get caught at the tracks running across Oyster Point Road, midtown. Many a time students were late due to the length and slowness as the train passed. One carpooler would count the cars, listening to the rumble as it passed, and wondering when it would ever end. I think they converted the Amtrack train station near J. Clyde Morris (old 17) into the DMV. Those were fast as silver streaks.
Lubliner.

 

[Grant's Tomb]

High Bridge in Virginia is a biking trail now.
Lubliner.

The former Bloomingdale Line in Chicago is now an elevated rail trail running east to west on the northwest side of Chicago. The elevated greenway that forms the backbone of the linear park and trail network is called the 606

 

[Grant's Tomb]

Hence the emergence of extreme rail biking.
View attachment 387029
View attachment 387033

They have something similar to that up in the Catskills called Rail Explorers in the town of Phoenicia