David Russell said:
Bart “Mr. Worldwide” Salmons said:
I have spent hours tracking current railroad tracks, and seeing where these mining branches go…and then theres chasing down famous logging shows and shortlines…
Yep… I do the same thing. I also like to look at old maps that have old RR’s drawn on them then try and locate the old beds from Google earth. Found a couple so far.
I’ve done that, its surprisingly easier than one might think. I’m tempted to mark them up
Some ROWs traced so far include:
Pasadena & Altadena RR, which became part of the Los Angeles Terminal RR (also traced) which became the Los Angeles & Salt Lake RR , remnants of which exist about a block from my house.
Glendale & Montrose RR
Tidewater & Tonopah RR, this one is very easy
the ORIGINAL but now bypassed Transcon route
California Southern row from Perris thru Temecula Canyon to Fallbrook, this was the original LA to San Diego route before it was washed away by flooding
and there are literally thousands of miles of abandoned ROWs still traceable across the fields and farms of the midwest, and urban centers as well, those are particularly challenging to trace
The history of abandodned lines across the country can be found here
http://www.abandonedrails.com/California
From that its to Google Earth to look for traces