How do you know it's abandoned?

I used to walk the tracks all the time when I was a teenager. I didn't have a car, and the railroad tracks just happened to be the shortest path to where I needed to go. I could hear the trains coming from a long ways off, so I had plenty of time to get out of their way. Still, I couldn't help looking behind me every few minutes.

Stay out of the tunnels. They can be a hell of a lot longer than they appear, and once inside there's nowhere to go to escape a train. Me and my friends never ran so fast in our lives that day...

 

How do you know it's abandoned?

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The condition of the rails and ties will tell you. Rusty rails are abandoned or not used often. A lot of rotting ties is an abandoned line.

 

The thought has crossed my mind many times over the years.... rivers might be an issue...

 

Abandoned tracks can get really bad quickly. It is the bridges you really have to watch out for. As far as running a vehicle on old tracks you would need to have one that the tires line up exactly with the width of the tracks. YOu can deflate you tires just a bit and then you should be able to run on the tracks. Problem is you have to be able to reinflate your tires once you choose to get off. Go slow since the switches can be thrown and you will not know it till you get to the switch itself. I am speaking about siding cutoffs. We did it as kids and were lucky we did not get killed.

 

We did it as kids and were lucky we did not get killed.

I've often thought there should be some kind of outrigger contraption to allow one to easily ride a bike on the rails...

 

The railroad uses trucks with retractable wheels that fit the tracks. They might come in handy if a person could needed to commandeer one some day. Just a thought.
I am like Ihatebugs in the fact as a teen we spent a lot of time on the RR tracks. Without a car it was the fastest way to get anywhere. Most tracks run behind houses and commercial buildings in the not so good parts of town so most folks don't pay much attention to someone walking on them.
There are not many tunnels around here but there are some pretty long bridges and you don't want to be on one with a train.

 

What I was getting at is traveling known abbandonned railroad lines by foot. I'm assuming that transportaion is going to be a major issue in the future. I was wanting to do some recon on lines now, but I was not sure if this was legal and if there were any property issues (do RR companies sell old lines to property owners?). Rivers can be dealt with. I'm just tryin to plan evacuation routes and such. Any help?

 

There was a large movement here in Indiana called Rails to Trails.
They were trying to get the old rail lines and convert them to hiking trails.

Problem was the original contracts gave the first right of refusal to the property owner of the land it came from. Some people wanted the land back.

 

One caution: if you make a practice run or find yourself using a RR right-of way in an emergency situation, try at all costs to avoid the railroad police. Sounds jokey, but they are a real law enforcement/security force and they DO patrol rail lines. They are Federal officers and take themselves VERY seriously. A couple of years ago, one of my surveying crews was working adjacent to (and occasionally on) an active line and were offered (none too cordially) the opportunity to instantly abandon their work or be arrested. Their authority trumps even State of Michigan surveyor access laws. (Or so they maintain. Who wants to argue with an armed thug with a bad attitude?) Any time I've come across other agents, their attitude has been similar. Strictly my own opinion, but these guys seem to exemplify the worst excesses in Law Enforcement and DHS. As far as I know, they have no authority where ROW's have been turned into rail-trails.

 

This is absolutely true. Up here in Alaska people like to use the railroad bridges to cross rivers, and the RR cops will seize your equipment if they catch you. So if you're riding an ATV across the bridge, buh-bye ATV.

 

abandoned rails are heavily used by locals in my rural area. It's the redneck version of a highway.

 

Are these RR police using rail cars to patrol? If so, the should be fairly easy to avoid. Do they patrol abbandoned lines?

 

The ones I've run into have been in cars. As I've been given to understand, "abandoned" and "unused" are not the same. The Right of Way is supposedly only abandoned if the RR removes rails and signs off their rights and (usually) turns the ROW over to a unit of Gov't., usually as a "linear park" or rail-trail. My understanding is that until officially abandoned, they have the right to patrol or inspect any RR lands. That's how they apply the law here in MI. YMMV.

 

Most RR police use cars. And yes they are complete jerks, and have no qualms about beating the crap out of you to get their point across. As they are not official law enforcement, but rather a kind of private security, they don't have to follow the same laws as cops do.

 

Many homeless people wander the lines too. Some could be friendly, some may not be. I remember an episode on America's Most Wanted where a homeless guy was also a serial killer, hopping trains and walking the lines all the time. Be careful.

 

This Guy Here http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/27/national/main1758029.shtml

 

Yall are right.RR police are mostly a bunch of a**holes.Me and some of my freinds have had runins with them back in the day.From what I was told they can arrest you and take you across state lines,etc.they are not to be messed with.

 

Typically the area of a railroad track and 50 feet out from it is owned by the railroad company. I don't think any are abandoned. I would imagine as big as railroads are that they property is still owned by some railroad company. It's a good clearing to walk thru, but "you never hear the one that hits you." It's hard to keep a lookout for trains. It's also criminal trespass to use the tracks if someone really wanted to pursue it although few would.

 

Funny you mention about a bike. When I was a kid we used to get a magazine called World, (if I remember correctly). They had a story about a family who had some type of adapter for there bikes that allowed it to ride on RR tracks. They would go to abandoned tracks and ride.

How I remember this I have no idea. I recall thinking it was cool.

 

If a line is truly abandoned, the railroad takes up the rails and ties and turns over the property to some gov't or private entity. Do a web search for "Rails-to-trails" for info and maps of abandoned raillines used for linear parks and trails. If it isn't truly abandoned, it's RR Co. property and subect to control, and enforcement against tresspass, by the RR Police. But, yes. they are a great route to travel to see some interesting country. And I've seen plans for outriggers for bicycles to fit rails, using modified rims without tires.

 

If I were trying to avoid detection, I would not use any kind of RR routes.

It's like they say in that fake documetary about Viet-Nam: Always stay off the paths!

HippieSurvivalist

 

I have sat on abbandoned railway lines and they have not moved an inch, so I would say no.

 

I've often thought there should be some kind of outrigger contraption to allow one to easily ride a bike on the rails...

There is. I once watched a documentary on a guy who went across the country on it.

YOu can deflate you tires just a bit and then you should be able to run on the tracks.

Come one man, get real. MAYBE on a large 4-wheeler or a side by side like the Rhino.

 

most of my recent long walk was along abandoned lines. Biggest problems I encountered were slides, rotary bridges and pissed off people with tracks running through their property. I did a pretty in depth article right after the walk, you can find it on my blog link above under the title rails as trails.

If you plan to do northern California, I could e-maill you coordinaes and bypasses for every outage between eureka and San francisco. Kept good maps on that walk. Right down to campsites. Pm me if that's your AO.

-g

 

Do you believe traveling the waterways is safer (canoing and such). The problem is going to be avoiding conflict with property owners. The last thing I want to deal with is conflict with common folk. If not the waterways or RR, how to you propose traveling?

 

Yea, I always thought about useing the abandend railroads near me. There are quite a few people that ride quads and dirtbikes on them.

 

Personally I would take the hardest and roughest path through the woods that I could, and that is not even in hard times; that is now. I hate most people.

That said, do be careful on tracks; I once knew a kid that was hit by a train attempting to cross a bridge. It does happen.

 

Personally I would take the hardest and roughest path through the woods that I could, and that is not even in hard times; that is now. I hate most people.

That said, do be careful on tracks; I once knew a kid that was hit by a train attempting to cross a bridge. It does happen.

Staying off the beaten path is exactly what I would do.

 

I had one run in with the RR police, a$$ -munch that he was ,at night coon hunting,my shotgun in hand his pistol holstered. He asked me what i was doing. My reply was I did not tell you ,he said no, my reply was none of your damn business then. I was in the right and he knew it has i was on private land right next to the RR. He left mumbling ask who my dad was so i told him,told my dad about it. He saw the jerk and few days later and gave him a ass -chewing i was told at the feed store he probably never forgot.

 

to easy to twist ur ankles

 

if your not armed and are willing to abandoned the tracks the RR cops wont hassle you. if you get smart a$$ or even in the right(like said survey crew) the RR cops will get very pr!ckish very quick...
so as far as recon-ing potential routes just use common sense.
as far as using them as an evacuation route... you'll probably not be alone. and i don't think you'll have to worry about trains(they wont be running) or the RR cops (they wont be working). like so many others have posted i have also walked allot of tracks. and have hunted off them too. not an easy walk. the ties are not spaced evenly nor buried evenly. the gravel is thick and not easy to tread upon. if there is a RR access road use that.

 

abandoned rr lines are a good way to travel in my oppinion...And the rr cops arn't going to waste their time messing with people on lines that are not travled....Yes rr police have all the power to arrest u if u are tresspassing or causing trouble, rr police are govenred by the F.R.A. and have more jurisdiction than local and state police...And how do I know this u ask...I'm a rr conductor....in shtf trains will come to a stand still and if the roads are clogged and I can't drive...I'm following the rails..easy to walk and off the grid for the most part....