Railroad line to bike path.


NYC_George

NYC_George

Well-Known Member
I haven't worked in Yonkers, NY in over 5 years, but I'm now working there. I notice on my ride home the project to convert the old New York Central 40 mile Putnam division to a bike path is now complete. You can ride your bike from Carmel, NY to Yonkers NY most all the way on a grade no more than 3 percent . Railroads make great bike paths. The Sawmill River Parkway and Rt 100 follow the railroad most of the way so you can see the people on the path as you drive along. They had to replace two of the bridges over the Croton river near Carmel were I live and they used very large bridges. The bridges could easily support a train. I was wondering why such large bridges for bikes. Then I heard on the news that Metro North's rider ship has increased 50,000 a day over last year. I'm going to guess because of the gas prices. The towns that the railroad use to serve have grown very big since 1958 when they closed the line. I'm wondering is it two far fetched to think they used those large bridges in case they ever wanted to reopen the railroad. I guess maybe not because all the bicyclers would take them to court and the large bridges could just be a safety issue.

NYC_George
 
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Does it look like this?

aurora_bridge.jpg
 
The PRR Indiana Branch (which I model) is now the Hoodlebug Trail and it connects with the Indiana and Cambridge RR which is now a bike trail as well so we have quite a few around these parts.
 
My thoughts are that re-certifying a bridge for the weight of a train would not be worth it. There'd be about a 50/50 chance they'd be told to replace it anyways. I'd think they'd just replace it, instead of checking it.
 
My understanding is that during these conversions the railroads maintain their easements and the ultimate right to restore service. Here in Maine lines are being restored and reopened for freight traffic. I think your theory that the large bridges are to maintain the ability to restore service is right on.
 
Alone, forgotten,no trains no tracks not even a walking trail used to be a mainline
 
I understand that a great deal of the Milwaukee road's Pacific Extension in Montana and Idaho is now a trail/bike path through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Northwest. A friend of mine and his wife hiked a lot of it last summer and said that it was a remarkable trip.

In Northern California, part of an ex-Southern Pacific branch line between Susanville and Westwood, CA has been converted to a bike/hike trail in the rather spectacular Susan River canyon, and it's really a pretty hike, especially during the fall when the birch and Aspen are in full color. Done it several times--I'm hoping that the entire branch to Westwood might be opened in the future. It's on the eastern slope of the Sierra, right where mountains meet high desert, and the contrasts are really colorful.

Tom
 
To much bridge

Here's a photo of one of the newly installed bridges two years ago when they started the project in Carmel, NY. The north end of the abandoned line. My wife and I rode our bikes about five miles of the then uncompleted forty mile trail. When I saw the bridges I thought the state of New York must have spared no expense when planning this project. Don't you think thier a little much for bikes? I have heard people say what a mistake it was to close the line if they only had it now. Metro north now carrys 600,000 people a day into and from New York City. The people that live in the towns the line served now have to drive to either the Harlem or Hudson lines to take the train, instead of catching it in thier own town. As the price of gas goes higher the railroads will do more and more bussiness.

NYC_George
 
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