Well I can't answer for something that someone else wrote on a website. :tb-confused: Crowell Lumber Company closed in 1969. #400 last run was in 1952.
Dean, sorry 'bout that, I was merely pulling your leg. :tb-tongue: James Lee Burke writes marvelous detective stories about Dave Robicheaux, a ficticious independent investigator who operates throughout Iberia, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Terrebone Parishes. Dave's predominate base of operations is New Iberia, but he has friends, relations, and adversaries as far east as Cocodrie and Houma. Burke is a fun read with delightfully accurate descriptions of Cajun Country. :tb-cool:
London, OH Was out biking on this rail trail that used to be a double track PRR mainline connecting Columbus, OH to Dayton, OH. The first pic, is the old distant signal for the old diamonds in London. This was about two miles west of town and was very hard to find, I actually passed it before I noticed it, by luck. I believe that in the early Conrail years this double track line was single tracked and and unsignalled. That would explain this signal with the "A" sign. Then some time in the mid 1980's Conrail abandoned this line and removed the tracks west of London, OH. Within the past decade this line was transformed into a rail trail with ashalt.
London, OH At London, OH the double track PRR used to cross the single track NYC main on a diamond. In the late PC early CR days this was rearranged. I believe the diamond remained intact for a number of years. I'm almost certain if my memory is correct that the diamond was here as late as 1998. I journeyed up here when i was 18 back then to railfan and remember seeing it there. Anyhow, the NYC from London east to Lilly Chapel, OH was abandoned and made a bike trail. The NS Dayton District follows on the NYC from Cincinnati to London, OH and then takes the interchange tracks to access the double track PRR line into Columbus, OH. In these pics, you get to see the old PRR depot in London as well as the ol PRR signal bridge and the current arrangement of tracks. The single track under the signal bridge is all that is left of the PRR west of the diamond. This spur if you wanna call it is only about 1/2 mile long and even had a derail to protect it. The track was very rusty and my guess is this must be some kind of transload track or something.
South Charleston, OH Further west of London, OH is South Charleston, OH about ten miles away. My bike ride started in South Charleston and then I stopped at the London depot to railfan the NS Dayton District, sorry didnt catch any trains though. Then I returned to South Chuck and totalled 20 miles. Hardly saw anybody and there was only like five road crossings in ten miles. Good place to go if you wanna get away from it all. As you approach South Charleston heading west this Grain elevator is the first business you run into. It is a Southwest Landmark property. I dont know what commodities they load here, but there are covered hoppers and you see they made a loading chute over the old eastbound main with the bike trail on the westbound main. One of these pics shows how the tracks on the eastbound main just deadend and stop.
How do you find these old RR path places? Is it okay to just walk along them or are they just for bicycles?
South Charleston, OH As you pass the first grain elevator you go by this four track yard. These tracks just deadend as you can see in the pic. Seeing where the telephone lines are located, this can give you an idea of how things once were, with a yard and double track mains. Here is the main grain elevator in South Charleston. I believe the first one i showed is a newer facility. This is the older Southwest Landmark elevator and you can see some of the locomotives they have to shuffle grain cars about. Also in South Charleston is the former Detroit Toledo and Ironton Railroad now operated by the Indiana and Ohio Railroad. They crossed the PRR on a diamond here once upon a time. When Conrail abandoned the PRR through here the Ol DT&I then Grand Trunk Western took over the grain business and put in this interchange track. There used to be another interchange track here as well that allowed the DT&I to access the PRR to head West to Cincinnati. In the pic of the depot , this old access track would have gone to the right and is where the cabooses are currently sitting. If anyone wants more info about this rail trail be sure to search for the Ohio to Erie Bike trail and the Little Miami Bike Trail just to name a few.
Well these rail trails are becoming rather common up here in the northeast. This trail is in the future going to connect a network of rail trails that will allow you to travel from Cincinnati all the way to Cleveland, OH. Currently the Little Miami Bike Trail is entirely paved from Milford, OH to Xenia, OH on the old PRR C&X Branch. Then in Xenia you can take a trail on ex PRR branch lines west to Dayton, OH , north to Springfield, OH and east to Lilly Chapel. The bike trail in Springfield continues north to Urbana on the ex NYC and Erie Lackawanna right of ways. All of these trails are paved ashalt. The trail Cincy to Xenia is 56 miles and Xenia to London is like 35 miles.
oh and yes you can bike, walk , jog and in some places horseback ride. I think they dont like getting the horse crap on the paved ashalt though:mbiggrin:. They have signs posted all along the trail that motor vehicles are prohibited.
No No No !! I know that :tb-wink: I've been trying to track these ghost towns down for information, I getting alot of dead ends. I'm believe the names have been changed or as I said before, the dried up and blew away. For instance where I live (Stonewall) originally was called "Bee Gum", a dairy community south of Shreveport. No web hits on this name either. :tb-hissyfit:
