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rails-to-trails conservancy


hobbesv2

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Link.

 

i'm not sure what i think of this whole thing. admittedly i haven't done all that much research at this point, but my initial reaction was Great, that's awesome. and then i saw that they were paving over tracks and such, which sorta pissed me off. clearly it makes a whole lotta sense, but...the whole writer/pseudo-railfan perspective made me envision this weirdly romantic thing. i mean _i_ like walkin down the tracks as they ARE.

 

but whatever i just figured maybe some of you guys'd be interested. it was definitely something i'd never heard about...just happened to stumble over this stuff - bored, y'know

 

guess i didn't really bring out a question. part of me feels like this sorta project detracts from what the rails already have. it kinda usurps the line as artifact, a piece of history. suddenly you have this package that maybe devalues all that. so what's really goin on? do the benefits outway these concerns? is there any reason to give a fuck?

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Originally posted by Fox Mulder

well we wouldn't want anyone to trip and file a lawsuit.hehe

 

certainlycertainly. BUT - some of you railfans...i'd be curious to hear your views on the issue. is seeing an old line put to new use a positive thing? or is it just a weird way to capitalize on something that's already got a lot of inherent worth?

 

gimme sthg here.

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They can rot in hell those capitalist pigs. An abandonded train track is better than some "paved" trail. People in wheelchairs can use the rails. And little kids could stoll on care-free walks w/out the hazard of moving trains, but the rebelious feel of walking on the train tracks. That program and its creators can straight die.

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I dont like the idea of making a paved road or walkway out of the site where the tracks used to lay, but I have seen some neat stuff outside of Savannah GA near some army base where they took an old line and made kind of a sandy dirt walking path.. you can still tell where the rails were and i think that they even left the ties, just pulled up the steel... I would rather see that, then see it gone altogether. But overall I agree most with Cracked on this one, It just sucks because that means one less track thats being used out there. . Fuck a whole bunch of semis.

 

Some of the tracks out in the pacific northwest that arent used anymore i think could be potentially nice trails, but trails are not paved walkways.. so I dont really know what I think.. the whole thing really makes me think alot of suburbia though.. and Wally and Ethel going out for a sunday drive and a stroll on the old B&O down the way..

that thought makes me mad..

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Originally posted by Wheelbite

...An abandonded train track is better than some "paved" trail...And little kids could stoll on care-free walks w/out the hazard of moving trains, but the rebelious feel of walking on the train tracks.

 

i know, right? at first the old vestiges of idealism were makin me think it'd be a pretty amazing thing to promote hiking on abandoned railroads. balancing on the steel, stepping over all the ties, just trekkin along wondering about the old days. getting to envision the way your city used to look, how stuff worked way back when. sort of an urban camping experience for younguns and fogeys. but no, it's gotta be poured over, paved out, fenced in. piss me off.

 

seems sorta better than nothing, somehow, but...ugh - drives me crazy all in all.

 

but what happens to dead tracks if you just let 'em sit? i mean i expect a big Nothing. just can't say i'm 100% positive that that's it.

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Yuppie Entitlement

 

The Rails-to-Trails idea is another good example of NIMBY yuppie entitlement. It started out as being sold to the railroads as a way to improve their public image--the railroads would donate THE USE of their property (the railway Right of Way) and the tree huggers would raise money to provide a trail. After a few years, though, it got to be an attitude of entitlement on the part of the tree huggers. It's like "Hey, you aren't using that rail line and it's real convenient to our new condo development, so you are OBLIGATED to tear up the rails so we can have a cool hike 'n' bike path." I hope the railroads tell them to go fuck themselves. They move into formerly industrial areas to get "loft" space cheaply, and then immediately begin to bitch piteously because of the pollution and the homeless panhandlers and the train noise. Assholes. I HATE everything about yuppies. "GO BACK TO THE SUBURBS AND TAKE YOUR LIBERAL STENCH WITH YA."

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  • 4 weeks later...

i went on a bike ride on a path that was paved over an old old abandoned line..i just wish that it werent paved over....the only thing left reall was, well the path itself, a bridge over a lake which gives a bootiful view and some big pole that was knocked over, im guessing once used to load things onto cars. its sad though..i remember in new hampshire over the summer seeing quite a few old abandoned tracks which hadnt been paved over..hope they stay that way

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I have some mixed feelings.

 

On one hand, I'd much rather have an abandoned line become a little trail than paved over to make way for a new Walmart plaza. There's honestly a lot of lines that they're never going to use again, and I'd rather it stays there as a reminder, instead of development taking over. The rails to trails projects here do not pave or fence anything in. They pull up the rail and pretty much leave everything else. There's a lot of cool abandoned buildings and bridges that look rad and make for some nice quiet weekday painting.

On the other hand, if the rail could theoretically be used again, then converting it into a trail is gay. That really doesn't happen around here, probably because there aren't many lines anyways. I would be pissed if a really long promising line got converted into a trail, but even then it's still better than when they dig part of it up to make room for a shopping plaza or gas station. I don't know why it's such a bad thing that people want to hike an old railroad line. With the financial state of most rail corporations nowadays, I don't think opening up old lines is a huge priority. I imagine it would be an expensive project to refinish deteriorated ties and rail, not to mention update crossing gates and all that safety shit.

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-from my buddy anvil-he painted with me back in the day!

 

HERE IS MY REPLY TO THESE DUDES BITCHIN' LIKE OLD WOMEN....I'M AN AVID TRAIL USER AND I'M GIVING PART OF MY INCOME TO THIS ORGANIZATION TO FUND AND PROMOTE THE TRANSFORMATION OF OLD ABANDONED RAILWAYS. WHAT GOOD ARE THEY JUST ROTTING THERE? I'M FOR SURE NOT GOING TO RIDE MY BIKE ON THE HIGHWAY FOR SOMEONE TO RUN ME OFF! I DON'T KNOW WHERE SOME OF THESE GUYS GET THERE INFO FROM, BUT RTC DOESN'T SUPPORT SHOPPING PLAZAS AND CONDO DEVELOPMENTS, THEY PRESERVE THE OLD RAILS AND MAKE THEM USEFUL AGAIN, BESIDES, THEY JUST CAN'T GO IN AND DO IT, IT IS USUALLY A VOTED ISSUE THAT THE COMMUNITY DECIDES. I WOULD GLADLY DEBATE ANY OF THESE GUYS AND SET THEM STRAIGHT ON THE MATTER.

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Eventually the yuppies are going to completely pussify the entire world. No wonder everybody hates them. Once they rip up all the old track, then we can put in little comfort stations and places where you can change your kid while you're out running a few miles and pushing one of those three-wheeled kiddy carts. What's next? Mandatory mini-vans, laws against serious stereo builders, obligatory helmets and knee pads if you skate so you won't hurt woo widdle self.

 

I HATE yuppies. They are a plague of the Nanny State. Vote Democratic, then BEND OVER AND SPREAD 'EM for the "K-Y Party." They are sorry-ass, social engineering bastards.

 

Sorry. I'll go back to sleep now. Wake me when the Politically Correct Thought Police get here to scan my retinas.

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Originally posted by kaesthebluntedwonder

i went on a bike ride on a path that was paved over an old old abandoned line

 

Around here they rip up the tracks and ties and that's IT! NO paving, the trails are brutal for anyone on a rigid bike with properly inflated tires...

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Originally posted by KaBar

What's next? Mandatory mini-vans, laws against serious stereo builders, obligatory helmets and knee pads if you skate so you won't hurt woo widdle self.

 

well apart from the mandatory mini-vans (never mind the obligatory)... SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!

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Originally posted by KaBar

Eventually the yuppies are going to completely pussify the entire world. No wonder everybody hates them. Once they rip up all the old track, then we can put in little comfort stations and places where you can change your kid while you're out running a few miles and pushing one of those three-wheeled kiddy carts. What's next? Mandatory mini-vans, laws against serious stereo builders, obligatory helmets and knee pads if you skate so you won't hurt woo widdle self.

 

I HATE yuppies. They are a plague of the Nanny State. Vote Democratic, then BEND OVER AND SPREAD 'EM for the "K-Y Party." They are sorry-ass, social engineering bastards.

 

Sorry. I'll go back to sleep now. Wake me when the Politically Correct Thought Police get here to scan my retinas.

 

yuppies have already made the world pussy Kabar

 

My family just moved to the burbs after living in a some what rough area.LET ME TELL YOU never never in all of my life have I seen so many fans or 30 something "new fathers" in bussiness casuals.I didn't know it was yuppie to wait until your 35 to shit out a kid...no wonder theirs so many handicaped kids roaming FUCK.It's simply pussy out here...my mail man calls me champ and doesn't smoke the people next door.........aren

t drunk nor do the fight on their lawn?WHAT THE FUCK

 

thanks mom wait until your kids are grown up and used to being thugs THEN up root the homestead and relocate to the burbs.........

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just on a kind of sidenote, i was driving home from the skatepark a few weeks ago and decided to follow the tracks just to see if there were any layups i hadnt seen before (on LI the few freights that come out here run on the LIRR commuter lines and theres basically 3 lines that go east to west and only one of them really has freights) so i was in this area of the track on my way home that i hadnt really investigated too much before and out of nowhere theres a line of track running next to me on this small 1 lane road in the middle of these woods. the track was obviously abandoned, but it was really really picturesque and cool in a way because the tracks look like they could still be used but there was alot of medium sized pine trees growing out of the middle of the tracks going all the way down to where it met up with the active commuter line. it was kinda different from a layup though because the track was SUPER close to the road and if there was a train running on it itd probably be about 3 feet from your car, so i think that the track was probably there well before the road and the pine trees arent saplings so the lines probably been abandoned for at least 30 years or something, i didnt get to check out this one area where the tracks cross the road and theres a fence where they go back into the woods, im kinda interested to know what it is though. i'll have to post flicks just because that was so unusual around here and good to see. paving something like that would be kind of stupid because it looks good how it is.

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I'm not feeling this whole debate just because it's like deciding what to do with the corpse of a dead friend. No solution satisfies, because he's dead. With old rail lines, the only solution I'm feeling is BRING IT BACK!! Go canvass all the former freight customers on the line and talk them back into shipping/receiving by rail. If you get enough willing business on one spur, rehab the track and resume service.

I heard that CSX, or some people on their behalf, have been doing this along previously disused lines, and possibly reviving them, so kudos are in order if it's true. Imagine new layups appearing, instead of watching them all dry up.

My only contribution to what to do with abandoned lines is whatever fucks with them the least, just on the off chance of somebody trying to restore service through there. And as Shelltoes noted, whatever wall spots are left along the tracks get less chill to paint if a trail gets paved in.

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I grew up nearby one of these said projects. My parents moved to the neighborhood while it was still a functioning commuter train line, though that ceased around the time I was born. The tracks were a playground for me until I was around fifteen, then the path went in.

 

Cons:

I lost a nice hidden trail, and the wild areas around it are more heavily trodden upon. The area is full of yuppies and on Saturdays and Sundays its a fucking yuppie freeway.

 

Pros:

The trail, no one can front, is nice. It shaves off a bunch of hills and miles for anyone riding their bike into the center city. I can piss and man about yuppies, but I still ride my bike on the trail whenever possible.

 

End result:

Basically, what Cracked said. It sucks that the line died. But it's good that it gets used, since realistically there was no way it was going to be reinstated. But.... growing up with a layup two blocks from my house sure would have changed my approach to graffiti!

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Guest THE LAW
Originally posted by KaBar

Eventually the yuppies are going to completely pussify the entire world.

 

 

hahahahhahaha

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i don't want it to be paved. when its still track its like its still forbidden. the type of people that would report you for doing a dayspot a long an abandoned line are the same type that would be like "oh no i shouldn't be on those tracks." but when its paved they feel its "safe"

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