Railroad Ghost Towns

St. John's Newfoundland was once served by the Newfoundland Railway and later by Canadian National. There is No Rail Service on the Island anymore.

Fossmill, Ontario, Canada a now abandoned Logging colony that still on the map but both the Fossmill Railway the Village and Canadian National pulled out of the area. The Fossmill Railway ended with a fire at the saw mill in 1935 and the Village closed up in 1947. The CN Pulled out in 1994 and rerouted its tracks.

Skaneatlas, NY the Skaneatlas Shortline Railway was pulled up in 1985

Marcellus, NY The Marcellus & Otisco Lake Railway (M&OL) was pulled up in the 70's??

Cambridge Jct, Vermont. Once the junction of the Burlington and Lamoille R.R (Central Vermont) and the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad (later the Lamoille Valley - tracks removed 1-2 years ago)

It is strange to see photos of incredibly busy places that were business hubs for so long, then to stand at the same places the pics were taken and listen to.............nothing..........


........Chris

pennsy wrote:Hi All,

Quite a few on the west coast. Immediately coming to mind would be the stations at: Ontario, CA, Pomona, CA, Pasadena, CA, Upland, CA. I probably could add many more to the list once I gave it lots of additional thought.

I've ridden Metrolink into Upland and I know it runs to Ontario as well. Pasadena is served by the gold line. Lots and lots of freight traffic going to and from LA in that area. You may be right about Pomona though, have to check the metrolink map.

I suppose you can make a distinction between towns where the railroads are the ghosts, and towns which are themselves ghosts as well.

There are lots and lots of the latter. Thousands (no exaggeration), throughout the rr history of the US. Get hold of the MN and Dakotas volume of the SPV's Railroad Atlas, pick a defunct railroad line in ND say, follow it on Google Earth and see how much is left of the towns that were once on it.

Frightening!

Or try the former MILW transcontinental in Montana.

I am sorry for the late entry, I just saw this doesn't stillborn towns count such as ->the Valentown meseum area of VICTOR,NY ? <-

Victor definitely counts as a railroad ghost town. Used to have three railroads running the length of it, now it's just the terminus of the ONCT.

laflamcs wrote:Cambridge Jct, Vermont.

Swanton, too. Used to have three railroads, now just one.

Packerton PA on NS (or is it Reading & Northern here now?). Once home to a Lehigh Valley yard, shop, plus the CNJ mainline. Now one track that curves from the former LV to the former CNJ. If you didn't know a current picture was taken there, you might not realize it. The last I knew, the changes to the interlocking to eliminate the LV, Conrail actually spent less than the LV did, to add the connector to the CNJ - a signal was left in place guarding the empty LV ROW to the east, lit, always red. So far as I know, still there.

Auburn kind of sort of counts right? With the following railroads now gone:
Owasco River Railroad Nothing but a few concrete bridge piers remain of this short railroad
Auburn & Ithica Railroad only a yard remains
Lehigh Valley Railroad only a short section of rail from 5 & 20 to the old A&I Yard remain.

Richmond, Indiana, once host to a large Pennsylvania Railroad facility, complete with shops, roundhouse, two interlocking towers, a hump, PRR lines from five directions, and the C&O of Indiana passing underneath. Today, the NS main operates over a former PRR line, nearly all signs of the PRR are gone and grown up in weeds and brush, and the C&O of Indiana terminates in Richmond in the guise of the Indiana Eastern. And, the PRR passenger station still stands, empty and forlorn, looking spooky for the last thirty years that I know.

Oh, and I forgot Bradford, Ohio, which was a huge PRR terminal up until sometime during the Depression. Scott Trostel has written a book, BRADFORD, THE RAILROAD TOWN.

An interlocking tower, still in the process of being restored, survives.

Beverly, WA I think qualifies as a rr ghost town, as does Logan and Harlowtown MT. Throw in Como CO for good measure. Been to all of them and can't imagine why anybody still lives there.

Lew wrote:Oh, and I forgot Bradford, Ohio, which was a huge PRR terminal up until sometime during the Depression. Scott Trostel has written a book, BRADFORD, THE RAILROAD TOWN.

An interlocking tower, still in the process of being restored, survives.

Definitely cannot forget Bradford. Mr. Trostel's book definitely sheds light on what Bradford used to be. Now...sadly it is a small and very quiet little village. No trains run through town anymore. The Tower and only a few rusting tracks that were not torn out from the yard in 1985 remain. I was always surprised by the multitude of POSTED/NO TRESSPASSING signs on a piece of property that is basically just grass and a few trees. I often wondered who owns the property now.

http://www.bradfordoh.com/index.php?page=History

I don't know if this qualifies but I know that Franklinville, NY was built due to railroads. I grew up falling asleep to the sound of the passing freight trains in the night. Now when I visit home I wonder if the rails will even be there. I look at the north and southbound signals hoping that there is a Yellow light instead of Red. I have so many memories of railroading as a child and now Franklinville is a railroad "ghost town."

Definitely Xenia; but if you follow the PRR grade line east to South Charleston where it crossed the DT&I at grade, the Indiana & Ohio is still very much active at this location, serving the grain elevator there, in addition to running through freight to and from Washington Court House, OH. The restored DT&I depot at S. Charleston has become a museum and a meeting place for the local historical society. It's worth a visit if you are ever in the area. They have historic photos of the tower and the interlocking. It's not too hard to spot; but at Xenia, the PRR had a branchline that diverged north down the middle of Detroit St., right in front of the Greene Co. Courthouse and ran to Springfield through Yellow Springs; this is now a bike path.

My next candidate for railroad ghost town is Hornbrook, CA., located on the CORP main line. Before SP built the Natron Cutoff in the 20's, Hornbrook was a booming little town with businesses open 24 hours, as it was a helper terminal for trains going over the Siskiyous. Now you might have a hard time finding any businesses in Hornbrook. Anyone know the current status of CORP operations south of Ashland, OR?