Riding on abandoned rail road tracks

Micheal Artinda

I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties, and
the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i asked a
local police officer.

Micheal

Ride-A-Lot

Micheal Artindale wrote:
> I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
> riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
> havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties, and
> the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i asked
> a local police officer.
>
> Micheal

OK. I'm curious. What did the officer say?

IMHO, even though a line is abandoned it is still owned by
the RR company. You should check with them. We have tons of
old rail trails tucked away in the Pine Barrons of NJ from
the old glass blowing and Iron Works days. Most have been
turned over to the state as green acres but some are still
owned by the RR and have No Tresspassing signs posted.
Granted the signs look like they are about 40 years old and
the trails are so overgrown that most people wouldn't even
know they were on them.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

The Nelson Para

"Micheal Artindale" <micheal.artindale@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:wyRyc.71174$sS2.2422182@news20.bellglobal.com...
| I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
| riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
| havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties, and
| the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i asked
| a local police officer.
|
| Micheal

Riding unused tracks can be a legally tricky thing. If the
line is simply out of service (meaning the railroad no
longer runs trains over it) it is still owned by the
railroad and they can (and often do) enforce a no
trespassing policy.

If a line is abandoned (a legal definition where the
railroad will no longer maintain the line) then the land it
sits on can either be sold (difficult unless the road owns
adjacent land,) reverted to the state or to the Federal
Government (depending whether the line was part of a land
grant.) In any case, the owner can post no trespassing on
any of these.

For safety's sake, make certain the line you're talking
about is actually out of service/abandoned. Despite our
thinking that trains are noisy beasts, they have snuck up on
many track walkers (in your case rider.) There are thousands
of miles of active railroad that sees very little traffic.
Rusty rails are not an indication of abandonment as clean,
naked steel can rust in days. There is a line near my house
that sees one train a week currently and looks like dog's
dinner except right after it passes (when the rails look
bright and shiny again.)

Your state DOT might be a good place to start.

Nelson <--- train buff and model railroader before he was
a bike nut.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest,
just details. The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com http://intbike.com
_______
Checked by AVG anti-virus system
(http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.692 / Virus
Database: 453 - Release Date: 5/28/2004

The Nelson Para

One other thing: this is something I've actually done. There
is a small train yard in Charlotte that was sold over from
the state (who claimed the property when the Piedmont
Northern was officially abandonned by Seaboard Coast
Line/CSX - I don't know the timing) and I wanted to see
where the line that terminated there went. I'd tried to
follow it by car (maps were not good - only a few crossings
were mentioned as the producers were only interested in
roads) but I couldn't find it after a while. So, one fine
winter morning I took my cruiser and set out down the line.
It took me through some industrial parks (here I got
worried, as it was clear the occasional tank car was
delivered using this line - see, despite being abandoned
officially, it was still partially in use,) a housing
complex I was unaware of (that's where I lost it in my car)
and finally through some deep woods on the edge of the city.
I followed the line for about 10 miles (despite my balloon
tires, riding on ballast filled ties is not always easy) up
to CSX's Pinoca Yard. Here I stopped, as I knew the path of
the old PN from there and CSX was actively using the old PN
yard. Mystery solved.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest,
just details. The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com http://intbike.com
_______
Checked by AVG anti-virus system
(http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.692 / Virus
Database: 453 - Release Date: 5/28/2004

Superslinky

Micheal Artindale said:

> I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
> riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
> havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties, and
> the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i asked
> a local police officer.
>
> Micheal

Make sure you are ready to fix lots of flats.

Sean S

>From: "Micheal Artindale" micheal.artindale@sympatico.ca

>I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
>riding on old railbeds.

If, as you've indicated, the track is still there ... do
yourself a big favor and don't even think about riding it.
In addition to the reasons given by previous posters, RR's
are notorious for leaving old track debris (such as spikes,
tie plates, pieces of old rail, etc) along abandoned lines,
and the possibility of you coming upon something hidden in
the weeds that sends you sailing off the bike is extremely
high. Old, rotting railroad ties are also magnets for
stinging insects' nests (such as yellow jackets), so you're
also likely to find some of them the hard way.

The wisest choice, is to not go anywhere near a railroad right-of-
way unless all of the track has been pulled up completely,
and the land turned over for recreational use. To do
otherwise, is inviting either a serious accident in an
unforgiving environment, or being arrested for trespassing.

Per LöWdin

Sounds as a bumpy and monotonous ride to me.

Per http://lowdin.nu

"Micheal Artindale" <micheal.artindale@sympatico.ca> skrev i
meddelandet
news:wyRyc.71174$sS2.2422182@news20.bellglobal.com...
> I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
> riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
> havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties, and
> the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i asked
> a local police officer.
>
> Micheal

Pas

Per Löwdin wrote:
> Sounds as a bumpy and monotonous ride to me.
>
> Per http://lowdin.nu
>
> "Micheal Artindale" <micheal.artindale@sympatico.ca> skrev
> i meddelandet
> news:wyRyc.71174$sS2.2422182@news20.bellglobal.com...
>> I a wondering what kind of precations i should take when
>> riding on old railbeds. The line is abandoned, and trails
>> havent run through for about 5 years. The rails, ties,
>> and the rock are still there. It is legal to use them, i
>> asked a local police officer.
>>
>> Micheal

I've ridden on old railroad ballast... why any one would
choose it is beyond
me. Our local version is angular basalt cobbles,
loosely packed.

Penny

crazy6r54

Why would any one in their right mind ride the tracks with
out the train. Crazy train from Jersey.

I MTB 2004

x

RE/
> Why would any one in their right mind ride
> the tracks with out the train. Crazy train
> from Jersey.

Actually, there's some activity by people who ride specially-
configured bikes. Something about an outrigger to balance
and some way to keep the wheels on one rail.

Googling Bike Rails Railroad Tracks and so-forth turned up
too many hits on other stuff, but I know I've seen at least
one site dedicated to that pursuit.

BTW, we vacationed one year with the family of a guy who
worked for the Canadian railroad. He said that they
mercelessly prosecute snowmobilers who ride the tracks but
have no objection to cross country skiers using same.
Reason: the sound of the snowmobile engine masks the sound
of an approaching train - creating unsightly messes in the
snow..... while the xc skiers can hear the trains and get
out of the way.
--
PeteCresswell