Re: Determining if the railway is unused

Good info, and definitely true. I've never seen a railway employee, never
mind a railway cop around here, but I imagine the closer one is to the
center of the action the more likely one is to get injured or arrested.
Regardless, riding on railways isn't very much fun even with permission -
the way is tough and bumpy, and there are usually annoying obstacles like
downed bridges, fallen trees or rotting old stock sitting in the way. It'd
be easier to ride through the woods at times, though most of that is equally
owned and patrolled it seems.

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 9:32 AM, Jim Foreman <[email protected]> wrote:

>   Technically, a rail line isn't abandoned until they remove the rails and
> the owners of the property get really upset if anyone uses it. In many
> cases, they retain ownership of the right of way. They have arrest powers
> and are more than ready to haul you off to the local county pokey if they
> catch you trespassing.
>   As much fun as it sounds, unless they have officially released it to
> adjoining landowners, cities, counties or whoever, riding on that land isn't
> a good idea.
>
> Jim Foreman
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eric Lindquist" <
> [email protected]>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 7:46 AM
> Subject: 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... ;)
>>
>>
>


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