I've been trying to photograph some old roadbeds in the woods. With the two dimensional properties of photographs the roadbeds are not distinguishable from the surroundings. Other than waiting for light snow any suggestions?
Yours is a tough situation John, as there's nothing that remains to catch the eye. I've captured a few old rights-of-way, but only because they're now hiking trails or because locals use them for dirtbike trails. Your best hope is to find a bridge abutment or culvert to offer some sort of clue as to what was once there.
Thanks Hardcover. I guess I'll just keep sketching on images until I can get better ones.. The place I showed in the photo was a mystery. The roadbeds didn't line up right and were different elevations. A very knowledgeable person from the historical society tells me the roadbed on right is the Braclay RR's line coming down from Long Valley the left roadbed is the S&NY main along Schrader Creek.
It is indeed fun to find an old ROW and walking and researching it. I have a railfan friend who shares this interest and he once advised of long lost lines, "The Deader The Better". I've walked some of the NYO&W (photo below at Summitville, NY in 11/1981), L&NE and WB&E and it was rewarding. As you're finding though, with each decade since passed, it gets more and more difficult to discern what once was.
i have done a lot of ghost railroad chasing in Montana, but the topography is pretty barren, unlike your area. Snow or barren trees will help highlight the roadbed. Low sunlight in morning and evening might work too.
Thanks Hemi. Snow = winter = short days. Floods, other long gone railroads, strip mining, and CCC projects all come into play but there is a lot to see and you never where you find traces. I'm fortunate to have a base camp within 45 minute drive of many old logging, mining, tanning and other long gone industries. I'll see an interesting photograph in a history book, do a little research, grab a 7.5 topo, and go searching.
Good topic. Right after I retired I spent about a month in upstate NY working on a house owned by my wife's family. Bordering along one edge of the 5 acre property was the Leigh Valley ROW that ran between Ithaca and Geneva on the west side of Lake Cayuga. From what I could find out it was abandoned sometime after 1976 when Conrail took over. During the time I was there I walked that ROW at least a mile in both directions but could not find any trace that there had ever been a railroad there other than a nice level grade. Not a spike, plate, part of a tie, nothing. The old right away has now been made into a paved trail.
The former 10.7 mile SOU line between Alston, SC and Prosperity, SC was removed 25 years ago (?) and is open as a hiking path. The photo below is the bridge over the Broad River built in 1904. My family hiked some of it in the spring and as a walked, I could easily envision a steam train on the line, working the modest grades with its sharp exhaust blasting up through the trees. All of the line's 14 bridges remain intact and it's a very pleasant hike.
That's pretty neat Boxcab. ! The run from Summitville, NY to Kingston, NY was 25 miles where a connection with the NYC West Shore Line was made. Here's the 278, a 2-6-0 Camelback.
There used to be a website called "Abandoned Railroads" or something like that. The webmaster, when possible, had abandonment documents and other things. Not the most pleasant site but if it's still up and running, it might be worth a look.