Riding on abandoned rail road tracks

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

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

"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message
...
| 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
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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

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.

From: "Micheal Artindale"

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.

Sounds as a bumpy and monotonous ride to me.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

"Micheal Artindale" skrev i meddelandet
...
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

Per Löwdin wrote:
Sounds as a bumpy and monotonous ride to me.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

"Micheal Artindale" skrev i
meddelandet ...
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

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

I MTB 2004

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