Road running railroads.

[Anonymous]

I've done some street running in my day; it's all gone now, replaced by condos and wine and cheese yuppie-type hangouts. There was one place with a curve so sharp that you couldn't pu***he car IN! So we'd let the air out of it and pull the pin on the engine. With a man on the handbrake, we'd shove the car into the spur; the knuckle was free to swing open around the sharp curve so everything would stay on the rail. To pull a car out, we'd have to chain it out. Once I was hit by a Volkswagen beetle in my SW 1. The lady cop said, "I've never done this before. I guess I need to see your drivers license." I'd been warned about that...Never show your drivers license; it could affect your driving record and even your insurance. "No, mam. The B&O RR authorizes me to operate this locomotive." And then there was the time...er, I need to stop, but boy, could I tell stories.

[Anonymous]

Norfolk Southern has a freight only track running right through Columbus, Georgia on the street. It runs from their yard, right past the Government Center, onto a bridge over the Chattahoochee river, and into Alabama. NS runs a lot of freight at night (those who know downtown Columbus GA will figure out there's not much in the way of auto traffic then) to the industrial park in Phenix City and to the MEADWESTVACO plant to the south. The trains run at about ten miles an hour, the engineer always leans on his horn all the way, and I still haven't figured out whether they pay any attention to traffic lights on the street or not.

Erik

[RudyRockvilleMD]

Norfolk Southern (ex Nickle Plate) used to run on 19th Street in Erie

[Anonymous]

CSX used to run through downtown Erie PA, but if you look through the old newss wires you'll see a story about CSX rerouting there line around the city. They rerouted it because they had a 15 mph speed limit which i would assume would play havoc on keeping schedules. Though I lived there for 2 years in the 80's , I was in kindergarten at the time, I don't remember much of this line. The only memory I have is a Barnum and Baileys circus train coming into town.
Andy

[RudyRockvilleMD]

The Monongahela Railroad ( or its sucessor, NS?) still has street running in West Brownsville, PA.

[tree68]

NYC (and Conrail, for a while) used to run on Factory Street in Watertown, NY. The train shown coming into the Watertown station in the Trains article about the passenger service to Canton (some months ago) had just come off Factory Street. One of the industries served by that line was NY Air Brake. There were also a couple of sidings along Factory Street.

The track is all gone now, the roadbed between the current mainline and Factory Street is a road.

[Anonymous]

I remember reading an article in Trains a few months ago (was it trains?)

It was talking about a particular RR that had a branch line to serve a few industries, that required some street running. (somewhere in the states).

It used to be very busy, but in it's last few years it was only moving a few cars a month.

What happened was a cyclist was riding down the street and got his front tire stuck in the crack for the flages. He went head over heels, got some major injuries so he ended up suing the railraoad.

He won and the railroad had to pay him his money, the tracks were literally taken up within a few weeks.

And that was the end of that.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH

I'm surprised at all of you. How could you forget South Shore Line's street running in Michigan City, IN. Freight and passenger service runs on this line.

Thats in the Pentrex tape too.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

I'm surprised at all of you. How could you forget South Shore Line's street running in Michigan City, IN. Freight and passenger service runs on this line.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Nah Kevin, that's "STREET WALKING" you're thinking of.[swg]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougal

You should get "Street Running" from Pentrex (www.pentrex.com) Great tape!

isn't that a porn movie?

[Anonymous]

You should get "Street Running" from Pentrex (www.pentrex.com) Great tape!

[BNSFNUT]

The NYSW main line runs in the street for several blocks in Utica NY.
It is fun to watch peaple sitting in their cars at a red light with a train coming from behind them not knowing that the light will change to green long before the train gets there.
A few years ago Conrail detoured some train over the NYSW from Binghamton to Utica with some intresting results. The double stack cars took out many ot the cable tv lines that cross the street. The CR dispatcher held a train at the connection for quit awhile not knowing that the train was setting in a public street. The train was long enough to block most of the cross streets and RT 5. Lots of complaints.[:)] the Utica police where not happy.

[fuzzybroken]

I miss the WC along Division Street in Oshkosh, WI... [:(] -- and that was the MAINLINE!!!

And soon to go is Canal Street in Milwaukee. Just an industrial line, but one of the COOLEST elements of railroading in Milwaukee.

-Mark Hintz
Milwaukee, WI
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[Dough]

Their is a line that CSX and NS share which runs right through the middle of Augusta, GA. I included a picture from railpicture below, but it dosen't quite show what it looks like when it hits downtown and then crosses the Savanah River on a huge old steel bridge into SC. I need to take some more pictures from over there. (BTW its mainline track, and used fairly often as well!)

Also their is a small stretch in Covington, GA that is now operated by a shortline, and they head down the middle of a small side street for a ways.

http://www.railpictures.net./viewphoto.php?id=26729

[traingeek087]

Hey I remember going down to the square. Isn't it right by the water? I remember the commuter trains going down and sort, and there was a curve with some gondolas. It was then that I started to become fascinated with it.

[espeefoamer]

The Southern Pacific has street running through Jack London Square in Oakland,Ca.It is used by both freight and Amtrak.

[rrnut282]

Lafayette IN just spent a lot of money to do just that 2 years ago. NS's ex Wabash ran diagonally through town with 25 grade crossings in the downtown area alone. CSX's ex Monon ran on the street on the north side of town. At one time, Amtrak's Cardinal used this track at 25mph. Now both CSX and NS run in a dedicated corridor near the river around town. The Monon was adept at street running, as it ran in the streets of many towns, but most of the tracks (especially those in the streets) look or are abandoned.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Street operations are becoming more and more rare all the time. Safety issues, of course. I'm sure there are some isolated examples left, but with all of the abandonments over the years, I would think those would have been some of the first to go. These days, most industries using rail service are located in places where there is no need to run in the street. Only the old customers would have this kind of access. Personally I think it is rather cool, but I'll bet the railroads hate it.

I just took some time to look at a bunch of the pictures on that website. Lots of neat shots. One thing that I did notice is, many of the ones that come up when you select srteet running really aren't street running in my opinion. To qualify as street running in my mind, the rails have to be in the pavement!!!!. No ties showing. And, the rails can't just run along the side of the road, there should be room for cars on either side, or the tracks need to use an entire side of the road.

Furthermore, street running should really only apply to tracks that are used for freight deliveries. Any tracks placed in the street for passenger service shouldn't count.

[traingeek087]

Can u give me any info on road running rr's. I mean like the photo on www.railpictures.net. (Click on the photo of the week.) I need railroads, photos, infromation, where it's at, etc..... Thanks to all who contribute.