I have family members that own a mile or 2 of the old B & O right of way that ran from Charlestown, Indiana to Madison, IN. It makes for a mighty fine farm road, and a great place to let my kids practice driving!

On my Uncle's far is the remains of a wye that once belonged to the "Omaha" portion of the C&NW's Park Falls to Tuscobia branch, It was all torn out when I was 6 or 7.

If we stick to the original premise of "owners of abandoned trackage", then I guess that the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum should be on that list. When the JK Line (ex-Tippecanoe Railroad, ex-Erie Lackawanna, ex-Erie Railroad) was abandoned from Monterey, Indiana to east of the museum site in North Judson, HVRM acquired about 1 mile of the trackage in place! The museum also acquired the complete right-of-way from the east end of those existing rails all the way into Monterey, but that segment of track was all removed by a scrapper. There may be other museums (land owners) that have also acquired abandoned trackage that remained in place, as opposed to track that was later relaid on acquired right-of-way.

Les

From what I recall, IRM's section of the Elgin & Belvidere ROW extends beyond the current end-of-track, and extending the track any further would involve the construction of a bridge over a creek.

According to their website, another one of the final four candidate sites that they considered for moving thier collection to (from Chicago Hardware) was the CA&E Batavia Branch, which at the time still had the track in place.

http://www.irm.org/history/history.html

Both Branford Electric Rwy. Ass'n. - Shore Line Trolley Museum and Pa. Electric Rwy. Museum - Arden Electric Rwy. - Pa. Trolley Museum bought rights of way with track and overhead wire that still had electricity when the 1st museum cars arrived. The sale from the Connecticut Company to Branford occurred on the day of abandonment, so there was no interruption between operations.

I got on the Google earth and went back and forth between the roadmap and satellite view. Went north from Sullivan , Illinois to Murphy road. (Mother's maiden name) Left to Eagle Pond then left to Hall rd west to Cushman rd. South and the trackage was removed toward Sullivan, if you go north were Cushman rd ends in between the farm fields you can follow traces of the rails exposed. I then followed it all the way north to Lovington. hocarsandtrains. James French. The family farm is in the corner of Eagle Pond rd. and Hall rd. and you can see a red truck in the drive way.

In 1993, Union Pacific gave 22 miles of former Sacramento Northern right of way to the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association (Western Railway Museum). The Association raised $220,000 to purchase the track and other improvements, and none was removed.

19 of the 20 miles of the Lorain & West Virgina were abandon when the Lake Shore Railway Association purchased it in 1991. track still in place to this day.

And that's normal with disused track. Once the herbicide patrol stops, it's quickly overgrown. Doesn't mean the track is gone. Try spotting any rail south of Molena, CA or Cobre, NV - and those are desert areas. It's worse where there's water.

Mr. French -

I was curious about which Wabash trackage you might have been talking about so I dug out my December 1962 copy of the Official Guide and looked it up. This was a branch line that ran out of Bement, Illinois to Sullivan, Illinois. Here are the mileages:

Bement 0.0
Voorhies 3.8
Hammond 8.5
Lovington 14.7
Cushman 18.7
Sullivan 22.8

At that point in time, a freight only line. We know the line was in place in 1962. Do you have any idea as to when abandonment took place? Your grandfather would have purchased the track and right-of-way some time thereafter. Interesting that you have a small piece of the Wabash in your possession.

Les

I think the last regular trains ran in 1964, they were down to 4-6 cars twice a week. A few speeders ran up to 1966. I remember the rail being gone by 1969 but it could have been between 1966-1969. The track is elevated somewhat north of Hall rd. and would be alot of work to level to farm. The section of track is between Cushman and Lovington. My grandfather was a farmer and shipping agent for grain and did work for the C&EI out of Sullivan and Cadwell. He was a railfan and a train modeler. I have a few of the lead Bowser ho trains for the Pennsylvania that he built around 1960. hocarsandtrains. James

James -

Got some info from a friend of mine who lives in Effingham, Illinois. He tells me that the line used to run south of Sullivan to Shumway where it split, one section going to Altamont and the other into Effingham. It crossed the Clover Leaf (NKP) at Stewardson. This section south of Sullivan was taken up in the late 1930's.

Les

Bement was where the WAB line to Chicago (used by trains such as the Banner Blue) diverged from the east-west mainline. The southern portion of the Chicago line is still intact as far north as Strawn. Immediately north of Bement is Monticello, home of the eponymous railroad museum: http://www.mrym.org/.

Looking west on the WAB main towards Decatur at Bement: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/43375984.jpg (N.T. Walsh photo) (click once to enlarge). The southern section of the Chicago line enters the main at left.

The Chicago line passed through Mansfield, Gibson City, Sibley, Strawn, Forrest, Saunemin, Emington, Campus, Reddick, Essex, and many other small communities before reaching Custer Park and the 1902 bridge over the Kankakee River. North of Custer Park, the ROW has been developed as the Wauponsee Glacial Trail (including the bridge). The trail continues northeast through Symerton before reaching Manhattan, the current terminus of Metra's SouthWest Service via Orland Park.

Wabash System Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/1900sWabashmap.jpg (click once to enlarge)

Until it was recently sold and converted to a hiking trail, Kovalchick Salvage owned a five mile stretch of the Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain Railroad from Tatesville, PA, to Cypher, PA. The rails were intact but completely isolated from any other railroad and had not seen a train for fifty years.

Alan Maples

Ranier Rails -

Thanks for the info. The photo at Bement shows the Wabash steel water tank still in place.

You also mentioned Symerton. The Wabash depot from Symerton still exists but nowhere near Wabash territory. Saved and moved to Lockport, Illinois, here is a recent story about it:

http://www.blackhawknrhs.org/symerton.htm

The Blackhawk Chapter of the NRHS has been instrumental in supporting various rail preservation projects in both Illinois and Indiana. The replicated station sign gives an idea about the Wabash Railroad mileage in your explanation of the line.

Les