Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

As I've discussed before, the City of Chicago has been most radically transformed in the recent past near the Chicago River. The area east of the river (and south of Roosevelt), once home to large railyards and industry, has been transformed into parks, condos and shopping centers. But what about the area west of the river? This is where things get a little more confusing, as East Pilsen is still quite industrious, but at the same time, is also undergoing some of the change that has been seen on the other side of the river. West Pilsen is now home mostly to shops, businesses and homes.  With the occasional tracks to nowhere. The history of Pilsen is interesting in its own right, and I highly suggest reading up on it, but my focus is on the gradual decline of railroads, especially in the last decade. If you're interested on the history of neighborhood, I recommend this page from  WTTW .  But from the photographer's perspective, it's quite easy to witness...

Centralia, Pennsylvania is one of those places where the popular story can easily become more interesting than the history itself, as evidenced by its plight being the basis for the first Silent Hill  movie, in an attempt to explain the area fog, more famously a motif of the video game series. Image of Locust Av in Centralia, PA, c. 1960. Unknown photographer, local archives. A town catches fire beneath the ground, a highway buckles and cracks, most of the residents leave, and a handful of people remain. The result is usually described as a ghost town. While Centralia is the most famous example, underground coal fires are not uncommon across the world. The Jharia Coal Field in India, for example, has been burning for over 100 years . Centralia, PA on the Ashland USGS 1947 Topo Map  with various Lehigh Valley Railroad lines. PA 61 is labeled as US 122 , which was an intrastate US Highway until 1963.  But Centralia was not simply abandoned overnight, and the fire was not a...

With how much Area 51 has been in the news recently, I figured it would be a good time to talk about one of the facility's more interesting (to me) pieces of infrastructure, at least that the US Government acknowledges exists, its railroad . An L.A Times article from 2014 notes the railroad as well. It states, "[Thornton "T.D"] Barnes worked on a nuclear-rocket program called Project NERVA, inside underground chambers at Jackass Flats, in Area 51’s backyard. “Three test-cell facilities were connected by railroad, but everything else was underground." This implies that this is the extent of visible railroad operations at the facility, but more might exist underground for testing purposes. First, let's talk about what we know. In the middle of the Nevada desert, or the "NERVA Test Site" on topo maps, exists a small railroad operation less than 7 miles in combined length. It is west of Groom Lake, otherwise known as Area 51, in an area known as...

Most amusement park enthusiasts point toward the original Bat at King's Island as the world's first, permanent, suspended roller coaster. And in the modern era, this is true, as it ran from 1981-1983. But the world's first suspended roller coaster was actually built roughly 80 years before The Bat, at the Long Beach Pike in Long Beach, CA. Known as Bisby's Spiral Airship , it was built in 1910. Some internet sources list the opening as 1902; but contemporary news sources of the day point to a 1910 opening. Bisby's Spiral Airship. Image: Historical Society of Long Beach The ride consisted of square gondolas that were lifted to the top of a monorail track, then coasted down a very long helix. The gondolas could swing freely, and centrifugal forces would make the cars swing outward before returning to the station. "...in the construction of the first one of the amusement devices erected. This is the amusement enterprise in which R. L. Bisby is interested. Smith ...

It's been awhile since I've made a state level map of any of the US States, but I got a recent request to map the State of New Mexico, and figured it was time to put another feather in my cap! New Mexico's railroad history extends far beyond the busy mainlines that still cross the state today. From mining railroads in the mountains to agricultural branch lines on the plains, hundreds of miles of railroad corridors once connected communities that have long since lost train service. The map below highlights many of these abandoned and out-of-service railroad lines across New Mexico, revealing a hidden transportation network that helped shape the state's development. The map shows former rail corridors stretching from the mining districts near Silver City and Dawson to agricultural branches around Clovis, Tucumcari, and Roswell. Many of these routes served coal mines, timber operations, ranching communities, and small towns that depended on rail transportation during the l...

In 1902, the Manchester Dorset and Granville Railroad was chartered as a subsidiary of the Norcross‑West Marble Company to haul prized Dorset white marble to finishers in Manchester so it could be shipped on to major cities, most prominently New York City, roughly 200 miles south. From the Manchester, VT instagram  page: " From 1904 to 1925, the Manchester, Dorset & Granville Railroad line, affectionately known as the “Mud, Dirt & Gravel” moved marble from the quarries in Dorset to Manchester Depot. After being cut and polished at the finishing mill, blocks of marble left Manchester on another train headed to New York City to build massive structures such as the New York Public Library.  Passengers were added later but plan to extend the railroad line through downtown Dorset and on to Granville, NY never actually happened and the rails were pulled up in 1934. The rail bed remained, overgrown and forgotten until a passionate group of local residents purchased a section ...

Almost eight (!) years ago, I came up with my own list of ideas for new rail trails in the Chicago area , that might piggyback off of the success that The 606 Trail has had with regards to community redevelopment, developing excellent bike infrastructure, and connecting neighborhoods across Chicago's North Side. One of the proposals at that time was just gaining steam, the Englewood Trail, which would use a abandoned spur owned by Norfolk Southern Railway between 58th and 59th St in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, and if all goes according to plan, will be opening as a linear park late next year! While projects like the 606 or the High Line focused heavily on recreation and aesthetics, the Englewood project is designed as an economic and ecological engine. It aims to serve the people currently living in the neighborhood by addressing decades of systemic disinvestment through urban agriculture and local job creation. For those following the history of Chicago’s industrial ar...