<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Graphite: Favorite Shortline: FarmRail, of course, need you ask? Trackage used to be Frisco and Santa Fe. Favorite Narrow Gauge: Cumbres and Toltec from Antonito , CO, to Chama, NM (or the other way around). They are soon to expand to run from Antonito to Creed, Co, as well. Will actually carry some freight again on the old D&RGW line, as well as a dinner train, from what we were told last July. Beautiful country as well.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Graphite - first of all, welcome to Trainboard.com! ) I try to personally welcome all newcomers in my forum and express my thanks for your participation. The old owners of the Yreka Western RR in northern California used to operate the Cumbres & Toltec. I have been trying to get there for years to ride it. Maybe this year. I would also like to ride the Durango & Silverton. I guess they are not that far apart. Anyway, thanks for sharing with us.
there's an old short line that used to haul coal and passengers untill about 5 years go. UIt ran from King wood,WV southward to Tunnelton (12 miles). it is a really nice ride, except for the rail joiners (the best part )It has hauled passengers (always been sold out) until last November when they simply filed for abandonment.( )The Sate ordered the owners not to sell the railroad until they ran a History check on the line. If the line has some history, then the Sate will Pay to keep it running, if not the statemay buy the 2 SW's and 15+ passenger cars and send them to belington,WV. again, nothing happening at this time, just waiting for History report ALSO: CSX had some F units(4; 2 A's and 2 B's) (former CSX 115,116,117,118 I think)they sold to the South Branch Valley Railroad (now state owned)about 4-5 years ago and this past week, all four units have been Transported to Grafton,WV awaiting the next WVRA train to come pick up a load of freight cars and those 4 engines.
About 9 years ago I went to Maine to visit my sister. She took me on a shortline called the Bellingham (or Bingham .. I don't remember which)& Moosehead RR, which was just being opened for tourists. I believe it was about 12 miles long, but used to go all the way into Canada. Couldn't see much because of all the trees, which had been hacked back to clear the right of way. They still had a hand operated turntable and the locomotive was an old GE SW1. I was told they were going to get a steam loco to operate the tourist train during the summers. I don't know if they ever got it going. Anyone know??
My favorite would have to be Wisconsin & Southern because it's about the only active shortline in Milwaukee. I don't model the WS in particular, but I do have a HO WS GP-9.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> The Kiamichi began operations on July 22, 1987, on 227.5 miles of track sold by the BN to Jack Hadley & his family. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> A Kiamichi GP10, 1001 went to the E&N in 1999.
My favorite is Dominion Atlantic Railway. The DAR served from Truro to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada from 1894 to 1994 when CPR abandoned it and part of it was sold and renamed W&HR ( Windsor & Hantsport Railway)
The DAR sold eight RS23 to the Windsor & Hantsport Railway when they bought the line in 1994. I think they have 12 of them now.Steam died out around 1960
Favorite shortline: South Central Tennessee RR. This former L&N line runs from Dickson 51 miles south to Hohenwald. SCTR started in 1978, and inherite track that was just awful. This line has more curves and grades than you can imagine. I think some of these curves were put in just to avoid large trees. Lots of timber trestles (but no tunnels ). During the final years of L&N operation, only one train a week made the trip to Hohenwald, and it often pulled a crane behind the engines to save time when (not if) something hit the ties. Service was so bad that a factory in Hohenwald would call a local farmer to tow covered hoppers down to the plant from a nearby siding with his tractor (no joke!). This line is owned by the local development authority, and was until recently part of the RailAmerica group. Now it's being run by a local company. RailAmerica, to their credit, rebuilt the line, and now the track looks quite nice. They were using ex-Santa Fe GP7U's 2062 and 2070. Traffic is woodchips and carbon black on the south end, but there is now a lot of traffic to and from a large industrial park near the CSX interchange in Dickson. L&N Mike
The Mississippi Export Railroad (MSE) is a nice profitable short line. Check them out at http://www.mserailroad.com/ MSE runs between the CSX in Pascagoula, MS north to the CN/IC in Evanston, MS. Its major traffic is an average of three run-through unit coal trains from CSX to a power plant 5 miles north and back without stopping. The trains use CSX power all the way and auto unloaders at the plant. MSE makes a nice profit off coal trains. Mississippi Power Company threatened to dig a barge canal to the plant to get rid of MSE per-car rates, but they couldn't get EPA and Corps of Engineers approval .... What a Pity Hank [ 25 March 2001: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Xingman: Central Oregon and Pacific (CORP). Lots of semaphores and wigwags. Of course, I do work for them....<hr></blockquote> Hmmmm ... you must know of the Yreka Western, which intersects with CORP's line in Montague! I am one of the steam locomotive engineers that operates the Blue Goose Excursion. One of these days I'm going to ride CORPs trains from Weed to Medford.
Surely someone has something to add to this thread ... especially since there has been over a thousand new members register since it was first posted. So how 'bout it guys and gals, tell us about your favorite shortline railroad.
My favorite short line would have to be the Doniphan, Kensett & Searcy (see photo of our Station at Searcy, Arkansas. We had a 2-6-0 and a two truck shay out in the woods.) Favorite narrow gauge was the Denver & Rio Grand Western, and the Manitou Pike's Peak Cog RR. I road many times as a young boy with my parents. The outside "flying counter weights" on the old K-27 2-8-2's fascinated me! [ 11 April 2002, 20:30: Message edited by: watash ]
Thanks Wayne .. I have never heard of the D K & S before. Do you have any photos of the motive power, or any other information such as what points the train(s) ran between, or what commodities it hauled? I have always admired the D & RGW too. I have a Precision Scale Co. K27 #453. Even in scale those flying counterweights are fascinating to watch.
My favorite shortline would be the New York Cross Harbor railroad in Brooklyn, NY. Please see THE READY TRACK forum for some of my photos. They are under "BDLX 2293". I am a sworn Reserve Special Railroad Agent for the NYCHRR. That's a good reason to like it! The Cross Harbor delivers carfloats from Greenville, NJ to Brooklyn where some are set out at local businesses, and the bulk of them are turned over to the NEW YORK AND ATLANTIC where they are delivered to Long Island. The railroad runs just a few blocks down the middle of the street. An article about them was in Trains Magazine last month (? This month???) and Pentrex has a video called STREET RUNNING which features the Cross Harbor also.
Wow Johnny! That's a great thread! I wish you would move it over here to go with your last message Thanks for sharing that with me.
IronHoss, My old engine was (I seemed to remember it being a Porter but) Gregg corrected me that it was more than likely a Rogers Mogul. No photos of it, that I can lay hands on right now. It was owned by the Doniphan Family that ran a lumber company before and throughout the war (WW II). We had two major spurs that ran to many temporary branches back in the woods north west, and east of Searcy, Arkansas. The little shay and a few cars were abandonded way out in the woods at war's end about 1947 I think. The last time anyone saw the shay, it had rolled over on its side in the soft ground with the cylinders and gears under about 4 feet of water, so no good then, much less by now. I learned to fire and run the 2-6-0 and was part of the crew during the war. There was 4 cotton gins and a cotton compress in and around Searcy, and the usual box freight, (barrels of strawberries), and Doniphan's lumber that we serviced between Searcy all the way up to Judsonia, and out to both yards in the woods. The engine was later sold several times, and ended up in a Tourist track down close to Reader, Arkansas. I have a couple of photos of it there. The D,K&S was bought by BNSF and is now used for a car handling school.
That's a darned shame about the Shay! But that's what happens when cylinders outweigh an empty boiler and the ties rot out from under her. ~sigh~
