Ithaca/Owego - Biking and Exploring Railroad History

I rode the rail trails and sniffed around a few old ROWs. Lots of great railroad history in the area! - Maps, Videos and Photos (thanks to Scott Lawrence as well!) As always - feedback appreciated...
http://www.vizettes.com/kt/ithaca-railroads/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great little page... When I went to Cornell 1996-2000, the Main line was nothing more than an old ROW, so I'm glad to know it's been converted into a rail trail. Does that mean the bridges have been converted to Railtrail use as well?

- Brooks

Brooks - The bridge in the East Hill video I shot is on the rail trail and parts of the Black Damond which I didn’t ride are rehabilitated old rr bridges as well. Check out the Bird’s Eye of the one up by Taughannock Falls
http://binged.it/1nvwVuc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When my wife and I hiked that trail last summer, I stuck to the center of the path while crossing the bridge. I wasn't brave enough to get close to the edges.

This is the bridge I was thinking of... It is further to the Northwest.

http://binged.it/1roerfp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would say that the Bridge over the creek hasn't been rehabbed to true, "rail-trail" standards, although it is clearly available for use.

Brooks

It's a little ambiguous (especially considering I rode on a part of the trail is considered unfinished) but it appears the Black Diamond Trail officially ends before it gets to the bridge you are referring to:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Black ... 6e0c802306" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blackdiamondtrail.org/graphics/map1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But that whole stretch looks like a fun ride!

Great article!
http://www.ithaca.com/special_sections/ ... 002e0.html

RichCoffey wrote:It's a little ambiguous (especially considering I rode on a part of the trail is considered unfinished) but it appears the Black Diamond Trail officially ends before it gets to the bridge you are referring to:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Black ... 6e0c802306" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blackdiamondtrail.org/graphics/map1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But that whole stretch looks like a fun ride!

Yeah, there's a big pile of dirt on the ROW on the north side of the bridge over the Tunkhannock and the old road. It would be great if they could extend it over the big bridge into Trumansburg proper, but there's bigger fish to fry, like getting a proper stone dust surface rather than the ballasty surface that's there now.

Russ - totally agree. My bike ride was atypical for a rail trail. Huge chunks of ballast had me worrying about my tires the entire time.

Ithaca And Vicinity Railroad History
These pages are now at a new URL - they have been recoded to be mobile-friendly and "dead links" changed or eliminated. Please change your bookmarks, etc.
https://www.vizettes.com/kt/rr/ithaca-railroads/