The US railroad network is an engineering marvel. And just as important to the industry as the rails themselves are its rolling stock. After all, without railcars, the rails would be nothing but iron.
But the demand for railcars is not constant, and different kinds of cars are needed at different points of the year. While the exact number of railcars in service in North American railroads and holding companies isn't known, it's about 1.6 million.
On any given day however, about 900,000 won't move. While many of these are simply waiting in large railyards, many more are redundant at certain points of the year, and yet will be needed in the future. Thus, there is a market for train tracks to hold excess cars.
While many of these can be stored away in yards, an alternative to placing a line out of service or abandoning it outright is to lease the space and store railcars and other rolling stock on it. However, the practice isn't without controversy. Some of these cars can stay parked for years, leading to environmental and blight concerns for some nearby residents.
Between Welton, AZ and Goodyear, AZ lies a branch of the Union Pacific Railroad that it inherited from Southern Pacific. While much of it appears to still be in service, a stretch of railcars near Kofa can be seen on Google Maps. On the latest imagery, it appears to extend all the way to Growler, AZ, about 11 miles south.
2) Mescal, AZ
Arizona is also home to another long line of rolling stock; in this case diesel engines. Union Pacific holds about 300 diesels west of Mescal, AZ that can be seen from I-10. As such, they've attracted quite an audience of railfans and urban explorers.
3) Abandoned Passenger Car on the San Diego Arizona & Eastern Railroad
The San Diego Arizona & Eastern, perhaps better known as the "Impossible Railroad", is a treasure trove of abandoned artifacts, despite the fact that is potentially going to be reactivated in the next year or so. On a siding, you can see several old Metra passenger cars covered in graffiti.
Between Crivitz and Marinette, WI lies a line in very rough shape. Using Google Street View, it's quite easy to see miles upon miles of cars stored here. In each of the shots, you can tell that cars have been moved, but how often this occurs is unknown.
Lakeville, MN has been one of the more controversial railcar storage lines in the United States, given its a suburban area as opposed to a more rural place where storage is much more common. For Progressive Rail, it nonetheless made sense to store cars on the ex-Soo Line tracks between Lakeville and Savage, MN, given they were headquartered nearby.
While owners fought the storage of cars here for years, as of 2018 on Google Street View, it appears the line no longer serves that purpose, and is now out-of-service.
North of Sauk City, WI this line is abandoned, but it appears as though this corridor still serves as a temporary holding spot for freight cars. You can look on Street View and see the change of cars over the years. 7) Corydon Jct, IN
Much like the Mazomie-Sauk City line, heading south from Corydon Junction is still serving railcar storage interests. Sadly, no street view exists of the rolling stock.
Another long stretch of railcars exists, or has existed, near South Fork, CO, where immediately west of here begins an out-of-service stretch of this ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western line from South Fork to Creede, CO. 9) The Adirondacks, NY
The Adirondacks were another place where railcars were stored, but much like Lakeville, MN, this generated significant controversy, in this case, environmental groups against them being stored in and around forests. Eventually, politicians got involved and the idea has been shelved for the moment.
This is actually a storage facility located within a business park, that has been home to a few vintage pieces of rolling stock, and has thus caught the attention of railfans, both near and far.
There are many, many more places railcars are stored in North America, many of which are inaccessible without trespassing. As always, please do not trespass on railroad property to view any kind of railcars.
A New Hampshire state legislator in the 1850's suggested that Sylvester Marsh, who was planning a railroad line from the base to the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, should be granted the charter; not just to the summit, but to the moon as well, for how impossible such a railroad line would be. At over 6,200 feet in height, Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States, and its summit is well above the tree line, making the ascent feel similar to the much higher mountain terrains in the Rocky Mountains. Despite the incredible prominence of the mountain, Marsh was undeterred, and even put $5000 of his own money towards the project, which helped secure the charter for the railroad. In 1868, Marsh would prove his detractors wrong when his railroad was completed, one of the first rack and pinion railways in the world, and to this day the second-steepest grade in existence. This line is the Mount Washington Cog Railway , which we visited during La
With the hundreds of thousands of miles of abandoned railroad corridors in the world, it's no surprise that some of the most amazing infrastructure humanity has ever built was eventually abandoned, or re-purposed. And indeed, many bridges, trestles and viaducts have been lost to history, such as the Brushy Creek Viaduct in Alabama. But there are also many which still stand today which serve as reminders of bygone days, the folly of man, or the power of Mother Nature, or some combination thereof. Here are 11 such bridges. 11) Goat Canyon Trestle, Jacumba Hot Springs, CA (32.729167, -116.183333) Image: CoachellaValley.com Goat Canyon Trestle is the largest standing (for now) wooden trestle in the United States, and in spots is 200 feet off the ground, and 750 feet long. Built in the 1930's, it's actually a lot younger than it looks, since by the 1930's, steel had all but replaced wood as the preferred construction material for bridges. It was made out of woo
I will start today's blog by stating that I am not a fan of the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway . Or, more specifically, I am not a fan of "Route 110" in either Missouri or Illinois, mostly because it has been functionally obsolete since the day it was first legislated into existence 11 years ago on May 27th, 2010. How is it that a highway designated that recently considered forgotten? Probably because nobody knew what to make of it even when it was originally designed. Even in this article explaining the Chicago-Kansas City route, or CKC, the number 110 doesn't come up once. Today I'm going to explain why I'm not a fan of this road, why it exists, and what I think would help tremendously in making the road a somewhat legitimate part of Illinois' highway system. Wikipedia Commons Map of IL/MO-110 , or the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway, or the *shudders* CKC. Let's start with the actual route itself. Shouldn't a Chicago to Kansas City Expressway b
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rspicture.aspx?id=597861 it looks like that Ex reading car in the first picture is now alone, and on it's side.
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