Abandoning the former BR&P through Orchard Park

mallard wrote:Mr nesseman sir ..is this the end of the line for this once great line ....work walmart and local folks said they wanted a bike ,walk path ,but herd folks in colden are against becuse they dont want strangers walking past there property ...sir whats your thoughts what will become of this line and how much will be tore up

Well, the line is still owned by the B&P's parent company - Genesee & Wyoming. It's up to them to determine the right-of-way's final disposition.

The STB's decision regarding the fate of the line can be found here...

http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readin ... /39952.pdf

In short - abandonment is approved from Ashford to Orchard Park, however the State of NY has first dibs on the ROW regarding use as a trail which really at this point is just a formality. NIMBY's are always gonna make some noise about trail use, forgetting that big trains used to go by their homes on a regular basis.

Usually the rails, spikes, plates, ties and other track material (OTM) are salvaged for either re-use or sold for scrap. Ballast can stay or go depending on whether or not there is a market for it and the cost to salvage that as well.

As for trail use - parts of the line have been washed out and you have structural issues on the large trestle which may hinder any trail development.

Thank you sir sounds like the end of the line for this once great route

mallard wrote:Thank you sir sounds like the end of the line for this once great route

Oh the end of the line came years ago... just got tied up in red tape.

Mr. Mallard, I don't have an answer about the bridge, but the folks at the golf course sure will be howling about rails to trails when the ATV's and snowmobiles start ripping up the golf course...

with to many section washed out from pics on this form it looks like it might cost to much to make a bike walk path ...but with the rails now gone it will sure be used by 4 wheelers and snowmobiles becuse it will make it lot more easy for them to get down it now....even if its not open to general public

I"m not certain where MP36 is. Are they ripping up the tracks from the West Valley Nuclear Project south to Ashford Jct?

SST wrote:I"m not certain where MP36 is. Are they ripping up the tracks from the West Valley Nuclear Project south to Ashford Jct?

I have a B&O timetable that puts MP36 somewhere between Colden (39.3) and East Concord (32.4).

-otto-

When i go to work at walmart in springville i will take a look at see whats rip up so far and ask around if i run into a few village street dept workers or highway workers what they no ....Herd they are leaving tracks in place to ship nuke waste out at late hours from west valley ...becuse did they not just spend big bucks repairing line to west valley

I went through Springville this morning. The rail and ties are removed from Route 39 crossing to the south. The rail is still laying along side the R.O.W. It is sad to see it all gone.

mallard wrote:Herd they are leaving tracks in place to ship nuke waste out at late hours from west valley ...becuse did they not just spend big bucks repairing line to west valley

You might want to go and read back through this thread, I think the history has been discussed.

stop and talk today to guy driving looked like bulldozer down the track bed ...he said tracks were in real bad shape lots of rotten spots and many section washed out ....He said would have cost millions to restore the line and will cost millions to probley make it safe for anyone bike or walk along ........

Needed to ask mr nessman a question ..today while talking to the guy removing the tracks in springville ....he said once they finish this job they have enough other tracks to remove all over the state to keep them going for years ...hope this is just wishfully thinking ....This guy said to rember are elected official and thank them for are factories going over to china and the reason the tracks are being taken out next election day

mallard wrote:Needed to ask mr nessman a question ..today while talking to the guy removing the tracks in springville ....he said once they finish this job they have enough other tracks to remove all over the state to keep them going for years ...hope this is just wishfully thinking ....This guy said to rember are elected official and thank them for are factories going over to china and the reason the tracks are being taken out next election day

This doesn't really have anything to do with the topic at hand.

Sorry kind sad over the tracks being removed kinda got me down

over the next week or two i will try to take some photos and let everyone see whats happeing okay ..thanks for having such a great site