What was the first RR or track in the US abandonned?
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Wild and open question. My first stab would be the track laid to move stone at Bunker Hill followed by John Stevens circle of track in Hoboken, NJ. You question begs a lot of clarification.
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This would be impossible to answer when you consider that railroads were not regulated prior to the 1880's. Also think about how many operations started up in the 1840's and 1850's and ceased operations when the money ran out.
The interurbans fell like donino's in the 30's . Alot of the antracite roads were lost in the 60's, the Maine 2 footers were scrapped before WW2.
One of the earliest in the west was the 1890s abandonment of the line owned by Santa Fe (or a subsidiary) which ran direct from San Bernardino to San Diego. The portion through Temecula Canyon was built in a location subject to frequent washouts, and ATSF gave up on it as a through route, sending the San Diego traffic via San Juan Capistrano.
Lines were abandoned as fast as they were laid down fro 1780what on . Some were bad, some were abandoned for better routes, some never had a train run on it, some served its purpose in short order. It is actually an impossible question unless you have a specific in mind: first Cass One or first all passenger or first in such and such a place or part of a given railroad, etc.
Documenting abandonments prior to the coming of the ICC is tough. Before then, many of what would be called "Common Carriers" just walked away from the plant.
The California Southern through Temecula abandonment happened relatively late (1891-92). In Colorado, the first abandonment was 2.5 miles of Colorado Central in 1874 followed by 80 miles of KP/Arkansas Valley RR in 1878. Trackage in the Bay area was abandoned by 1859 belonging to Central Pacific predecessors.
Some of the strap rail and wooden axle railroads in the 1830's on the east coast probably would be first.
It's worth mentioning that in the "robber baron" era of the mid-to-late 1800s there were lines constructed for no reason except to raise money from investors. Some lines never saw any revenue service. Late 1800s railroading is a fascinating history of what today's society would consider outright fraud.
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