Bay Head Jc., New Jersey. This was not the end of a CNJ lne, but of the New York & Long Branch, jointly wned by the PRR and CNJ. And PRR K4s, before them G6 en wheelers, and CNJ Camelback ten-wheelers served far longer than any double-end CNJ diesels. And PRR never used any double-end passenger power on the line except for a very very rare appearance of a boiler-equipped roadswitcher.
When did you work for the D&H. Did you pssibly know the conductor of a 1950 Scranton - Carbondale passenger train? 2-8-0 and roller-bearing steel open-platform coaches.
Wyes were popular in eastern Canada also. when we rode and chased branchline trains in Newfoundland, the mixed trains wyed before backing in to the station. Of courde this put the passenger car in it proper spot and alowed the crew to do their freight work without moving the passenger car which would be tacked on the rear just prior to leaving town.
Two other resources I use are http://mapper.acme.com/ , which also has several layers available, and https://www.historicaerials.com/ , which offers not only older aerial photos but also older topo maps, which can be helpful in determining previous ownership of rail lines.
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...
Other old travel lines show up on satellite images. The old Santa Fe Trail (the horse and wagon edition) shows up. Just west of Dodge City there is a roadside park where you can observe the ruts of a trail that was supplanted by the railroad almost 150 years ago. See the linked topo map in satellite view. Note the trail was not a single track, but a intertwined series of many tracks across the prairie headed WNW from the roadside park.
https://www.mytopo.com/maps/?lat=37.7919&lon=-100.1990&z=16
Notice also the AT&SF tracks on the topo map. Websites like MyTopo are handy for following former rail lines when you can switch back and forth from topo map to satellite image.
Semper Vaporo Another thing to look for in urban areas are street names associated with a RR. Railroad St., Depot St., Roundhouse St., etc. Where streets are oriented true North-south and East-west, look for buildings that do not conform. Railroads didn't orient the tracks to the compass, but built such that the grade had the least slope; buildings then were built to conform to where the tracks were.
Another thing to look for in urban areas are street names associated with a RR. Railroad St., Depot St., Roundhouse St., etc. Where streets are oriented true North-south and East-west, look for buildings that do not conform. Railroads didn't orient the tracks to the compass, but built such that the grade had the least slope; buildings then were built to conform to where the tracks were.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
On the other hand some lines, although heavily grades as built, have almost vanished. The portion of the BelDel that went north to the connection to Stroudsburg was severed by Hurricane Diane only a few years before we started driving through there on the way to Wilkes-Barre; I think I can still remember the constricted bridge over Rt.46 that was rather promptly and dramatically widened out, and I clearly remember the high fill with heavy circular arch bridges to the east of the highway as you went toward the Delaware Water Gap. Slowly over the years those arches were daylighted and full cut back as the roads under them were improved. Even by the mid-Seventies large portions of the line were unrecognizable unless you knew what they had been; I recently drove through the area and saw no visible trace there had ever been such a thing.
The same is true of the Lackawanna Old Road that used to cross over 46 in an enormous and low plate-girder Bridge eith a major stoplight intersection underneath. You would never know a thing about this even though a major concrete bridge survives only a few hundred feet away, severed from anything but ATV and foot traffic... and with traces of other, even more obliterated rail lines beneath it.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
When I was growing up there was a former railroad fill on my grandmother's farm. It was easy to follow; I walked the portion on her land. If you know where to look, and when the water is low enough in a couple of farm ponds, you can still see portions of the roadbed. The railroad was abandoned in 1918.
A lot of evidence turns up in urban areas, too. The route of the now abandoned MILW branch that connected with the "L" can be spotted by things like a large gap between buildings, a rise in the street where a grade crossing existed, etc.
There are spots here where an old RR ROW (1860's), long since plowed over and planted for crops, can still be seen in those fields when freshly plowed. This is easily seen if the satellite images in use were done in the spring.
diningcar I have used Google Earth to locate an old (discontinued in 1875) stage coach line between Cheyenne Wells, CO and Las Animas, CO. Yes, I already knew its approximante location but the prairies of eastern Colorado have not been completely disturbed.
I have used Google Earth to locate an old (discontinued in 1875) stage coach line between Cheyenne Wells, CO and Las Animas, CO. Yes, I already knew its approximante location but the prairies of eastern Colorado have not been completely disturbed.
I think it has a lot to do with both the lay of the land and the space available at where one wanted to turn around. The Naples branch of the Lehigh Valley ended at a turntable. I suspect that was the only choice as the ROW was more or less up on the side of a hill overlooking the village of Naples. I have a photo someone took of it derelict probably early 1970's. The branch was abandoned south of Rushville, NY I believe in the late 60's and the rest of it was gone (along with a lot of the LV main) with the formation of Conrail. On the LV's Ithaca branch north of their Ithaca station was a loop. At Rochester Jct. on the main there was a wye as part of the Rochester branch south. As to old topos I've lately been researching the LV's Auburn & Ithaca branch which ran along the east side of Cayuga Lake, sometimes right at waters edge. Some relatives of mine bought a lakefront place just north of a dot on the map called Levannna and wondered what the berm behind their house was :-) Dave Marcham's book, "Lehigh Valley Memories" includes a photo taken from the last southbound passenger train on the branch showing the small station at Levanna. Another book which discusses this branch is Herb Trice's "The Gangly Country Cousin" which can be downloaded for free from Cornell at: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11631 . Anyway tracing abandoned lines is a lot of fun and there are a lot of them here in western NY.
73, Chris
[quote user="mvlandsw"]
I saw a Santa Fe turntable in Kansas that was built on flat ground without a pit at the end of a branch. The approach track ramped up to get to the turntable.I forget what town it was in, but it was along the Union Pacific west of Ft. Riley.
East Millinocket, Maine on the Bangor & Aroostook also had an above-ground turntable, or at least parts of it weren't in a pit. Its last use apparently was for turning the BL-2 on the 470 Club's trip from Northern Maine Jct. to Caribou and the end of May 1980. The turntable was closed about a week or two later.
Samuel Johnston.
Murphy Siding acmatth I find that Google Earth is a very useful tool for tracing roadbeds of abandoned lines. One can very often see the remains of long-abandoned roadbeds from the satellite photographs displayed there. Yes, I've used those a lot. I don't know which I find more intriguing, that a rail line gone for 50 years can still be seen in satellite photos, or that some of those lines have so completely disappeared into cornfields.
acmatth I find that Google Earth is a very useful tool for tracing roadbeds of abandoned lines. One can very often see the remains of long-abandoned roadbeds from the satellite photographs displayed there.
I find that Google Earth is a very useful tool for tracing roadbeds of abandoned lines. One can very often see the remains of long-abandoned roadbeds from the satellite photographs displayed there.
Yes, I've used those a lot. I don't know which I find more intriguing, that a rail line gone for 50 years can still be seen in satellite photos, or that some of those lines have so completely disappeared into cornfields.
Nature has a way of reclaiming its domain. Mt. Saint Helens natural recovery after the explosion of its volcano has been amazing.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
timz A branch line with a turntable at the end of the branch... can anyone think of one, anywhere in the US?
A branch line with a turntable at the end of the branch... can anyone think of one, anywhere in the US?
BaltACDMidlandMikeThe linked article (http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/202544/2217737.aspx) also told of a loop at the Bay Head end of line of the NY&LB. That surprised me since I thought the CNJ bought the double-ender Baldwin cab units specifically so they would not need to turn the engines.CNJ had many more 'end of the line' locations than just Bay Head.
MidlandMikeThe linked article (http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/202544/2217737.aspx) also told of a loop at the Bay Head end of line of the NY&LB. That surprised me since I thought the CNJ bought the double-ender Baldwin cab units specifically so they would not need to turn the engines.
I was recently able to observe the ex-CNJ line through Raritan which I believe is one of the 'double-ender' services. This is striking for the remarkably tight spacing of the double-track line, like something from the 1870s. I think the double-ender concept was a diesel version of a large suburban tank engine, able to handle larger and heavier trains (in the range of service that, say, Lackawanna MUs might provide) with the same quick run-around-the-train convenience. This 2000hp when the order for these was placed still involved two prime movers and not a bidirectional hood unit; the logical 'follow-on' was something like TrainMasters which of course CNJ also tried.
It does need to be said that for a fleeting while in 1947 CNJ was at least trying to apply the grand postwar streamlined future to commuter operations. And whether or not you like Babyfaces in general, in that tangerine and blue they had something fine and memorable.
MidlandMikeI checked my copy of the Fairy Tale Railroad...
Mine is in a valise with all my other resources for the line, and that's in the back of the truck. And thats backed into the garage...
Thanks for digging that up.
tree68 MidlandMike Old topo maps show a stub of track extending beyond the loop to Racquette Lake. Might be the lead to the ramp for putting cars on floats. My copy of the definitive volume on Adirondack railroadsKudish's "Where did the tracks go in the Central Adirondacks) isn't accessible at the moment. I'll dig it out in the morning.
MidlandMike Old topo maps show a stub of track extending beyond the loop to Racquette Lake.
Might be the lead to the ramp for putting cars on floats.
My copy of the definitive volume on Adirondack railroadsKudish's "Where did the tracks go in the Central Adirondacks) isn't accessible at the moment. I'll dig it out in the morning.
I checked my copy of the Fairy Tale Railroad about Webb's Mohawk & Malone and connecting lines, including a chapter on the Raquette Lake Railway. They not only had a siding for private rail cars, but it was also covered with a roof. Photo of it on p. 95. The also have a photo of the transfer barge landing.
MidlandMike jeffhergert From our friends on the Model Railroader side. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/202544/2217737.aspx I remember the article in Model Railroader about Fox Lake WI and it's loop. There was also one at Beaver Dam WI. Jeff Twice I've tried to insert the link and it looks "hot" but when I post it, it isn't. The linked article also told of a loop at the Bayhead end of line of the NY&LB. That suprised me since I thought the CNJ bought the double-ender Baldwin cab units specifically so they would not need to turn the engins.
jeffhergert From our friends on the Model Railroader side. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/202544/2217737.aspx I remember the article in Model Railroader about Fox Lake WI and it's loop. There was also one at Beaver Dam WI. Jeff Twice I've tried to insert the link and it looks "hot" but when I post it, it isn't.
From our friends on the Model Railroader side.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/202544/2217737.aspx
I remember the article in Model Railroader about Fox Lake WI and it's loop. There was also one at Beaver Dam WI.
Jeff
Twice I've tried to insert the link and it looks "hot" but when I post it, it isn't.
The linked article also told of a loop at the Bayhead end of line of the NY&LB. That suprised me since I thought the CNJ bought the double-ender Baldwin cab units specifically so they would not need to turn the engins.
CNJ had many more 'end of the line' locations than just Bayhead.
MidlandMikeOld topo maps show a stub of track extending beyond the loop to Racquette Lake.
tree68I believe there was track at RL for car storage. I'd have to dig into some books to be sure.
Old topo maps show a stub of track extending beyond the loop to Racquette Lake.
Speaking of Adirondack lines, the D&H had a turntable at the original end of the branch to North Creek, and then a wye at the end of the Tahawus extension. The TT was still there when I rode the tourist line in 2012. I checked the Tahawus wye on Google Earth and saw in the 2015 image that there were loaded hoppers. I thought that the S&NC couldn't get a reasonable rate for CP to handle the connecting traffic.
Carter/Clearwater is at MP H64 on the Adirondack Division. Thendara is MP H58. As the crow flies, 4 miles sounds about right. Clearwater Pond is out of sight of the railroad just west of the station location.
The RLRR, like many similar short lines, fell victim to the automobile.
Racquette Lake is well east of the N-S Mohawk & Malone. Starting at Carter, you can trace much of the route of the railroad on satellite images.
Post RLRR, private cars may have laid over at Thendara, or may have remained in Utica. The road from Carter to Racquette Lake was likely far worse than the state road from Thendara to Racquette Lake. In fact, much of the road back into Carter from Eagle Bay today is the old ROW.
I believe there was track at RL for car storage. I'd have to dig into some books to be sure.
There was freight into Racquette Lake, plus the ice that got hauled out. Cars were floated on Racquette Lake (there's at least one on the bottom), as well as to the Marion Carry Railroad (.7 miles) and thence to Utowana Lake and beyond.
For many years, kids arriving for summer camps in that area would ride the trains to Carter, where they and their luggage were unloaded onto flatbed trucks for the rest of the trip to the camp. I had one such camper from years ago on one of my trains a while back.
Imagine being put on a train by your parents, along with other kids your age, for that trip from wherever into the mountains...
Carter's and Clearwater are essentially the same thing (Renames 1912), right? Tree: this is supposedly 4 miles from Thendara, bit presumably along the line of Webb's Adirondack railroad and not away from it. Obviously those folks who had 'arrived' would not be stopping on signal but would be on through Pullmans and private cars... where did these hold over after the Raclette loop?
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