Railroad YMCA’s were once staples in the United States, offering lounges, recreational amenities, restaurants and a safe and convenient place for rest for the myriad of railroad employees. Russell, Kentucky is one such instance of a town that offered a YMCA.
Tag Archives: Railroads
Railroads of the Upper Peninsula
While on an expedition to the upper peninsula of Michigan, namely to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I stumbled across two abandoned railroads. As a slight background to the region, the upper peninsula was home to extensive cooper and iron ore deposits, along with hardwoods. Much of the development in the area occurred during the late [...]
Photograph of the Week: Limeville, Ky.
These classic Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad CPL’s at Limeville, Kentucky/NJ Cabin Interlocking are being replaced with new SafeTran signals.
A Travel to the Mill
In some respect, I should have been out backpacking in the highlands of West Virginia or riding my bike through the horse farms of central Kentucky. Pretty and beautiful sights and features.
Instead, I chose to get dirty and photograph derelict abandonments in far-out locations for the sheer joy of seeing pretty and beautiful sights and features and to meet other like-minded individuals from other states and Canada. But who can not appreciate the stale air of an abandoned building as much as the scent of spring flowers in a park or food baking in an oven, or the visual connection to peeling paint and rusting machinery to stately old-growth Spruce trees and grazing animals?
Photograph of the Week: Flemingsburg Junction
The Flemingsburg and Northern Railroad was a standard-gauge railroad that existed from the Louisville & Nashville line at Flemingsburg Junction, Kentucky to Hillsboro. It was financially plagued and reorganized on seven different occasions before being abandoned in 1955.
Coal Camps: Jewell Valley, Virginia
Deep within the once coal rich veins of Buchanan County, Virginia lies the remnants of a much more prosperous era. Let’s explore…
End of the line for the Oakley station
There is more unfortunate news from Cincinnati, Ohio, and this time it involves the former Marietta & Ohio Railroad train depot in Oakley. Reported from the Cincinnati Enquirer, the station was purchased in 1991 by Doug Master, who sought to restore the depot to its former glory. After suffering 20 years of neglect after the [...]
Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Bridge
The Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Bridge (K&I) is a railroad bridge connecting Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana. It is notable for its two abandoned automobile lanes flanking the railroad tracks. I set out, as I have done so in the past, to photograph the crossing. Within two minutes of arriving on-site, I was greeted by the friendly New Albany police. Oh well, that didn’t stop from photographing the bridge!
Railfanning in Ohio Part II
There is something fascinating with exploring abandoned railroads. Whether it is the history that is within the physical and psychological connections with the rail line, or the communities that it impacted, or the industries that it served, these tracks were partially responsible for the industrialized growth of the United States and helped us win both World War I and World War II. And through consolidations and dismantlements due to the foreclosures, relentless highway industries, population shifts and the loss of our industrial heritage, many legacies of our railroad past remain in tatters.
Where to even begin with Railfanning in Ohio, Part II?
Railfanning in Ohio
One of the larger backlogs in the Abandoned collection are my photographs of disused rail lines throughout the Midwest. The Railfanning in Ohio update covers the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, Little Miami Railroad and the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley.
Random Photos
