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264:. The abandonment process starts when the railroad company submits a notice to the STB about their intent to abandon a railway line; this notice is served 10 days before the formal abandonment petition is filed by the railroad company. A petition for abandonment can also be filed a party other than the owner of a railroad, such as a municipality, in a process known as adverse abandonment. Once filed, various timeframes are allotted in order for other interested parties to proffer their requests regarding the abandonment; any intent by a rail-trail advocacy group to convert the right-of-way into a rail-trail (called
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268:) must be submitted within 30 days, while any financial assistance offers to either purchase the property outright or to subsidize rail traffic on the line must be submitted within 50 days. If ultimately approved by the STB, the line will be formally abandoned, or converted to trail use if the railroad and trail advocacy group arrive at an agreement on terms and price of the sale of the property, or operated by the owning railroad (via a subsidy) or by a new owner.
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War can also lead to abandonment. In former
Finnish Karelia, changes of borders due to World War 2 in 1945 led to several railways being abandoned or even demolished by their taker, the Soviet Union. A railway could become international, and without a border checkpoint, the line would become useless.
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These and other factors have implicitly created thousands of miles of abandoned railroad corridors that criss-cross the States. While most lie dormant and are still under the ownership of the abandoning railroad company, some cause political controversies in communities through which they run due to
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to the
Pacific Ocean all contributed to the explosive growth of railroad companies and their rights-of-way across the entire country. Railroad mileage within the U.S. reached its peak in the mid-1910s, with over 254,000 miles of railways in use. Eventually, competing modes of transportation began
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use, an increasingly popular option that opens once-abandoned corridors up to the public for bicycle commuting and leisure, while at the same time preserving them for possible future railroad use. A few abandoned railways have been rebuilt and used as active railroad routes once again.
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Finland was obliged to keep the
Laurila–Kelloselkä track open as a peace treaty article, although it was never used for international traffic, only for local lumber transport. Before the war, the track ended in
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of the 1930s forced some railroad companies into bankruptcy, creating hundreds of miles of disowned and subsequently abandoned railway properties; other railroad companies found incentive to
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There are many hundreds of these throughout the world. Thousands of miles of railroads have been abandoned in the United States, much of it in the 40 years from 1965 to 2005. The
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199:. However, when a metal thief stole 1.7 km of track in 2008, the government declared it was no longer required to maintain the track. It was last used in 2010.
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siphoning away passenger and freight revenues from railroad companies, even as they struggled to earn profits from prices regulated under the
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Railways specially built for mines or other industrial or logistical sites are abandoned if the mine is exhausted or the production ceases.
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railway lines. Some have had all their track and sleepers removed, and others have material remaining from their former usage.
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When the
Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment, Western United States
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removed the
Finnish population and international trade would not have been equally viable as domestic trade.
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195:, 270 km from the border, but the Soviet Union demanded Kemijärvi to be connected via rail to Soviet
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Railway Walks: Circular Walks Along
Abandoned Railway Lines in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire
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due to historical and economic factors. In the 19th century, the growing industrial regions in the
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An ongoing mapping project to trace and map abandoned and out of service railroad lines worldwide
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Many old lines have stopped making a profit. The decision to abandon a line may be taken by a
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Abandonments in the United States are controlled under Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 1152 of the
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which has been established for such a line makes it useful for other transport, such as a
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556:"Abandoned Railways, Trains, Stations, Tunnels & Bridges | Urban Ghosts |"
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property disputes once the land returns to adjacent landowners; others are converted to
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Also, without connecting traffic, the traffic volume could be too low:
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Prospect Tunnel: an abandoned railway structure in
Yorkshire, England
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in
Yorkshire, built by the Midland Railway in 1888 and closed in 1965
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Historical
Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
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92:
534:
240:, during which excess or redundant rights-of-way were abandoned.
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which is no longer used for that purpose. Such lines may be
152:. Other uses are possible. For example, in 1936, farmers in
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Hiker
Discovers Railroad History Hidden In Columbia Gorge
54:
663:
How to Railbank - Abandonment Timeline and Procedure
637:"KCS's revamped Macaroni Line reopens in Victoria"
734:"Abandoned Railway Becomes Hiking, Biking Trail"
762:"Abandoned Railway Line Becomes Safety Concern"
607:Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012
325:The overgrown viaduct across Lobb Ghyll on the
160:on the line may be put to some other use too.
43:The examples and perspective in this article
8:
419:Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
81:Learn how and when to remove this message
526:
275:
706:"Abandoned Railway Producing a Profit"
207:Railroads have been abandoned in the
7:
109:Example of conversion of part of an
27:Railway line which is no longer used
577:"Farmers Salvage Abandoned Railway"
712:. January 10, 1925. Archived from
624:Preserving Corridors for Trail Use
558:. Urbanghostsmedia.com. 2010-09-24
260:, an adjudicatory body within the
25:
262:U.S. Department of Transportation
225:expansion of the country westward
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680:Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2004).
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176:in Great Britain in the 1960s.
353:Abandoned railway bridge over
305:Abandoned railway bridge over
256:, and are administered by the
215:, the agrarian regions in the
172:or by government, as with the
99:Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
1:
732:Harper, Pat (July 21, 1997).
710:The Christian Science Monitor
688:Truman State University Press
661:Rails-to-Trails Conservancy,
622:Rails-to-Trails Conservancy,
185:evacuation of Finnish Karelia
760:Byron, Ken (June 28, 1999).
258:Surface Transportation Board
254:Code of Federal Regulations
97:An abandoned branch of the
57:, discuss the issue on the
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504:Lists of former rail lines
413:The embankment leading to
158:abandoned railway stations
690:. pp. xvii–xxviii.
686:. Kirksville, Missouri:
611:tables 1064, 1068 online
454:Salekhard–Igarka Railway
113:to a regenerated habitat
788:Reardon, Peter (2003).
783:(subscription required)
755:(subscription required)
727:(subscription required)
230:Interstate Commerce Act
164:Reasons for abandonment
794:. Reardon Publishing.
601:Bureau of the Census,
401:Darblay tunnel, France
381:, Czech Republic. Now
327:Skipton to Ilkley Line
114:
111:abandoned railway line
102:
860:at Wikimedia Commons
472:Abandoned track over
439:Staten Island Railway
287:Highworth Branch Line
108:
96:
858:Former railway lines
581:St. Petersburg Times
537:. Abandonedrails.com
203:In the United States
135:former railway lines
63:create a new article
55:improve this article
45:may not represent a
772:on January 31, 2013
744:on January 31, 2013
716:on January 31, 2013
605:(1976) table Q398;
238:merge or reorganize
841:Oregon Field Guide
839:Video produced by
835:2017-10-24 at the
119:abandoned railroad
115:
103:
18:Abandoned railroad
873:Defunct railroads
856:Media related to
697:978-1-931112-13-0
643:on March 29, 2017
535:"Abandoned Rails"
514:Urban exploration
154:Aldrich, Missouri
91:
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65:, as appropriate.
16:(Redirected from
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768:. Archived from
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740:. Archived from
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452:Remnants of the
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415:Parkhead Viaduct
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359:Saint Petersburg
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234:Great Depression
127:disused railways
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770:the original
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641:the original
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456:in northern
387:bicycle path
307:Nysa KĹ‚odzka
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146:right-of-way
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123:railway line
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68:
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389:since 2014.
266:railbanking
818:1873877617
562:2012-05-06
541:2012-05-05
521:References
474:Přestavlky
373:Abandoned
246:rail-trail
223:, and the
197:Kantalahti
150:rail trail
421:, England
383:overtaken
293:, England
213:Northeast
193:Kemijärvi
101:, England
59:talk page
867:Category
833:Archived
482:See also
460:, Russia
361:, Russia
313:, Poland
311:OtmuchĂłw
139:derelict
53:You may
647:May 15,
609:(2011)
458:Siberia
433:Former
291:Swindon
272:Gallery
232:. The
221:Midwest
816:
807:May 2,
798:
776:May 2,
748:May 2,
720:May 2,
694:
587:May 5,
379:Mořkov
385:by a
217:South
137:, or
121:is a
61:, or
814:ISBN
809:2012
796:ISBN
778:2012
750:2012
722:2012
692:ISBN
649:2012
589:2012
219:and
437:of
377:in
309:in
289:in
117:An
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