What is the one railroad location in each state every railfan can identify immediately?

[mvlandsw]

The James Hill Viaduct looks good with the lighting under the arches. Is it still being used by rail traffic? I remember reading a long time ago that one of the arches was sinking and had to be repaired.

[dehusman]

John-NYBW

Nebraska: The Omaha Union and Burlington Stations which at one time were connected by a concourse bridge.

5294751410_fa03e477cc_b.jpg (1024×681) (staticflickr.com)

The bridge is long gone and both stations have since been repurposed. Amtrak built a small station just east of the old Burlington Station which would be in the lower left center of the above photo. 

The Burlington Station in the lower left is now the KETV studios.  The bridge to the platform tracks is gone.

Just above the Burlington station is the Postal Annex, it is still used by the USPS, but is not rail served.

Omaha Union Station is now the Durham Museum.  the building with the arched entrance across the street is now a storage annex for the museum.  The building with the Sears add on it is now loft apartments.

 

All the freight house buildings above and to the left of the Union Station are gone and have been redeveloped.  About half the warehouses are gone  and those remaining have been converted to loft apartments or office space.  The building above and slightly to the left of the museum with the signage wrapped around the op is the Skinner Macaroni Building, my daughter had an apartment in that building several years ago.  The group of three facades just below Skinner and the the left of the smokestack in the upper right corner is the Fairmont Creamery, now shops and office space.

[John-NYBW]

Nebraska: The Omaha Union and Burlington Stations which at one time were connected by a concourse bridge.

5294751410_fa03e477cc_b.jpg (1024×681) (staticflickr.com)

The bridge is long gone and both stations have since been repurposed. Amtrak built a small station just east of the old Burlington Station which would be in the lower left center of the above photo. 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

"UNION PACIFIC in every state."

No, only in 23 states, none of them near me.

Sheldon

[Track fiddler]

ndbprr

nice to see plctures of some sites I was unaware of and can add to my knowledge base.

 

Cheers that one

I'm confused to what's going on here either

 

 

TF

[ndbprr]

nice to see plctures of some sites I was unaware of and can add to my knowledge base.

[Track fiddler]

UNION PACIFIC in every state.

 

 

But the James Hill Viaduct Bridge built for Great Northern Railway is more than likely the Monument of our state of Minnesota when it comes to Railroad History.

 

Her completion, January 6th 1893.

What a Bridge.  129 years and Still Standing! 

Isn't She Grand?

 

 

 

TF

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

ndbprr

Good answers BUT many are places only a local would know.  Maybe there just aren't thar many states with instantly recognizable places.  I am surprised Noone has mentioned California locations like Cajon pass, Tehachapi loop, Laupt, San Bernadino station and the coast line. In the east D&H on the bluffs. GN through Glacier National Park.  Sherman pass out of Cheyene. Not a whole lot of thinking going on here.  I would have thought this would be inundated.  Very surprising.

 

Well, I for one have never been to California, so I have never seen any of those places in person.

And, on top of that western roads do not interest me much, so not something I spend time reading/reseaching or looking at pictures.

Sure I have heard others mention these places, read articles about layouts that depict them, seen a few pictures, but not on my radar at all.

Been building model trains for 50 years, never owned a model of a BigBoy.......

Sheldon

[ndbprr]

Good answers BUT many are places only a local would know.  Maybe there just aren't thar many states with instantly recognizable places.  I am surprised Noone has mentioned California locations like Cajon pass, Tehachapi loop, Laupt, San Bernadino station and the coast line. In the east D&H on the bluffs. GN through Glacier National Park.  Sherman pass out of Cheyene. Not a whole lot of thinking going on here.  I would have thought this would be inundated.  Very surprising.

[dknelson]

It is probably asking too much to think of sites that every railfan would recognize; maybe it is enough to think of sites that every railfan from that state would recognize.  And there won't be total agreement on any of them!

But I'll throw a few out

Michigan -- the iconic depot at Durand.

Wisconsin -- perhaps the two large depots in Milwaukee, the old Milwaukee Road depot on Everett St or the lakefront depot of the C&NW.  And yet there is also the curve at Devil's Lake.  For today's railfans however maybe Duplainville, Byron Hill, Grand Dad Bluff on the Mississippi.

Minnesota - Pig's Eye Yard? Dayton's Bluff?  

Iowa - the Quad Cities offer several candidates but there is also Oelwein and the classic CGW yard tower.

Nebraska -- Omaha Union Depot, but then there is also Kenefick Park with the dramatic sight of a Big Boy and Centennial seemingly perched on a hill and lit at night.

Kansas City KS/MO and the Midwest Auto sign.  

Virginia -- the triple crossing in Richmond.

Dave Nelson

 

[MisterBeasley]

I haven't been in the northern part of Delaware much, but the southern part basically has nothing but a couple of short lines that mostly serve the chicken industry.  Railway Road, about a half mile from my house, never had a railway or anything like one.

[reasearchhound]

For Oregon I would imagine it is along the Columbia River Gorge. Maybe anywhere between Hood River and The Dalles.

[MidlandMike]

Foe New Hampshire it would be the last remaining ball signal at the Whitefield diamond.

[Attuvian1]

MidlandMike

For Michigan it probably would be the Michigan Central Detroit station, although many photos have been of the abandoned hulk.  Today Ford is rehab'ing the building, at a cost of about a $billion.  An alternative would be the former C&O Badger carferry dock in Ludington.

 

Or perhaps any of a number of the stations along the MC from Detroit enroute to Porter, IN and Chicago.  To me, the most dramatic is the station at Niles.

 

John

[OldEngineman]

Overmod wrote: "And there's a good Hawk's Nest above Port Jervis, with a road instantly recognizable by millions."

That road looks even higher up when viewed from an engine running down below on the other side of the river (former Erie Delaware Division, been on it once or twice...) 

[fwright]

For Colorado, I would have to add Royal Gorge with it's hanging bridge.

In NY, everybody knows the Hell's Gate Bridge - even if it's from their tinplate days.

Fred W

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Overmod

Why haven't I seen Point of Rocks/Harper's Ferry mentioned as iconic?

And there's a good Hawk's Nest above Port Jervis, with a road instantly recognizable by millions.

Florida had the Key West Extension.

 

I was thinking of both Point of Rocks and Harpers Ferry, but been busy today. 

Harpers Ferry hold lots of memories for me. Spent a summer there working at age 15, just missed possibly being hurt by a derailment that happened 10 minutes after a friend and I got up off a bench on the passenger platform and headed home. 

Took my first wife to Hill Top House on our honeymoon.......

Been back many times over the years.

Sheldon

[Overmod]

Why haven't I seen Point of Rocks/Harper's Ferry mentioned as iconic?

And there's a good Hawk's Nest above Port Jervis, with a road instantly recognizable by millions.

Florida had the Key West Extension.

[MidlandMike]

For Colorado, the Moffat Tunnel and the Silverton line are certainly worthy entries.  However, since this is a model railroad forum, the often modeled Ophir Loop makes that an obvious contender.

[ndbprr]

I said start your own message because Canada does have sufficient places to warrant its own topic not because I don't like Canada.

[BATMAN]

Gidday Batman, like Canada, New Zealand has provinces,

Ya Bear, that's kind of what I thought, but who am I to argue with Google way past bedtime?

I'll sit back and be an armchair participant for this one.

[dehusman]

So far I only recognize maybe 25% of these pictures.

For example the Huelett unloaders don't say anyplace specific since there were Huelett unloaders in many states.  We had some in Philadephia.

["JaBear"]

BATMAN

ndbprr Canadians start your own survey. Provinces aren't states.

The following countries have "States" and may participate....I think. ...New Zealand...  Oooooh! look Bear can Participate!

Gidday Batman, like Canada, New Zealand has provinces, and as I’m not sure how to take the Ops comment “Canadians start your own survey.  Provinces aren't states”, I’ll assume that anything local, is irrelevant.

 

However, for actual US railroad locations that I’ve discovered and found very interesting, though I suspect are rather niche, are the Hulett ore unloaders at Whiskey Island, Cleveland, Ohio, though I have to disqualify myself regarding those as they’ve all been dismantled.

 

Huletts by Bear, on Flickr

Wikipeda Commons, National Parks Service photo.

 

Of as much interest as an operation was the Detroit River Car Ferries, of which the some of the loading/unloading aprons are still in evidence, especially those on the Windsor, Ontario side of the river which can be easily viewed from the Riverfront trail. Those on the Detroit side may possibly glimpsed from the Ambassador Bridge, though looking at the latest from Google Maps, the old boat yard appears to have been pulled up and used as a dump for some sort of minerals.

 

Ferry Aprons by Bear, on Flickr

Courtesy of Google maps.

 

Cheers, the Bear.

[Water Level Route]

Thurmond, West Virginia

[BATMAN]

ndbprr

Canadians start your own survey.  Provinces aren't states.

The following countries have "States" and may participate....I think.

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Brazil
4. Germany
5. India
6. Malaysia
7. Mexico
8. Micronesia
9. Myanmar
10. New Zealand
11. Nigeria
12. Palau
13. South Sudan

Oooooh! look Bear can Participate!

[mvlandsw]

SP's Pecos River bridge in Texas

Southern's Saluda Grade in North Carolina

[PM Railfan]

Q: What is the one railroad location in each state every railfan can identify immediately?

A: A railroad yard. (Who wouldnt recognize a caboose instead of a pink flamingo in someones yard?)

 

 

Oh wait, you meant some kinda special location????  How about this one.....

 

PMR

 

[gmpullman]

 Colorado, Durango and Silverton:

 

DRGW_1966 by Edmund, on Flickr

Cheers, Ed

[mvlandsw]

Ore docks in Minnesota

The DT&I concrete cantenary arches in Michigan

Car ferries in Michigan and Wisconsin

Many things around Chicago in Illinois

The CSS&SB in Indianna

[MidlandMike]

For Michigan it probably would be the Michigan Central Detroit station, although many photos have been of the abandoned hulk.  Today Ford is rehab'ing the building, at a cost of about a $billion.  An alternative would be the former C&O Badger carferry dock in Ludington.