I did some driving today in the extreme northwest corner of Iowa. When I drive, I'm always looking for tracks or old rail lines. Usually I can pick something out, a graded roadbed, random trees in a row,bridge abutments, fences made of railroad ties, and such. In most of my travels today, the lines have been completely obliterated and are now corn and bean fields. In places, Farmer Bob would have had to remove roadbed that was built up 4 to 6 feet above the prairie. Is it common in your area to remove all traces of a rail line? These lines were Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, Rock Island and maybe some Chicago & Northwestern, all taken about about 40-50 years ago. Would the farmers have had to buy those strips of corn & bean field from the railroad? Is there corn and beans being grown on land owned by some successor company to a railroad?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Often times it was written into the deed of the RR that the land would revert to the farm it was taken from if the RR no longer used it.
This caused some brewhaha when a line between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo was being converted to a nature trail... a farmer or two took it to court to prove that the land was now theirs and could not be used for the trail without payment. One farmer in particular refused totally to sell the land and kept it. If you look at the trail on Google Earth you can see some obvious hitches in the trail path to go around a field.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
It's not unusual to be able to pick out the old ROW running through a plowed field by the difference in the color of the soil.
Of course, seeing a relatively freshly plowed field depends on when the satellite photo was taken.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Sometimes Farmer Bob has better uses for the 4 to 6 feet of fill and gravel than just leaving it way out in his field, in addition to wanting to remove an obstacle to farming. Many roads, driveways and foundation bases have been built with the "free" gravel.
In my area it seems to vary by individual farmer whether or not they reclaim the ROW. But the older the line the more likely a use will have been found for the land and/or fill, it also varies depending on the terrain, lines going directly across a field are more likely to be reclaimed than those on the edge of one, and those out of the way are mostly left to nature.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
I thought there were laws in Iowa to preserve hedgerows and windbreaks dating from the dust bowl years.
CMStPnP I thought there were laws in Iowa to preserve hedgerows and windbreaks dating from the dust bowl years.
Murphy: In relation to the above, the railroads and the federal government know how the railroads acquired and disposed of their R/W, what the color of title is and what the taxible value is (with and without improvements). IF that piece of railroad has been around since 1913 or later, there is a map for it and a ledger sheet tied to that map showing how every piece of property got there. (Think Interstate Commerce Act of 1913 and ICC General Orders 1 and 7 of 1914 ....currently showing up in abbreviated, post-Staggers form in 49CFR1201)
Don't get caught in the trap thinking that all railroad R/W reverts; It doesn't and needs to be examined on a case by case/ parcel by parcel basis. The railroads have a better handle on what they do or don't own, much more so than your local or state road agency.
(Since 1983 the shortlines have been relieved of their land recordkeeping responsibilities because many are dirt poor and hanging by a thread. This creates headaches for the shortlines and the adjoining owners later on. In addition, STB and ICC before them have had to deal with some abuse of the abandonment system by the unethical and the just plain stupid. Penn Central was a little of both and then there are the A&K's, TrackTechs and Railroad Ventures of the world. What do you know about the history behind Black Hawk and CMC Heartland in your own backyard?)
We have a case here in Colorado (Dacono) where the city parks & rec district built a ballfield complex on top of a UPRR former branchline yard because they assumed wrong and then had Uncle Pete sell the land to a developer right out from underneath them. Consternation! - made the front page of the Denver Post.
The railroad scar around here often disappears in the name of drainage and better use of scarce water [or too much water in the case of tile fields]. Economics often dictate the old scar is not worth erasing and the lack of topsoil (railroads had no use for it - poor foundation material/ If it grows- it dies; blackthumb's mantra.) In many places, especially poorly built branches, cuts and fills were at a minimum.
Here in the East it's relatively easy to trace where the old lines were - most of their infrastructure such as bridge piers, culverts, humps at road crossings, tunnels, deep cuts and high fills - are still in place (inlcuding some trolley lines). Famously, the roadbed of the almost-built South Pennsylvania Railroad was later occupied by the Pennsylvania Turnpike's original sections . . .
- PDN.
mudchickenWhat do you know about the history behind Black Hawk and CMC Heartland in your own backyard?
Interested parties can start here
http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/179388.aspx
with MC 's post September 7, 2010
Slightly off topic:
My county is bounded on two sides by rivers. As the countyside has depopulated in the last century, frequently the farmers with homes in last mile or two of a county road shrink to a single user. At that point the county abandons the right of way the road uses so that they no longer need to maintain the surface and provide snow clearing. The land owners on either side of the right of way now have ownership to the midpoint subject to any utility easement that may exist.
Should there be more than one owner, they need to reach a formal agreement as to where the remaining road -- generally now to be reduced to a two-track -- will be located and who has access for farming purposes. The now unused width of the road is a good source of gravel rich dirt for use in maintaining the remaining portion.
I trace railroads on Google Earth extensively- hopefully I'll be able to put up my KMLs this summer if everything goes to plan- and I've had little trouble with lines abandoned as long ago in the 1930s in farm country. They rarely conform to the farm grid, so you get used to looking for certain things such as lines in town and in areas that aren't directly plowed. The black and white images are nice because the increased contrast really makes them pop out.
Murphy S. (Norris) Automobile Archeology is always interesting, but I would note a couple of must haves: A good State D.O.T Map can be a useful asset, many will show current, and 'past' ROWs along with adjacent roadways (?). Or specificly, a good railroad Atlas, is always nice to have. Some State's will also publish a map of just railroads, their ROWs, and communities connected. Georgia, used to have a pretty good one, Tennessee, did also, at one time(?)
**Posted[in part] by Semper Vaporo on Saturday, April 29, 2017 8:22 PM
"...Often times it was written into the [ORIGINAL deed of the RR, that the land would revert{or NOT, to adjacent oweners, OR stay with the RR} ***to the farm it was taken from if the RR no longer used it...***???"
If you are having a persistant question as to post- railroad use/ownership...The local(County) Registrar of Deeds will, most times, have documents. or Information, that can be accessed for the history of specific properties.
And ALWAYS, pay attention to what Mudchicken has to offer up on this subject!
samfp1943 "...Often times it was written into the [ORIGINAL deed of the RR, that the land would revert{or NOT, to adjacent oweners, OR stay with the RR} ***to the farm it was taken from if the RR no longer used it...***???" If you are having a persistant question as to post- railroad use/ownership...The local(County) Registrar of Deeds will, most times, have documents. or Information, that can be accessed for the history of specific properties.
Very good possibility that finding the current railroad's name in the grantor-grantee index will be difficult and it helps immensely if you know the name of the constructing railroad. (also, many times there's a straw buyer involved in order to keep the real estate acquisition costs down.) The older the railroad, the harder it gets.
NorthWest I trace railroads on Google Earth extensively- hopefully I'll be able to put up my KMLs this summer if everything goes to plan- and I've had little trouble with lines abandoned as long ago in the 1930s in farm country.
I trace railroads on Google Earth extensively- hopefully I'll be able to put up my KMLs this summer if everything goes to plan- and I've had little trouble with lines abandoned as long ago in the 1930s in farm country.
I was able to trace the ROW of the St Joseph Valley RR in northeast Indiana using a combination of satellite view (MS Terraview) and online USGS topo's. The SJV was abandoned in 1918.
A bit further back, parts of the AT&SF ROW between Temecula and Oceanside (abandoned ca 1890) are still visible, with a short stretch visible from I-15.
Another clue is using the maximum zoom in with Google maps, where the maps show property lines. One of the more insteresting sites is the Governor's Mansion in Carson City, NV. The plot lines show where the ROW for the sidetrack down Caroline Street diverges from the main track going down Washington Street. (FWIW, the governor's mansion is on the west side of Mountain Street between Robinson on the south and Washington on the north).
It's amazing how long some bits of ROW can last, while other parts are completely obliterated. Going along the former CNW main line, one can see many places where the original single track line used to go before it was re-aligned during the double tracking around 1900.
There is one place where the farmers have completely removed the roadbed except for the concrete culvert over a creek. It's one of those places where the fill must've been 10 or 15 feet. It's completely gone, save for the arch over the creek.
Jeff
tree68 It's not unusual to be able to pick out the old ROW running through a plowed field by the difference in the color of the soil. Of course, seeing a relatively freshly plowed field depends on when the satellite photo was taken.
A couple months ago I was looking up directions on Google Maps from my sister-in-law's house back to civilization. I noticed a road several miles long out in the countryside and along a fair-sized creek, variously named E, W, N W, and K V Railroad Drive. Here are the coords. to where it changes from W to E, just SE of a crossroads named Alexander Springs, at these Lat./ Long coords:
N 40.62242 W 77.66469
Since I'd looked at some tracks in the area too many years ago to bid on them for salvage, and was not familiar with anything there, I was curious and so researched a little bit. I found the following (among others), which is a pretty long and interesting article. In brief, it was a 9-mile line from Belleville to a PRR branch line at Reedsville, PA.
http://pennsyrr.com/index.php/data/114-general/guide/288-kishacoquillas-valley-railroad
Advice: Look for anything named "Railroad Ave." or similar.
SD70M-2DudeSometimes Farmer Bob has better uses for the 4 to 6 feet of fill and gravel than just leaving it way out in his field, in addition to wanting to remove an obstacle to farming. Many roads, driveways and foundation bases have been built with the "free" gravel.
When the NYC no longer needed a wye at Big Moose, NY, they reportedly sold the land to a fellow who proceeded to mine the fill. I'm not sure if he then re-sold the land, or just walked away from what was now essentially a swamp.
In 2016, I went back to where I worked on the PRR's Indianapolis - Richmond IN double track mainline that was 100 mph (cab signalled) 152# rail. I believe it was abandoned in 1976 after the formation of Conrail. I was amazed to see how hard it was to determine where it had been (just about 100 feet south of US 40) and while some areas had a Pennsy trail, and there were some areas where bridge abutments still remained, how little remained. There had been a maned tower at the Dunrieth interlocking where the NYC's Louisville-Goshen line had a crossing. Looking at Google Maps, I believe that the NYC ran on the East side of Rt 3 and the farm fields North of US 40 seem to stop about 40 ft away from the road. There is no trace of either line there. There is a tree line in some areas where the RR's were. Back in the 70's when I was traveling from Chicago to Springfield IL, I could see remains of the old interurban line that paralleled the G.M.&O North of Bloomington. The culverts, some concrete bridges and its embankments still remained fifty years and were followed by an 34kV utility line (which are clues to many old trolley ROW's). I had expected more of a heavy duty mainline would be visible.
It would be interesting to know how many interlocking towers existed in the forty's vs now.
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