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Asset register? No I doubt it. Realize that the US has probably over a million miles of abandoned routes from it's almost 200 years of railroading. (B&O 1830s- so we're pushing 200 fast. Amazing!) Anyway, any routes abandoned over the last 100 years would be on record with the old ICC files, not with STB ("Surf Board"). So somewhere in the National Archives (NARA) there's record. That, plus in county coutrhouses on tax maps, etc... etc... However there is no "one source" for this info. Many routes abandoned withing the last 20 years have been "rail banked"- turned over to states or other gov. agencies with a codical that allows the RRs to reclaim the r-o-w if necessary. We have a number of routes in the PNW like this, including the entire Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension from about Butte, MT through to the Pacific, which is currently a trail for horses. I am sure that the RRs who "donated" these lines have a good tab on where they are and what physical conditions they are in, somewhere deep inside their HQ. In the case of the Milwaukee route, I am unsure, since they've been gone many many moons. But perhaps CP has the files, as I assume they hold the rights to the line. However, these routes are not necessarily practical for HSR- curviture, gradient, etc.... not to mention man made obsticles. And unfortunatley most urban corridors of this like were parcelled out and built over with industry or houses. In one example of this particular stupidity, the city of Portland allowed the Portland Traction line to Gresham be abandoned, and converted to a trail, and then ten years later built their own LRT line, buying property from individual owners at great expense. Why didn't they just use the PTC route, which for 60 years was a very popular interurban, one of the last in the US to operate, and even, gasp, profitable? Who knows.... There are abandoned routes, but it might actually be better to find the least used routes which are still active, and acquire them, and then combine the traffic off the displaced route with one of the other conventional routes into the city center with increased capacity mitigation projects. Best, Alexander
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