Abandoned Railroads

[noelbotevera]

In Pennsylvania, up on US 522 in Mount Union is a railroad. I'm not sure who runs it, but since 2010(?) the last train was parked just near PA 747. It runs parallel to US 522 and the road crossings haven't been paved over. When it intersects US 522 only feet away from PA 747, the signals and crossbucks are still remaining. Sometime after that train was parked (and is slowly being eaten away by rust) an "EXEMPT" sign was added under the cross bucks.

There's also the High Line in New York City. Various parts of the track were left during the conversion, and the park doesn't stray off from the railroad. You go through buildings and over avenues of streets which the railroad once traveled. In fact, the overpasses are original, with just elevators and stairs added to access the park. Off the beaten path and over fences, various spurs dead end at buildings. One has a rolling gate, a signal that's well over the age of 20, and the tracks remain. There's even an old security camera under the signal. Another has a railroad spur that had the wall filled in, ending at a building.

[GaryV]

The Dequindre Cut was a former Grand Trunk track:  http://detroitriverfront.org/riverfront/dequindre-cut/dequindre-cut

[mgk920]

I remember there used to be a RR line that ran between Oshkosh and Ripon WI that used to actually be a junction with US 41 between Hwy K and 9th Ave. The line still exists up to about where it crossed 20th Ave. East of there is only a abandoned ROW that lead into the quarry along Osborn Ave. My grandparents used to live a block from Osborn and Mason on Kensington Ave (2nd house west of Mason St). We used to take walks along those old tracks up to the shopping area on Koeller St.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

It is still on google maps. Zoom in to Oshkosh near US 41 and Hwy 44.

That Milwaukee Road branch originally went all the way into downtown Oshkosh.  It originally crossed the river on a bridge parallel to the former SOO bridge and mixed in with the SOO and CNW trackage in the yard that was where the old Park Plaza Mall is now.  After some time, the SOO and MILW bridges were combined into one with MILW using trackage rights on the SOO's structure.  The line between the bridge (including a small interchange yard) and the current end of the track by US 41, including the at-grade US 41 crossing, was abandoned sometime in the early 1980s.

MILW had a similar branch that snaked its way deep into Fond du Lac as well, ending at a concrete batch plant along Scott St just east of Main St.

Mike

I don't suppose you have any more details on said MILW branch in FdL? I grew up there in the 90s. My parents grew up in the 50s/60s and don't remember this line, though they weren't really rail fans. I've seen exactly where it went on old maps and I've even noticed a hump in the road bed of Cotton St where the line went. Interestingly, there is a house on the north side of the street that is directly on top of the ROW and it looks like it's been there for some time. I wonder when these tracks were removed.

Sorry for the old thread resurrection.

When I did an internship with the City of Fond du Lac's planning department back in 1991, I recall 'blank outs' where that rail line crossed several concrete paved streets on the city's north and near southwest sides.  Although I don't know for certain, I'm thinking that it was abandoned sometime in the late 1960s to mid 1970s time frame.  The main riverfront path through downtown FdL is built on that grade.

There are several such abandoned grades lacing through Marshfield, WI, too (abandoned in the 1970s and early 1980s) that are now fiendishly difficult to trace without good detailed maps and period air photos.

And, don't forget the former SOO/WC mainline through Oshkosh, abandoned in the late 1990s when it was combined with the former CNW routing on the city's east side (now CN's Chicago-western Canada mainline).

Mike

[freebrickproductions]

There are a decent number of abandoned lines in my area, so I'll have to dig up my pictures and post them at some point.

Also, on a forum I help administrate, we actually have a thread dedicated to abandoned railroad crossings, if anyone wants to read through it: http://www.rxrsignals.com/Phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1596

[jeffandnicole]

(I probably have told this story before somewhere here...)

A friend of mine was telling me one of his friends was walking down an "abandoned" line (note the quotes) considering it for the rails-to-trails program.  This person had done a fair bit of research into the line, the towns it passes thru, taking walks, etc.  One day, to her amazement, a train was coming down the tracks!  Apparently she had always researched the line at a certain time of day when the tracks weren't used, so she and the train never crossed paths before!  Unlike many years ago it's not a very active track, but there's a train using it at least twice a day.  Since it's a freight line, they don't have any published schedules.

I always wondered how much she takes into consideration...I've seen abandoned lines quickly become weeded with maintenance issues.  This line has always looked like, well, an active line!  Sometimes the little things matter! 

[mdbeaster]

When I did an internship with the City of Fond du Lac's planning department back in 1991, I recall 'blank outs' where that rail line crossed several concrete paved streets on the city's north and near southwest sides.  Although I don't know for certain, I'm thinking that it was abandoned sometime in the late 1960s to mid 1970s time frame.  The main riverfront path through downtown FdL is built on that grade.

There are several such abandoned grades lacing through Marshfield, WI, too (abandoned in the 1970s and early 1980s) that are now fiendishly difficult to trace without good detailed maps and period air photos.

And, don't forget the former SOO/WC mainline through Oshkosh, abandoned in the late 1990s when it was combined with the former CNW routing on the city's east side (now CN's Chicago-western Canada mainline).

Mike

Thanks for the information. I have always found details on Milwaukee Road trackage to be the most elusive of the big 3 in this part of the state (compared to CNW/Soo). As a kid, I road my bike on that path along the river a couple times a week and had no idea it was a rail bed at one time. Fond du Lac was an incredibly active railroad place at one time and I often wish I was around a few decades earlier because by the time I truly got hooked, nothing was left but Soo/CN.

I found Verne Brummel's railroad slides and these seem to be some of the best old pictures to use as a point of reference, but I can't make out any details on the thumbnails so I'll have to see if CDs are still available. On some pictures of the MILW in FdL, from what I can make out, the tracks already looked overgrown in 1978 so your estimate is probably quite accurate.

Would have loved to see the Oshkosh street-running as well, however the street-running on WSOR in Sheboygan Falls is again running and a bit of a consolation. The rebuilt line from Plymouth-Kohler is probably one of the few instances in the entire country where an abandoned line has been reactivated. It would be amazing to see some more abandoned lines come back to life, though Sheboygan county probably has a disproportionate amount of agriculture and manufacturing which led to said project.

[Stephane Dumas]

I saw a couple of videos showing former railroads of Southern Ontario including the CASO (Canada Southern line, former CSX/Conrail/Penn Central) along with the last surviving Canadian wigwag signals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yr9kAlmTLM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMKvcYAKrRQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZFQfMHMoCk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWcWCh3Too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJJEGl7l9MQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjuWVsfVDk4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIocmEewbEg

[Roadrunner75]

In New Jersey you have lots of abandoned railroads.

There are plenty in my area of Jersey.  Here you can see where two railroads crossed at one time in the middle of Beachwood:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9392458,-74.1901988,671m/data=!3m1!1e3
The current US 9 roadway was a railroad line that crossed the Barnegat Bay to Seaside Park (you can easily see the old right-of-way from the aerial).  There was also a spur from this line across the Toms River into Island Heights.  Intersecting this line at the aerial map link above was the Barnegat Branch which ran south from Toms River along the appropriately named Railroad Avenue toward Barnegat.  Portions of this line are now a rail trail.

[ghYHZ]

I saw a couple of videos showing former railroads of Southern Ontario including the CASO (Canada Southern line, former CSX/Conrail/Penn Central).......

Back in the day.....this was the route you took if taking the train between Detroit, Buffalo and onto New York City. Multiple trains a day and hundreds of passengers passing through Canada and most probably didn't even know it. Customs did a cursory inspection and most passengers were just left alone.

Even today...crossing southern Ontario between Detroit and Buffalo via ON401, 403 and the QEW is faster and 100 miles shorter than via Toledo on !-75 and I-90.     

[Stephane Dumas]

Slightly off-topic when I read these articles about VIA rail who wants its proper network.
http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/via-rail-eyeing-private-capital-to-build-its-own-dedicated-rail-lines
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/free-via-from-limited-access-cn-tracks-with-its-own-3b-corridor-from-toronto-to-montreal-report
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/via-rail-plan-says-its-survival-at-risk-if-it-doesnt-get-access-to-dedicated-track-fleet-upgrade

Some of the abandonned railroads lines if they hadn't been torn up, could had got a 2nd breath if VIA rail had acquired some of them, althought they acquired recently the Brockville subdivision from CP rail between Smith Falls and Brockville.

[cl94]

My apartment building was built on top of a now filled-in tunnel that carried the original Troy and Greenfield/Boston (later Boston and Maine) mainline that ran through the Hoosac Tunnel. This portion of the line has since been removed. Not far from here is what was once a grade crossing on I-87 just south of the Mohawk River. There's another notable one between Glens Falls and Lake George that is now a bike path.

[ajlynch91]

I suppose i'll share the fruits of my boredom at work here.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Q91IBeZLh916Q5auDaQ9-x25vh0

I've been tracing abandoned railroad right of ways I've discovered using Google Maps, generally in and around Illinois. The map is incomplete, will always be incomplete, and I'm sure wrong in (many) spots. Eventually I'd to at least have the state of Illinois somewhat complete, but even that is a pipe dream given how many railroads have come and gone out of Chicago. Nonetheless, I love doing it and will keep expanding as I find more abandoned railroads. Much props to the abandoned rails site for being a reference for many of these.

[Jardine]

This is the 'remains' of the IC East Omaha double track swing bridge.  Tracks on the Council Bluffs side have been removed.  Bridge opening mechanism damaged in a fire many years ago, the few times the bridge has been swung since were accomplished with a bulldozer and some cable.  Now with the trees I don't think it could be closed.  As I recall, it is one of the very longest span  RR swing bridges in the world.

[sparker]

We've got some rather unique abandoned (and quasi-abandoned) rail lines here in the Bay Area, including a long stretch that was part of the original transcontinental line.  In about the same timeframe that construction of the transcontinental was taking place northeast of Sacramento over Donner Pass, a western extension to San Francisco Bay was being built.  To avoid having to build extensive fill over the marshlands west and immediately south of Sacramento, the Southern Pacific (C.P. Huntington's other RR venture besides the Central Pacific to the east) struck out from Sacramento southward to Stockton, remaining east of the Delta estuaries.  The original plan was to snake around the Delta to the south, but marshland was again encountered northwest of Tracy, so the line climbed over Altamont Pass before descending into what is now the Livermore Valley.  From there the line extended southwest through Niles Canyon before turning northwest on the East Bay plain to a terminus in Oakland.  SP always considered this route as temporary, since they preferred an alignment without significant grades -- but they needed something right away (circa 1857) to transfer goods to and from the Bay harbor to Sacramento -- and, while operationally difficult, the Altamont Pass line sufficed.  After several years, they finished the line from Tracy to Martinez along the south side of the Delta and Suisun Bay; this required much filling-in of marshland in the Brentwood and Antioch areas -- but it provided an alternative route to Oakland that avoided the grades and curvature of the original Altamont mountain line.  The original would have been largely abandoned except for two things -- the rock quarries between Pleasanton and Livermore, which provided building material for the region, and the construction of the rail bridge across the southern reaches of the San Francisco Bay from Newark to Redwood City, including a swing-span drawbridge (SP always preferred this type when practical).  This allowed direct freight movement to San Francisco from the San Joaquin Valley via the Altamont line, which directly linked to the east end of the new bridge.  But most traffic, including all through passenger service, utilized the new low-grade line through Antioch and Martinez.  Except for local service primarily established to serve the Livermore quarries, the Altamont line was used by trains transporting agricultural products to San Francisco and its port facilities. 

Eventually the Altamont line was paralleled, circa 1909, by George Gould's Western Pacific; it went this way because SP, having been granted significant land adjacent to its Martinez line, declined to sell that land to WP for right-of-way (it had already sold off its land grants along Altamont to partially offset operating expenses).  SP's policy was to retain the rights to any developable lands along its lines rather than sell them off to maximize their long-term returns.  But the business downturn of the '60's and '70's, which hit SP particularly hard, resulted in the 1976 decision to abandon the line from Niles to Tracy.  That action sat dormant with the FRA until the Staggers Act was passed in 1980, partially deregulating railroads, including allowing them to shed unwanted trackage.  Trackside signals were pulled up by 1983, and tracks were pulled up, east to west, over the subsequent two years.  Neighboring WP shelled out some cash to SP in 1986 for use of some of the remaining SP line between Sunol and Livermore so they could refurbish and realign a section of their own track, but after this detour was no longer needed (about 1989), the line was deemed to be abandoned.  By this time SP had been sold to Philip Anschutz's Rio Grande Industries; they declined for fiscal reasons to undertake any more activity pulling up unused trackage, allowing it to deteriorate in place through Niles Canyon.  For the next 18 years or so, from Niles (by then a neighborhood in Fremont) to between Sunol and Livermore was a segment of weed-overgrown tracks; east of there all the way over the top of the pass to Tracy was abandoned grade.  Later SP management had no sentimentality regarding the demise of their original transcontinental line. 

Eventually the East Bay Railroad Museum purchased the line from UP (which by then owned/had rights to both SP & WP Altamont lines); the line from Niles to just east of Sunol was refurbished and is now the site of a working tourist line through Niles Canyon, utilizing an assortment of vintage steam and diesel locomotives.  The line runs mostly along CA 84, turning north at Sunol to parallel I-680 to the west; there is now a connection to the parallel operating UP line (also used for the ACE commuter trains from San Jose to Stockton) to allow movement and egress of museum equipment.  The abandoned grade of the original Altamont line can be seen from, variously, I-580 east of Livermore as well as the original US 50 alignment along Altamont Pass Road to the north of the freeway.  Except for a sealed-up tunnel that extends across I-580 underneath the roadway itself, and a short portion of realigned Altamont Pass Road which sits atop the old track berm, the old SP grade is quite intact -- and, to rail history enthusiasts, is worth exploration (along with a ride on the museum trackage -- for a tourist operation, it's not too bad, and comes replete with very knowledgeable docents as train operators).       

[7/8]

I was in Wakefield, QC on September 1st (a really nice town if you're ever in the area), and I noticed a set of abandoned railway tracks along Chemin Riverside right by the road (on the side facing the river). Here are two photos which show the tracks.

[Stephane Dumas]

I know these tracks, it was used for a tourist train between Wakefield and Hull who was part of the longer and former CP Rail Maniwaki subdivision who used to go up to Maniwaki was abandonned in the late 1980s.

[jmd41280]

The Pennsylvania RR Redstone Branch ran from Brownsville, PA to Uniontown, PA and served the coal mines and coke operations of Fayette County.  It was abandoned in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the coal and coke industry declined, and it has been torn out since then (though the grade still remains).  Here is a bridge on that line that is still standing over Redstone Creek...


Redstone Creek near Grindstone, PA by Jon Dawson, on Flickr

[Rothman]

Not sure what the railroad was, but I used to walk along the rails here in Bypro Junction, KY (what was considered Wheelwright proper was actually just up KY 306 away from its junction with KY 122) between my grandfather's store (the fenced-off building on the right...my uncle refused to sell it after my grandfather passed away and now there it sits) and their house -- rails ran right behind the house a few homes up.

The bridge in the foreground was a rail bridge (or where the bridge was, anyway) and you can sort of make out the alignment from the link.

Also, regarding those houses, the Railroad originally owned the property and then divided it up into lots that were sold off to the people that built houses upon them.  Found out when my grandfather died that they were sneaky and overlapped the lots so they could get an extra one in on the end.  Go figure.

[DaBigE]

Got one right along the Wisconsin River in Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. Further SW, the line has turned into rail storage (the Google Earth image only shows a fraction of the cars I saw  parked along that line the last time I drove that stretch of Wis 78. There's also a bunch of abandoned track around the old Badger Army Ammunition Plant. A lot has been removed, but the scars still remain.

Literally thousands of miles of abandoned railroad live on in Wisconsin as Rail-Trails.  I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure we invented that in this state.

WisDOT's latest map, which shows most/all the lines that have been converted.

[PHLBOS]

In the late 1950s, the B&M (?) Railroad withdrew service from Marblehead, MA; a classmate of mine's father rode on the very last train serving Marblehead.  The tracks themselves (inside of Marblehead's borders) were removed in short order and a trail has been maintained since.

View of the tracks, as the locals called it, from the Village St. (1939-vintage) overpass (rotate view to see other side).

Site of the old Clifton Station from Rockaway Ave., the station itself was demolished by 1970.

Site of the old Clifton Station from Clifton Ave.

While Marblehead kept the right-of way largely in tact, the same can not be said for its Swampscott neighbor.  Note: the northern crossing at Humphery St..

For the longest time, Salem kept its portion of the abandoned Marblehead branch in-tact, including the rails.  When one drove along MA 114/Lafayette, MA 1A/Loring Ave. & Canal St.; one would used to see tracks across the road; the crossing at Canal St. had a RR crossing signal assembly (but no gates) & the MA 1A crossing just had RR crossbuck signage.  These would all be removed during the very late 1980s to early 1990s.

The right-of-way, between Canal St. & MA 114/Lafayette St. is now a paved trail.

Current Canal St. Crossing

Current MA 1A/Loring Ave. Crossing

Current MA 114/Lafayette St. Crossing (paved to the left, unpaved to the right)