Converting Railroads into trails

[SUBWAY125]

Hello all.
Came up on this a few days ago:
http://blog.nj.com/nj_off-road_biking/2010/04/a_new_life_for_the_boonton_line.html
I know its a year old, but its still at risk. Also, down by my beach house at Atlantic Highlands, the CNJ once operated a line from the NY&LB to Atlantic Highlands. It isn't there anymore. Its the Henry Hudson Trail.:'(
Plus, I found their website:
http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html
A have so much questions:
Why not convert a rarely used HIGHWAY into a trail???
What if the line is HISTORIC???
Who will use the trail???
Why can you build your own trail???
They also remove the crossings, signals, telegraph poles, catenaries (if it was electric), and other important stuff.
Please share your thoughts on this

 

[cascaderailroad]

Rails to trails are often bicycle and hiking only ... which are fun to travel on.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=459974&postcount=41

I hiked the Wopsy RR bed which was torn up in 1921. Today it is an unauthorized (mostly no trespassing, Juniata Sportmans Association) extremely rough footing, snowmobile horse trail, 8 miles long ... and has a gradient of 4.75 %, and is better hiked going up, the wrong way (downhill).

The Muleshoe Curve Secondary from Tunnelhill to Hollidaysburg is also a largely undeveloped torn out old RR bed trail, and is proceed at your own risk (ticks, bear, elk, copperheads & timber rattlers galore, kidzu and stickerbush's infest the place).

It saddens me deeply when a great RR is now only a dirt or cinder path ... but what can you do ?

To replicate a rails to trails route in Trainz ... all you have to do is uninstall the track ... and if you want the track back again ... re-download the track, or re-commit it from a saved CDP that you have saved in your PC downloads file.

 

[PerRock]

Hey at least it's still somewhat there. They could just sell the land & put up Mini Mansions on it instead. R2T also provides the opportunity of allowing the path to be converted back into rails if needed down the line.

peter

 

[mrreet]

As a bicycle fan, I am a huge fan of this. Mostly because it allows me to ride my bike somewhere other than roads(with cars) and sidewalks (with people).
As a rail fan, I am a huge fan of this. I would have loved the railroad that went trough my home town to be preserved as a trail. The way it is now most of it has been flattened / removed for homes and farming. There is a railtrail in mid/southern Ohio that still has a vintage depot next to it.

I would also like to add that some railtrails are made NEXT to the ROW and sometimes the trail is what is called "Railbanked" or Railbanking, where the rail road's ROW is converted to a trail until the the railroad wants to put the line back in.

Seriously, lines will be abandoned and they won't stay the same forever. Would you rather the whole line just fades into oblivion like so many have?

 

[tyard]

While it's I suppose a bit sad having the rails torn up, as Peter said at least the path is still there. Plus, they do make nice places to bike, walk, etc. on. Still, it's kinda nice when they leave some of the RR history though, to show what the path originally was.

 

[PerRock]

While it's I suppose a bit sad having the rails torn up, as Peter said at least the path is still there. Plus, they do make nice places to bike, walk, etc. on. Still, it's kinda nice when they leave some of the RR history though, to show what the path originally was.

I've seen some where they even left the rails in & just paved up to them so you can see the rails still, but it is a path.

peter

 

[Thai1On]

I can remember riding horseback along the Little Miami Railroad right of way between Kings Mills and Loveland some 30 or more years ago before rails to trails. It was a great ride and if you looked hard enough you could find old railroad artifacts. I believe if the rails have to be torn up at least you can still enjoy a semi railfan experience.

Dave

 

[jmeinig]

I actually like the trails for biking. I did a 25 mile bike ride mostly on the Kent Trails from Byron Center and I did a 50 mile bike ride on the White Pine Trail from Grand Rapids. Both were very nice and you could occasionally smell creosote on the trail from rotting ties next to it.

 

[MountE]

One that is really nice is the Western Maryland line from Cumberland to almost Pittsburg. In trainz you can travel it with WM + B&O mega route. Fun to drive a train over an area where you have walked or biked.

Rob

 

[SUBWAY125]

I agree with some, its sad to see it go, but I agree with Peter. Its better to have them as trails rather than locations for mansions and such.

 

[milwfoam]

RAIL LINES ARE HISTORIC dont scrap them keep them restore them run trains on em

RTT has killed the MILW over her in washington 1st the MILW rocky mtn sub
2nd MILW's line to porttownsend (and recently the old car barge dock was torn down sadly)

SAVE THE RAILS

 

[H222]

tracks cost money to use, and if don't create revenue, will not be used, and most likely torn up. If they are shorelines, they will certainly try to tear up track as they are not exactly earning the same as Union Pacific,
Jamie

 

[dean3779]

Hey all,

Just for all your information, As far as I am aware..at least here in the Pacific Northwest, when they sign the contract to do this, the railroad still retains the right of way so if the need arises....and there is use for the line again...they can pull up the trail and lay the rails again.

This progam benifits the railroads some because the right of way is retained and prevented against the elements, and it makes the railroads a little more popular in the public image.

Just some thought
Bill

 

[sniper297]

One and only experience I had with this was in 1967, boy scout camporee near Elgin, Il. Featured activity was a five mile hike on the "Red Caboose Trail" - former Chicago Aurora & Elgin right of way. Great idea, five miles walking in a straight line on level rock ballast. Earlier that year we had a weekend in Devils Lake, Wisconsin,

http://www.devilslakewisconsin.com/park-images/photo-gallery/

glacier carved magnificence with winding uphill/downhill trails and a lot of rock climbing. So for me the whole concept of rails to trails is kind of pointless, remove the track and the trains and what's left that's actually interesting?

 

[rjhowie]

Ib ny past I always felt a touch of sadness walking up a dead line shut by Dr Beeching in his great axe. All the more so when it has been a line I travelled on. There are several but the second route to Oban via Balquidder, Callander, etc and the Strathyre area was a loss. It was where the original Dr Finlay's Casebook was shot on tv years ago. Although my city still has a reasonable suburban service I fondly remember the old embankment line that ran along the north side of the River Clyde and branches off to Maryhill, Kelvindale, etc. serving quaint Victorian stations. When I pass the elegant Carriages Restaurant at the entrance to Gartnaval Hiospital I smile as I was in it once visiting a friend who lived there after the railway closed. It was a grand building but there again it had served an exceedingly posh area of villas.

 

[pware]

Rails to trails are also growing in popularity here in Oz. There is even one in the centre of Sydney. The track is still there embedded in the asphalt of the public walkway. It has not been used for rail traffic for a few years now but is still connected to the rail network (through the tunnel on the other side of the building in the distance). The track terminates at a major technology museum.

 

[schweitzerdude]

Rails to trails - Hiawatha Trail in northern Idaho/NW Montana

I hope not to start a discussion of whether the Milwaukee Road building across the Rocky Mtns, USA, was ever a good idea, seeing as how Northern Pacific and Great Northern had easier terrain for the most part, plus the Milwaukee Road did not go through Spokane, WA, the largest city in the inland NW USA. The economic results (bankruptcy and abandonment) probably speak for themselves.

But for those of you who have looked at the built in route "Avery - Drexel", you can take your bike and go through some of the same tunnels and across some of the same trestles, from near Lookout Pass to the west, on a paved trail with informative signage along the way, all downhill, with a shuttle bus to take you back to the starting point. Rental bikes are also available I believe. I've done it twice, highly recommend it. Check out the link below for more info:

http://www.skilookout.com/hiaw/

 

[Klinger]

Almost 90% of all of Colorado's railroads are long gone, and many of them are now trails.

Yes is sad, but its the way things are. I've hiked the Denver South Park and Pacific out of St. Elmo, the Colorado Midland at Trout Creek Pass, the DSP&P at Kenosha pass.

You even still find spikes and track bolts, even a few ties. And these are unmaintained trails for the most part, they are hard to hike, tough and demanding terrain.

Hell, as long as they post signs about the history of the lines, its better then letting the roadbeds overgrow with weeds and tree's to the point you can't even tell its a rail line anymore

Even the Georgetown Loop was a hiking trail at one point, and now its a fully rebuilt and operating railroad with steam almost every day.

 

[nikos1]

When a line is truly ready to be abandoned, and there is not a viable future use for the rails, then Railbanking is a good way to preserve the right of way. However the chances that the rails will ever be put back in is miniscule since though these groups advocate railbanking as a way to preserve transportation corridors they would fight tooth and nail if the right of way was to revert to rail use. There was a case here where NS took back the lease on a shortline under the assumption that the town would listen to the rails to trails lobby and purchase the ROW. That all fell through and now the tracks sits rusting with the one remaining customer having shut down as a result.
This particular case seems pretty poor since the line is actively used. They mention the trail as a route for commuting. Who are they kidding? No one is going to bike that distance to get to work, if they want it to be useful for commuting, use the funds to purchase a DMU and set up a commuter rail service.

 

[SUBWAY125]

~~~snip~~~
This particular case seems pretty poor since the line is actively used. They mention the trail as a route for commuting. Who are they kidding? No one is going to bike that distance to get to work, if they want it to be useful for commuting, use the funds to purchase a DMU and set up a commuter rail service.

Exactly! Who would walk all the way to Hoboken??? They should do a rail shuttle on that line if people need to get to Hoboken.:Y:
Trail::n:

Almost 90% of all of Colorado's railroads are long gone, and many of them are now trails.
Yes is sad, but its the way things are. I've hiked the Denver South Park and Pacific out of St. Elmo, the Colorado Midland at Trout Creek Pass, the DSP&P at Kenosha pass.

You even still find spikes and track bolts, even a few ties. And these are unmaintained trails for the most part, they are hard to hike, tough and demanding terrain.

Hell, as long as they post signs about the history of the lines, its better then letting the roadbeds overgrow with weeds and tree's to the point you can't even tell its a rail line anymore

Even the Georgetown Loop was a hiking trail at one point, and now its a fully rebuilt and operating railroad with steam almost every day.

I totally agree Klinger, the trail near Atlantic Highlands is a PAVED trail. Even worse: It's called the HENRY HUDSON TRAIL:n: . Like, Henry Hudson walked there. If they want to make it a trail, call it what the RAILROAD called it for more reality! Plus, there removed ALL the signals, crossings, stations, you name it, its GONE! The only thing left is telephone poles.
NJT could of used that line for easy access to NYC by making a rail-ferry change, saving people in the surronding area almost an hour of travel time to New York City. The only railroad line near Atlantic Highlands is the Port Earle Railroad, which is owned by the army, and un-railfannable.
Its amazing how one big organasation destroyed so many historic lines:'( .
R.I.P. All of them