caldreamer The Southern Pacific now Union Pacific line in Santa Cruz California runs down the middle of the street through downtown.
The Southern Pacific now Union Pacific line in Santa Cruz California runs down the middle of the street through downtown.
UP sold that a few years ago, to the county or some government agency. They have contracted with a few operators but they do not seem to last long. The current one wants out.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
More street running - food for thought
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Lots of interesting comentary on street running here. Some of the railroad history books I have read indicated that in the early days some towns would give a railroad the rights to certain streets for right of way so that the station would be in the center of town. Apparently this was good for business because nearly all travellers in the mid-1800s arrived by train. The issues with automobiles and freight trains began 60 or 70 years later.
More street running:
... and the rather exotic version of trains running in a street:
Imagine the outrage if it got flushed in the Chicago elevated !
Randy Stahl The conductors couldn't forget to lock the toilet rooms at these locations.
The conductors couldn't forget to lock the toilet rooms at these locations.
Indeed.. Back in the day when you flushed the toilet it landed on the right of way.
According to a sign on the batroom wall by the commode:
Passengers will refrain from flushing toilet while stop at a station.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Went down to La Grange, Kentucky three years ago. Might not have the volume of trains like I see in my favorite spots around Ohio, but it was worth the trip.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
Tinplate Toddler It must be a nightmare for the town folks!
Indeed a big old GE AC44CW or SD90MAC must look like Mothra coming down the street. It must be a nightmare for the train crews as well.
With my current health issues I no longer drive and the only railfaning I do these days is on railcams.
BRAKIEBoth of those locations has railcams that can be watched on you tube.
I know - I have watched those webcams a number of times, wondering how many accidents may have happened in the last, say, 100 years. It must be a nightmare for the town folks!
Tinplate ToddlerWith the exception of a few rather seldom used industry sidings and some narrow gauge lines, street running pretty much ended shortly after the begin of the 20th century,
Perhaps where you live but,street running is being done in several areas including Ashlad Va, and LaGrange Ky.
Both of those locations has railcams that can be watched on you tube.
With the exception of a few rather seldom used industry sidings and some narrow gauge lines, street running pretty much ended shortly after the begin of the 20th century, where railroad lines were put on viaducts, with shops underneath. However, streetcars still run in the streets, although some of the lines either were put underground or moved to their own right of way.
Here in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada we had street running until late in the 1990's. It started as Oshawa Street railway hauling cargo from the harbour a few miles to business downtown. A few miles, but we are talking horse and buggy days.
This evolved into CN with a freight depot downtown, and then General Motors fabrication plant and some lumber yards on north getting service. This was via mainline interchange.
General Motors was big in Oshawa, and part of the track was paved as streets were expanded due to population growth.
GM paid the tax on the tracks in order to get the service. When the Fabriction plant was sold, the new owner refused to pay the taxes, CN tore out the tracks, the plant closed about 5 years later. (2004)
My favorite piece of (sort-of) street trackage is in Mulberry, Florida.
This location hates me. I have driven there to photograph this trackage and the nearby Phosphate Museum, but it has been raining or severely overcast both times.
One track crosses the road East to West, and the other track runs parallel to the road but crosses from one side to the other. This results in a crossing in the median.
It is a beautiful piece of trackwork, and I will get an image one day.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
G'day, Street running was not that common here in Australia. But, there were and still are locations where it occurred. The Queensland Railways North Coast main line running along Denison Street in Rockhampton is probably the most famous. Originally double track, this is today single track, and extends for almost 2 kms along Denison Street.http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/48429/QR%201605%20Denison%20St%2028%20aug%201990.JPG
A siding also ran along Stanley Street to a wharf, but that was removed many years ago.http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/48429/QR%20DH%2006%20Stanley%20St%20Rocky%2027%20Aug%201990.JPG
The main line curves into Denison Street from Rockhampton yard and station. Rockhampton being the northern extent of electrification from Brisbane, locos shunt into the street. At the northern end of Denison Street, the line curves to run beside North Street to cross the Fitzroy River. Bells are not a general facet of Aussie motive power. QR loco crews were given a hand bell which was rung outside the cab window during transit of the street. But, this practice was stopped back in the early 1990s. Train speed is a max of 25 kph while traversing the street. Road traffic can travel at a max of 50 kph. And it is common to see kids on pushbikes attempting to race the trains on week-ends. Plus, the screech of tires as motorists attempt to beat the train to cross at an intersection. It was proposed to relocate the main line away from the street when further electrification was mooted. The luxury Sunlander and Queenslander trains traversed the street as does the QR Tilt Train today.http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/48429/qr%202323%20denison%20street.JPG
Port Pirie in South Australia also did originally feature main line street running. Queensland also features a vast network of sugar cane tramways, and some street running occurs. Probably the most famous of those was the Moreton Mill network at Nambour. The network featured a shared road / rail bridge, and 1.25 km of street running along Howard and Mill Streets. The intersection with Currie Street, which was originally part of the Bruce Highway, was very hectic. Empty trains departing the mill would need to stop at the mill road entry until the traffic lights changed. The loco second person running out into Mill Street to watch the intersection lights and then signal the train. Loaded trains climbing towards the mill would be usually banked and could not stop without a potential derailment. The traffic intersection lights circuit out far enough to permit the lights to change in favour of the approaching train. The loco second person then jumping off to sprint ahead of the train to change the yard points if necessary.http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/48429/Moreton%20Mill%20St%20Nambour%2016%20oct%202003.JPG
Sadly, Moreton Mill was closed in late 2003. Other sugar cane tramway street running still occurs. Trains and vehicle traffic sharing streets does seem to be an incongruity. Trams (streetcars) and vehicle traffic sharing streets being far more common. Steve.
BRAKIE Here's the variation of street running here in in Bucyrus,Ohio that Tom mention. Today NS runs tank trains over this line as well as the CF&E local and a CSX grain train... And yes,you can drive down that lane in the right side of the photo.. This was PRR's Ft.Wayne Line between Crestline and Ft. Wayne.
Here's the variation of street running here in in Bucyrus,Ohio that Tom mention. Today NS runs tank trains over this line as well as the CF&E local and a CSX grain train...
And yes,you can drive down that lane in the right side of the photo..
This was PRR's Ft.Wayne Line between Crestline and Ft. Wayne.
Looks like the Spring Street crossing. Sad how that route went from a busy double-track mainline to the state it's in now. At least it's still in use.
Larry ... I believe it is the only restaurant on Main Street in LaGrange, KY... The food is good and the prices are reasonable. I did not have the burger. ... It is only about a mile from the I-71 exit. .... Watch out for railfans who eat there ! .... LOL
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Garry,I have railfan/visited my wife's sister in LaGrange, KY and I was wondering if that restaurant was the one that had/has the CSX burger? That was a delicious burger.
I took this photo a couple of years ago while we were eating at a restaurant in LaGrange, KY. CSX operates trains in the middle of Main Street. The locomotive is the trailing unit of a train running from Louisville to Cincinnati.
MidlandPacificAlso very common in port cities, where the waterfront often either predated the railroad or grew up around it. You can still find rails around Baltimore's Inner Harbor, if you know where to look.
Same with Portland, ME where Portland Terminal RR ran down the middle of Commercial St. They switched a number of industries and interchanged with Grand Trunk RR which had a station and other facilities on the east end. The street running continued into the 1980s.
An undated photohttp://www.panoramio.com/photo/88694900
and one from 1932http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/press-herald-file-photo-railroad-tracks-and-rail-traffic-news-photo/485831011
and one from 1982; the CV locomotive probably came from Grand Trunkhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/25111976@N03/21134706022/
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Randy Stahl If the North Shore is what you remember , why not build the North Shore? They did haul freight in thier own merchandise cars until 1947. Randy
If the North Shore is what you remember , why not build the North Shore? They did haul freight in thier own merchandise cars until 1947.
Randy
No appeal for me. I wanted to model the transition era with steam and first generation diesels, not an interurban. There isn't much I remember about the North Shore because I only rode it from Chicago to Milwaukee and back again during the holidays at the end of 1959. I just liked that feature of street running and since there are many examples of street running for all sorts of railroads there was no need to limit my choices.
In cities like Philadelphia the railroads for the most part created the infrastructure for the city to grow and expand arround it. The oldest section of railroad in Philly is the line running under the art museum to Delaware Ave just north of Market St. Tracks are now pulled up and abandoned for the most part. The railroad provided a right of way for the roads to be built arround it with the tracks in the middle for the most part. With the railroad the industries could locate here and housing for factory workers were nearby. We are talking 1850's. At the same time horse drawn street cars were located on many streets to provide transportation for people.
The Reading Berks Street Line (North Pennsylvania Railroad, not the PRR) aka American Street line was built before any of it was paved. It was a 4 track line in many places with industrial sidings coming off the outer tracks. Factories were built along side this transportation infrastructure. Eventually the right of way was paved to accomodate first teams of horses with wagons, than motor trucks. Which came first, chicken or the egg, probably a little of both. Philly was becoming a major manufacturing center. Everything moved by railroad in those days.
In Philadelphia the street car lines were not frieght haulers. Many of these same lines are used today by buses and still some street cars.
Also very common in port cities, where the waterfront often either predated the railroad or grew up around it. You can still find rails around Baltimore's Inner Harbor, if you know where to look.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Most cases of street running occured when upper management failed to acquire a private right of way into downtown stations or industries. I'm sure the operating departments all wanted a private right of way, where cars had to stop and let the train go thru at grade crossings. Sometimes the needed private right of way was all built up with expensive high rise buildings (or even expensive low rise buildings) and sometimes the price the owners demanded for the land was too high. Interesting side issue, some railroads enjoyed imminent domain, the privilege of taking privately own land against the land owners will. Others did not have this privilege. Did the street running railroads lack the imminent domain privilege?
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
At Delphos, Ohio, the NKP came down from Toledo and entered the north side of town. The AC&Y came in from Akron and connected with the NKP. Both roads proceeded 13 blocks south on North Washington Street to the PRR mainline where the AC&Y ended and the NKP crossed the PRR, curved West, and proceeded to Indiana.
I also remember riding the northbound C&EI Hummingbird passenger train some time in the mid 1960's and riding up the street while I ate breakfast in the dining car. I'm pretty sure that was in Terre Haute, IN.
With some of the earliest steam railroads built this was common because loading and unloading freight and passengers in the street was considered an advantage. For example, two very early steam roads in Indiana, the NKP's predecessor which built the NKP's Indianapolis-Michigan City, Indiana line and the Monon's predecessor are good examples. There were several locations in Indiana where these very early Indiana railroads ran in the city streets. I recall seeing N&W trains running down the middle of downtown in the street by the courthouse in Kokomo, Indiana and could kick myself now for not taking pictures and video footage. Later railroads inherited street running and it often was too expensive or impossible to reroute the trackage.
Victor A. Baird
Fort Wayne, Indiana
I forgot to mention Tyrone, PA where the PRR mainline (now NS) ran on the south side of the Little Juniata River. The Bald Eagle branch came down from the North, ran up Washington Avenue, crossed a deck girder bridge that spanned a road, split into a wye whose two legs crossed deck girder bridges over another road and the Little Juniata, and joined the mainline at the passenger station. A wonderfully modelable location.
Tom
(edited for clarity)