I have seen abandoned tracks on the prototype and they are usually left with just ties or nothing at all. You will very rarely see abandoned lines with rail remaining because there is too much salvage value in rail.
However, that is not to say that there are never overgrown tracks with the rails still on them. These are probably not officially abandoned by the railroad, just severly neglected.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
Wondering is anyone has tips or hints on how best to model an abandoned track line? I want to model some track in disuse next to my mainline... has anyone done this, what happend in the prototype in these situations, and what looks realistic? Do they just have ties, or the rails and ties overgrown?
Hoping for some direction here, and thanks~!