Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

Just as Video Killed the Radio Star , so too did the highway kill the railroad, or at least some of them.  Now without trying to shoehorn some early 80's pop culture into my blogs, the more nuanced take is that highways built upon existing railroad networks and certainly disrupted the rail industry, but that doesn't mean railroads aren't highly profitable even today. Still, if one takes a look at the abandoned railroads map  in the Houston, TX area, you'll see rights of way used to exist where three freeways exist today, and that's the subject of today's blog.  At least in one case, the freeway did not come until over a decade after the railway was abandoned. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway The Katy Freeway is one of the widest freeways in the world in spots. It is signed as Interstate 10 between Houston and Katy, TX. I-10 continues east to Jacksonville, FL and west to Santa Monica, CA. Image: Gary Morris, 1978 While the freeway has existed since the 1960's, ...

There were two Addison Railroads that operated in the United States, one in Illinois and one in Vermont, and each had no relation to the other. The Vermont Addison Railroad became part of the Rutland Railroad, and is discussed in another blog. The Addison Railroad (in Illinois) once occupied the large easement on the west side of Addison Rd between IL-64 (North Av) to just north of US-20 (Lake St) in Addison, IL, about two miles in length. Built in 1890, it was incorporated into the Chicago Madison & Northern Railroad , which itself became part of the Illinois Central by 1892. Under the IC, the short spur was simply known as the Addison Branch. Addison Railroad, 1892 . "Illinois Central Train in Addison on “Orphan Home Festival Day.” Courtesy Historical Museum of Addison." "In 1890 five Addison men formed the Addison Railroad Company, Inc. These were William Leeseberg, Louis Stuenkel, Edward Rotermund, Professor Johann Backhaus, and H. Z. Zuttermeister. Stock capit...

The accessibility of satellite imagery has opened up a treasure trove of interesting things that might otherwise remain hidden in plain sight. I've past mentioned scarchitecture in this blog before, where the historic tracks of railroads, canals, roads, and other transportation systems can result in oddly-angled buildings which offer clues of the past. Others have noticed geography playing a role in other arenas of history as well, as geologist Steven Dutch noted that the more Democratic Black Belt in Alabama matched up nearly perfectly with a 100 Million year old rock formation. (Wired) Similarly, I noticed something interesting in regards to my abandoned and out-of-service railroad lines map , with regard to the proximity of three railroad lines that had significant portions of their routes that were never built. These were three related branches of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad that never reached their full extent in central Nebraska. Today we explore why th...

The Cassville and Western Railroad connected Cassville, MO with Exeter, MO along a five mile right of way. First proposed in January 1896, the line quickly secured financing, and construction along the short route was complete in June of that year. This gave Cassville a connection to the Frisco system at Exeter, connecting it to the rest of the US Railroad Network. Fields' Photo Archives via Barry County Museum . The line was imperative to Cassville's success, as roads to the town were impassable during the winter, and during inclement weather. By 1919, the line was nonetheless facing bankruptcy. After reorganization as the Cassville & Exeter Railroad, its fortunes changed dramatically. Fields' Photo Archives via Barry County Museum . It was billed as the shortest independent standard-gauge railroad, although there were quite a few examples of shorter short lines, such as the Illinois Midland Railway . Newspapers across the US, and Ripley's "Believe i...

If you go outside the city limits of Chicago in any direction, and you will find numerous large cemeteries occupying the land. In fact, in some cases you don't even have to leave the city. This stems from an early Chicago ordinance that disallowed cemeteries within the city limits, meaning many located just outside the city. This is why some villages, such as Forest Park and Hillside, have a larger population of dead individuals than the living . As Chicago annexed surrounding areas and grew, on occasion cemeteries that were once outside the city were now within it, even in spite of the ordinance. Chicago Aurora & Elgin car serving Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Hillside. Image: Electric Railway Review via GreatThirdRail A funeral today often consists of dozens of cars en route to a cemetery, however, how did people reach cemeteries before the advent of the automobile? Railroads provided the service, and in fact were required by law to do so. On the weekends, funeral trains...

Spur tracks serving industrial outfits used to be much more numerous than they are now, before competition from the trucking industry made many of them unprofitable. Many colleges and universities in the early 20th century were directly or indirectly served by railroad spurs, some built specifically for the college, others built to serve nearby industries. Notre Dame & Western Railroad #5352, serving Notre Dame University. Image: Dick Leonhardt With that in mind, today's blog will be on these railroads and spurs that served universities. #1.) & #2.) Notre Dame & Western Railroad and St. Mary's Railroad - South Bend, IN I was notified of these sister lines by Tom Burke, who noticed their earlier omission on my abandoned railroads map. Image: Notre Dame University Archives What makes these lines unique is that they actually were separate entities in the railroad world, the Notre Dame & Western Railroad began service in 1902, splitting off from the...

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...