I was recently in Europe on a WWII tour. Best thing I ever did. While researching the places we were going to visit, I discovered an abandoned RR in Bastogne, Belgium. The hotel had bicycles to use so I took one and road the path. As I got further away from the city, it became wide open areas of rolling farm land. Just amazing. Here is one picture that I took from the ROW a few KM from town.
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When I came home, getting back into the routine was difficult. The closest thing I could think of to duplicate the bike ride, was to ride the WS as far as possible. So I hopped on the bike at Wehrle Dr and and started riding. From Wehrle Dr all the way to Akron doesn't really have "open spaces" to view. Lots of trees and brush along side the ROW. The trail actually stops at Rt93 in Akron but the ROW is worn down enough to keep riding....so I did. A mile or more out of Akron [heading NE] the view started to open up with lots of farm land and looked very similar to Bastogne above.
Normal shot:
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Pano shot:
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As I rode further in, I came upon a little bridge. Kinda beat up but still in use for off road vehicles.
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I was beginning to wonder how far this path would go but eventually the path came to an abrupt end. Heavy overgrowth. The path may have restarted further up as there was an open section of a farmers field. But it was getting late and it was around 14 miles back to the car. This picture is the "end of the line."
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I was just looking at "as the crow flies" to calculate the distance. I see in the SAT view that I was just 200 or so yards from Jan's Smoke House. I'll have to take a road trip to see what's on the other side.
The following photo story begins in 2000. During the winter of 2000 it snowed heavily. Transit Rd in Clarence was deep in snow. So, when the plows came through, they had to raise the wing to push the snow further off to the side. One of the plows hit the crossing signals and knocked the search light portion of the signal into the ditch. That's a shame isn't it?
Fast forward to the end of winter in 2005. I'm x/c skiing the row and the snow is melting. I cross Transit rd. I look over and I see the signals. Hmmmmm, the mind starts cranking. Long story short, I acquired them. They were no longer attached to the property which was pretty much abandoned anyways.
This photo was taken a few days ago. I have rebuilt my full scale short line RR. The ties, plates and spikes are all WS given to me by R. J. Corman at the time they were pulling up rails. The signal during the day is powered by the sun alone. During the night, the solar light behind the lens is on all night.
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