It's the proud story of the IRRR. (Iowa River Railroad)
Thankfully it was a line that had been bought by a group of local shippers back when CNW wanted to scrap the line. The local shippers bought and mothballed the line... and when the Ethanol Boom hit, it was there... Just had to be fixed up a l'il was all. But a far cry to the cost of building a new line.
Re: abandoned lines
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:47 pm
by legsbluetrain
3rd Ave in Pine Bluff,AR in 1985,I was 4 or 5 when this was recorded.
3rd Ave now.
Re: abandoned lines
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:26 am
by AndrewFields
This is really all that remains of the Oregon Electric (later BN) Orenco Cutoff. This line last saw a train on December 31, 1994 and from what people who remember it tell me, the ones that came through here were LONG!
I found the abandonment requests and approval on the STB website. This line will never come back.
This is the former Evergreen Parkway crossing. Locals like to joke this is the crossing that refuses to die. Despite falling out of service in late 1994, the signals remained until 2005. And they never removed everything at once. They would come, take a light or two. Then a year later a bell would go missing. Finally in 2005, the signals were completely removed and 'TRACKS OUT OF SERVICE' signs were put in place. Funny...people still won't stop on the tracks. Pesky ghost trains... http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 99987,,0,5
And here it crosses Cornelius Pass Road. The tracks were in the pavement along with the gate mechanisms (no gates, though) up until this road was widened in 2002.
Check this out in Farmington, IL! Now THIS is the way to mark a crossing out of service, aside from the TRACKS OUT OF SERVICE signs which should go on the masts underneath the lights OR be bolted in front of the crossbucks.
Here's a crossing down the line to the east near Peoria, IL. A similar treatment was given to the remaining signal. It also has an EXEMPT sign with another font I've never seen on one before. Looks like a neat oldie relay case there, too (on the side where a crossbuck alone stands in place of a signal).
