Re: Determining if the railway is unused

There are miles and miles of abandoned track here in New England, miles and
miles of frequently used track, and it seems just as many miles of track
that are either used rarely or as storage for stock or what have you.

Aside from the obvious rust (or lack thereof) on the rails, which might only
indicate frequency of use and not complete abandonment, I only assume a
track is completely out of use if it can't be used. I've seen some pretty
run down active ways, with missing fasteners, rotting & missing sleepers,
etc. that one would assume weren't in use. So, unless there are trees
growing through the ballast, sections of rails missing, or other obvious
indicators, I tend to steer clear if there's not an easy, immediate 'escape
route'. Certainly wouldn't walk down a tunnel or over a long bridge; though
it was exhilarating on the *Tunkhannock viaduct,* standing in a little
person-sized alcove in the wall that I can only assume was put there for
that very reason, watching a NSF train fly by me not 10 ft to my front, the
crumbling concrete between my back and 200ft of nothing. The noise and the
horns were such that I could hardly think, wondering if the girl I was with
thought it was equally cool yet doubting it was so... ;)

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 7:43 AM, j.a. tackett <[email protected]> wrote:

> after working for BNSF....
> and learning how dangerous just rolling stock can be in the dark of night
> in
> the rr yard...mind you an empty box car is 22 tons of steel....and they
> roll
> ever so quietly....
> and they are scary to see come rolling at you in the dark....
>
> any way all active rail lines are considered federal property...
> i do not know about un active lines....knowing how HS is so paranoid...they
> will come up with some law....almost scared to ask....then the law will
> come
> quicker
>
> On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 4:11 AM, Dan Lynch <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > There is a org called Rail to Trails that has a list of soon to
> > be abandoned trials on it.  http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html
> > It also list all the rail trial projects in the US.  I have used many of
> > them in my travels.  Check it out you might find them useful.  Also a
> good
> > place to Stealth Camp.
> >
> > Dan
> > Saratoga springs, NY
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 11:40 PM, Kingleo1 <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > lue Tapp Music wrote:
> > > 'm very intrigued by these railbikes.  It seems like a marvelous way to
> > > tour.
> > >  have two questions:
> > > . Does anyone know of anyplace to buy the rail attachments to add to
> your
> > > icycle?
> > > . How do you find out which rails are abandoned?
> > > Thanks!
> > >  Blue
> > > Had to chuckle a little at the way you phrased that.  I'm sure you were
> > > meaning how would you learn BEFOREHAND which rails are abandoned :).
> > > Finding out the hard way would not be so fun:
> > >    a) Seeing a bright light coming at you from ahead.
> > >    b) Hearing a loud horn coming at you from behind.
> > >    or c) Suddenly finding yourself shreded to bits on the rails.
> > >  These are generally accepted as fairly good indicators that the
> railline
> > > WASN'T abandoned :).
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dan Lynch
> > www.escapadesbiketours.com
> > O 877-880-2453
> > Fax 866-871-3753
> > C 518.527.4547
> > _______________________________________________
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