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Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. | Rail trails are former railway lines that have been converted to paths designed for pedestrian, bicycle, skating, equestrian, and/or light motorized traffic. Most are multiuse trails offering at least pedestrians and cyclists recreational access and right-of-way to the routes.[1] Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...
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A right-of-way (plural: rights-of-way) is an easement or strip of land granted to a railroad company upon which to build a railroad. ...
Look up Pedestrian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
For other uses, see Bicycle (disambiguation). ...
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A young rider at a horse show in Australia. ...
“Footpath†redirects here. ...
An easement is the right to do something or the right to prevent something over the real property of another. ...
History
In North America, the decades-long consolidation of the rail industry led to the closure of a number of now-uneconomical branch lines in the 1960s. Some were maintained as short line railways, but many others were simply abandoned. Trail enthusiasts on the Arkansas River Trail west of the Jimerson Creek footbridge with Pinnacle Mountain looming in the background. ...
There is also a Littlerock, California. ...
This article is about the U.S. State. ...
North American redirects here. ...
A short line is an independent railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance. ...
Beginning with a few lines in the Midwestern United States, these disused industrial relics were turned into ecological areas functioning as linear parks or community space, but mainly as transportation or recreation corridors for walking, hiking, bicycling, horse riding, birdwatching, etc. This article is about the Midwestern region in the United States. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Two hikers in the Mount Hood National Forest Eagle Creek hiking Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. ...
Cycling is a recreation, a transport across land. ...
horse, see Horse (disambiguation). ...
Birdwatching or birding is the observation and study of birds. ...
By the 1970s, even main lines were being sold or abandoned. This was especially true when regional rail lines merged and streamlined their operations. As both the supply of potential trails increased and awareness of the possibilities rose, state governments, municipalities, conservation authorities and private organizations bought the rail corridors to create, expand or link greenspaces. The first abandoned rail corridor in the United States converted into a recreational trail was the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin, which opened in 1965. The following year the Illinois Prairie Path opened. The longest developed rail trail is currently the 225-mile Katy Trail in Missouri; when complete, the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska will extend for 321 miles. Greenspace is a term used to describe the areas in a city or dense suburb where plants are growing. ...
Just outside one of three railroad tunnels along the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail The Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail is a 32-mile (51 km) bike trail between Elroy and Sparta, Wisconsin. ...
This article is about the U.S. state. ...
The Prairie Path in Wheaton, Illinois. ...
Katy Trail State Park is a state park in Missouri. ...
This article is about the U.S. state. ...
The Cowboy Trail is a bicycling, walking and equestrian trail built on right-of-way formerly occupied by the Chicago and North Western Railway in northern Nebraska. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area Ranked 16th - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 430 miles (690 km) - % water 0. ...
Gradually, the movement acquired the name "rail trails" and created organizations to promote its ideas. Currently, there are tens of thousands of miles and thousands of rail trails in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and many other countries. The main factor restricting the potential scope of the movement is the lack of abandoned or surplus rail lines in continental Europe, though abandoned canal towpaths are readily available and used for similar purposes. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ...
A towpath on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal A towpath is a road or track that runs alongside the banks of a river, canal or other inland waterway. ...
Conversion issues Rail trail conversions can be quite complex for a variety of legal, social and economic reasons. Railroads in North America were often built with a mix of purchased land, government land grants, and easements. The land deeds can be over a hundred years old, land grants might be conditional upon continuous operation of the line and easements may have expired, all expensive and difficult issues to determine at law. The Conotton Creek Trail begins here in Bowerston, Ohio. ...
North American redirects here. ...
A right-of-way (plural: rights-of-way) is an easement or strip of land granted to a railroad company upon which to build a railroad. ...
Railroad property rights have typically been poorly enforced, with neighboring property owners intentionally or accidentally using land they do not own. Such encroachers often later oppose a rail to trail conversion. Even residents who are not encroaching on railway lands may oppose conversion on the grounds of increased foot traffic in the area and its perceived decline of personal security.
Because linear corridors of land are only valuable if they are intact, special laws regulate the abandonment of a railroad corridor. In the United States, the Surface Transportation Board regulates railroads, and can allow a corridor to be "rail banked" or placed on hold for possible conversion back to active status when or if future need demands. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) was created by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 at the same time the Interstate Commerce Commission was destroyed. ...
Rail trails are former railway lines that have been converted to paths designed for pedestrian, bicycle, skating, equestrian, and/or light motorized traffic. ...
While many rail trails have been built, many more potential trails have been squashed by community opposition. The stature of the conversion organization, the quality of involvement of the local community, and government willingness are all keys factor in the successful acceptance of a trail.
Typical features  Hiker on the Pine Creek Rail Trail in Pennsylvania Most original rail lines were surveyed for ease of transport and gentle (often less than 2%) grades. Therefore, the rail trails that succeeded them are often fairly straight and ideally suited to overcome steep or awkward terrain such as hills, escarpments, rivers, swamps, etc. Rail trails often share space with linear utilities such as pipelines, electrical transmission wires and telephone lines. railroads redirects here. ...
Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. ...
A grade (or gradient) is the pitch of a slope, and is often expressed as a percent tangent, or rise over run. It is used to express the steepness of slope on a hill, stream, roof, railroad, or road, where zero indicates level (with respect to gravity) and increasing numbers...
For other uses, see Utility (disambiguation). ...
Power line redirects here. ...
A telephone line (or just line) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communications system. ...
Most purchase of railway land is dictated by the free market value of the land, so that land in urban and industrial cores is often impractical to purchase and convert. Therefore, rail trails may end on the fringes of urban areas or near industrial areas and resume later, as discontinuous portions of the same rail line, separated by unaffordable or inappropriate land.
A Railroad right of way (easement) width varies based on the terrain, with a 100 ft being amply wide enough where little surface grading is required.[2] The initial 705 mile stretch of the Illinois Central Railroad is the most liberal in the world with a width of 200 feet along whole 705 miles of line. [3] Rail trails are often graded and covered in gravel or crushed stone, although some are paved with asphalt and others are left as dirt. Where rail bridges have been directly incorporated into the trail, the only alterations (if any) tend to be adding solid walking areas on top of ties or trestles. If paved, they are especially suitable for people in wheelchairs. A right-of-way (plural: rights-of-way) is an easement or strip of land granted to a railroad company upon which to build a railroad. ...
The Illinois Central (AAR reporting mark IC), sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. ...
Gravel (largest fragment in this photo is about 4 cm) Gravel is rock that is of a certain particle size range. ...
The term asphalt is often used as an abbreviation for asphalt concrete. ...
This article is about the edifice (including an index to articles on specific bridge types). ...
Where applicable, the same trails used in the summer for walking, jogging and inline skating can be used in the winter for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and sometimes snowmobiling. Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. ...
Roller skating girl in Rome, Italy (soul grind) Roller skating is travelling on smooth terrain with roller skates. ...
Nordic skiing is a winter sport that encompasses all types of skiing where the heel of the boot cannot be fixed to the ski. ...
For other uses, see Snowshoe (disambiguation). ...
A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park (NPS Photo) A snowmobile is a land vehicle propelled by one or two rubber tracks, with skis for steering. ...
Railbanking Railbanking is the practice of preserving railroad rights-of-way for possible future use. One such means to accomplish this is by using them as multi-use trails. In the United States, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is a nonprofit organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., which promotes railbanking. This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ...
A right-of-way (plural: rights-of-way) is an easement or strip of land granted to a railroad company upon which to build a railroad. ...
Segregated cycle facilities may consist of a separate road, track, path or lane that is designated for use by cyclists and from which motorised traffic is generally excluded. ...
Rail trails are created when abandoned railway rights-of-way are converted to paths designed for foot, bicycle, equestrian or light motorized traffic. ...
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Many railroads are not built on land that is actually owned by the railroad company, but is simply an easement. The terms of the easement often require that the land continue to be used for transportation, or it will revert to the property owner; railbanking often satisfies these conditions, keeping the corridor around if future conditions, such as depletion of oil reserves ("peak oil"), ever promote the conversion back to rails. However, conversion back to an active railroad can face considerable community opposition due to local attachment to a multi-use trail. As a result modern railroads are often hesitant to railbank a line as a rail trail. An easement is the right to do something or the right to prevent something over the real property of another. ...
For other uses, see Peak oil (disambiguation). ...
RTC was founded in 1986 and has currently more than 100,000 members. The organization does not build trails, but promotes policy at the national and state levels to create the conditions that make trail building possible by local groups. RTC helps to keep the federal Transportation Enhancements program, which is the largest source of funding for trail development. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...
The land over which railways pass may often have many different owners — private, rail operator or governmental — and, depending on the terms under which it was originally acquired, the type of operating rights may also vary. Without Rail Banking, on closure, some parts of a railway's route might otherwise revert to the former owner. The owner could reuse them for whatever purpose he chose (for example, for building) or modify the ground conditions (remove embankments or fill-in cuttings), potentially prejudicing the line's future reuse if required.
A single section of a route changed in this way could have serious consequences for the viability of a restoration of a service, with the costs of repurchasing the land or right-of-way or of restoring the site to its former condition outweighting the economic benefit. Over the full length of a railway's route with many different owners the reopening costs could be considerable.
By designating the route as a Rail Bank, these complications are avoided and the cost of maintaining a right-of-way are removed from the railway operator. In the United States land transferred to Rail Banks is held by the state or Federal governments and many Rail Banks have been reused as Rail Trails. A state government (provincial government in Canada) is the government of a subnational entity in states with federal forms of government, which shares political power with the federal government or national government. ...
This article is about the federal government of the United States. ...
In the United Kingdom, many thousands of miles of railway were closed under the Beeching Axe cuts in the 1960s and whilst a few of these routes have subsequently been reopened none were formally treated as Land Banks in the US manner. The Beeching closures were driven by the government's desire to reduce expenditure on railways, and so most lines were offered for sale to the highest bidder, a process which frequently led to great fragmentation in the ownership of former UK railway lines. Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Governments attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running the British railway system. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...
List of rail trails completed and proposed -
This features an extensive list of completed, proposed, and those under construction. Main article: Rail trail This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ...
See also The term bustitution is a neologism sometimes used to describe the practice of replacing train service, whether street railways (light rail or tram/streetcar systems) or full-size railway systems, with a bus service, either on a temporary or permanent basis. ...
Main article: Rail trail This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ...
Cycleway, Bicycle street and Pedestrian/Cyclist bridge in Nuremberg, Germany Segregated cycle facilities may consist of separate roads, tracks, paths or lanes designated for use by cyclists and from which motorised traffic is generally excluded. ...
Canal boat decked in Sustrans logo Sustrans is a British charity which promotes sustainable transport. ...
Further reading
United States
Canada
Europe
Australia - Railtrails Australia
- Capital Rail Trails Project: A fledging Canberra group aiming to attract support and funding to convert many of the Canberra region's abandoned railway lines into bicycle and walking trails.
New Zealand - Central Otago Rail Trail The official website for the Otago Central Rail Trail. The 150km Otago Central Rail Trail thrusts deep into the heart of Central Otago, the only region in New Zealand with a continental climate; a magical stage for amazing performances by all four seasons.
References - "Safeguarding Transport Routes & Protection of Disused Railway Trackbeds", Proposals for a Rail Bank, in Norfolk, England
- "Katy Bridge at Boonville: Withdrawals from the railbank", article on proposals to dismantle a bridge included in a Missouri Rail Bank
For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ...
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the state of Indiana charged with maintaining natural areas such as state parks, state forests, recreation areas, etc. ...
Norfolk (IPA: //) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ...
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This article is about the U.S. state. ...
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