Tribute to the Midwestern Fallen Flags, Memories of Great Railroads Past.

[illinoiscentral]

Today few original railroads remain, it's a fact. In the Midwest many railroads had either vital lines or branch lines to serve the small towns better, many of the rail lines are gone, in fact so are the railroads that owned them. Driving through Oakland Illinois you can see the abandoned New York Central right of way and the former Nickel Plate Road line, now a low volume shortline. My point is, alot of Midwestern Railroads have fallen in the last 20-40 years. It used to be every 5-10 miles there was a rail line, now it is just every now and then. Railroads now gone include the, New York Central, Pennsylavania, Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, Missouri Pacific, Gulf Mobile & Ohio, E,J&E, South Shore, Nickel Plate Road, Burlington Route, and others. I've made this thread for discussion of these or other Midwestern fallen flags, go ahead and talk with others about it, make this thread sort of a chat room!

 

[jadebullet]

I feel your pain. It sucks knowing that the state that you live in, Pennsylvania, used to be covered in railroads. It think that it was one of the highest density states when it came to railroads. Now alot of them are gone, the tracks torn up. (Thanks alot Conrail. Great decision on your part.) My hometown of Orwigsburg had the most ornate station that the LV owned in the region. Now all that is left is a foundation, and railbeds that dirtbikers use. I cannot even find maps that contain the rail lines through Orwigsburg. Pottsville used to be a bustling rail hub for the Reading. Coal from all over the area used to roll into its yard to be sent all over the East coast. Heck, they even had a professional football team that won a Championship, the Pottsville Maroons. The team is supposedly even the reason why the Arizona Cardinals lost due to their curse for winning a game against the Maroons even though the Cardinals had an illegal player. They haven't won a championship since then. Now we have a hotel, a bunch of parking lots, a KFC and a Dunkin Donuts. Thankfully they are trying to put alot of the rail back in. Pottsville's sister city, Tamaqua, used to be an acutal nice town. It was a coal town sure, but it was prosperous. Now it is run down, and has alot of Heroin use. Hazelton is now just a grimy town that has a mafia, the breaker that gave it so much profit no longer running, or supported by trains. (At least they still have the rail in the town.) Minersville, Shenendoah (for some reason pronounced Chendoe), Shamoken, Mahonoy City, Saint Clair, Frackville all prosperous coal towns. All supported by the railroad. All now run down towns that are slowly dying. Not even the Schuylkill Mall is saving Pottsville. And the worse part is that the coal is still there. Quality antracite, but there just isn't a demand, or a cheap way to transport it since alot of the rails were torn up. Cressona is lucky to have the Alcoa aluminum plant (Or whatever it is called now) but that is serviced by the Reading and Northern.

And this is all in one county.

Sorry for dragging my state in to the mix. I am tired and a little grumpy from all of my studying.

Once again, sorry for dragging an eastern state into the mix.

 

[illinoiscentral]

Now all that is left is a foundation, and railbeds that dirtbikers use. Nothin' wrong with that! lol. Don't worry about the whole eastern thing, I guess any stated applies fro this thread.

 

[jadebullet]

The railbeds are nice. I used to ride my bike on them when I would ride to work. I just wish that the old rails were still there.

 

[illinoiscentral]

What kind of bike? Yeah, I'm not so much the rails as the the railroad, darn Hunter Harrison for running Illinois Central into the ground! BTW, Speaking of bikes, I was just looking a t a Honda CRF-250 whew! That baby's nice! Got to pull some crazy stuff on my nieghbors ATV today too. Tell you more tomorrow.

 

[jadebullet]

Gary Fisher BMX bike lol.

 

[AJ_Fox]

Hey Guys

Interesting convo but the Trainz Forum is not a Chat Room. You have #trainz chat which is live convo or you always have PM's here or even IM.

Enjoy and Cheers

AJ