The story of a forgotten America.

Locations

Type
States
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Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Dawkins Subdivision
Railroad / Kentucky

The 36-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) Dawkins Subdivision is a former branch line from Dawkins to Evanston, Kentucky.



Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Jackson Shops
Railroad / Michigan, Ohio

The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad (DT&I) is a former railroad that connected Ironton, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. Significant portions of the line are abandoned.



Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad
Railroad / Ohio

The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway (CH&D), originally chartered to build from Cincinnati to Hamilton, Ohio, and then to Dayton, owned or controlled 640 miles of track by the early 1900s.



Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Middle Creek Subdivision
Railroad / Kentucky

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C&O) Middle Creek Subdivision is a former 9.6-mile branch line from the C&O’s Big Sandy at Prestonsburg to David, Kentucky.



Coal & Coke Railway
Railroad / West Virginia

The Coal & Coke Railway (C&C) is a former railroad between Charleston and Elkins, West Virginia. It began as the Charleston, Clendenin & Sutton Railroad in 1891, reorganized as the Coal & Coke Railway in 1906, and leased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1917 before being merged fully in 1934, with the Charleston to Elkins route being designated the Charleston Division. The erasure of large scale timbering, the slow decline of the coal industry in the central part of the state, and the closure of a refinery in Falling Rock led the B&O to discontinue service along the Charleston Division at different times since 1941. The railroad began sharing trackage rights with the Western Maryland closer to Elkins in the 1940s, and abandoned its mainline between Adrian and Midvale. It then closed down its former mainline between Midvale and Roaring Creek Junction in 1972 following the closure of several mines. The B&O then tried to abandon much of its line south of Gassaway although portions were reprieved by Conrail and the Elk River Railroad. Ultimately, the closure of a mine along the revived Buffalo Creek Railroad led much of the remaining track south of Burnsville to be used just for car storage and repairs at Gassaway until that ceased in 2022. Today, much of the former Coal & Coke Railway between Gassaway and Charleston is being redeveloped into a linear state park open for recreational use.



Dingess Tunnel
Railroad / West Virginia

The Norfolk & Western Railroad (N&W) Twelvepole Line was part of the original alignment of the N&W between Lenore, West Virginia and Ohio. It was replaced by the 59-mile Big Sandy Low-Grade Line through Mingo and Wayne counties.



Chesapeake and Ohio Railway South Side Branch
Railroad / West Virginia

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway South Side Branch is a partly abandoned line along the New River between South Side Junction to Macdougal, West Virginia.



New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Maybrook Line
Railroad / New York

The Maybrook Line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad connected the Maybrook Yard in Maybrook, New York, to its Waterbury Branch in Derby, Connecticut.



Wallkill Valley Railway
Railroad / New York

The Wallkill Valley Railway is a defunct railroad between Kingston and Campbell Hall, New York. It was founded in 1866 and ceased regular service under Conrail in 1977.



Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Railroad / Ohio

The Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad (M&C) is a defunct railroad that connected Cincinnati, Ohio to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Through acquisitions during the 1800s, the M&C commanded over 270 miles of railroad, from Cincinnati to Marietta and south to Portsmouth and Hillsboro. The line was later absorbed into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, becoming its mainline between Cumberland, Maryland, and St. Louis. Significant portions of the route have since been abandoned.



Cincinnati and Eastern Railroad Scioto River Bridge
Railroad / Ohio

The Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad (C&E) is an active and out-of-service railroad between Cincinnati and Portsmouth, Ohio.



Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine and Beattyville Railroad
Railroad / Kentucky

The Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad (RNI&B, Riney-B) is a former railroad between Frankfort and Beattyville, Kentucky. In its original form, the RNI&B extended from Versailles and Irvine, Kentucky. It was acquired by another railroad in 1899 and extended to Beattyville and Airedale. Another acquisition extended the line west to Frankfort, giving the RNI&B a total of 110 miles.



Young's High Bridge
Railroad / Kentucky

The Louisville & Southern Railway Lexington to Lawrenceburg Division is an active and abandoned railroad in central Kentucky. At its centerpiece is Young’s High Bridge.



Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division
Railroad / West Virginia

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C&O) Greenbrier Division is a former railroad in the Greenbrier River valley in Greenbrier and Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The 101-mile line was one of the C&O’s primary branch lines for timber products and served more lumber companies than any other in the state.



Railroad / Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee

A gallery of abandoned railroads, depots, supporting buildings, cars and locomotives in the United States.



Barnesville Tunnel
Railroad / Ohio

The Central Ohio Railway is a former railroad that connected Columbus to Bellaire, Ohio at the Ohio River. The line played an integral role in the development of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), especially after a bridge was completed over the Ohio River that enabled eastern markets to connect with Chicago and the Midwest. A railroad was first conceived between Wheeling, West Virginia and the Midwest in the mid-19th century as an efficient manner in transporting freight and passengers from the east coast west into Ohio and ultimately Chicago.



Tennessee Railroad
Railroad / Tennessee

The Tennessee Railroad is a former coal-hauling railroad between Oneida and Fork Mountain, Tennessee. It is also notable for once hosting a passenger excursion train in the 2000s.



Cincinnati Southern Railway
Railroad / Kentucky, Tennessee

The Cincinnati Southern Railway contains numerous bypassed tunnels and bridges along the “Rathole” between Cincinnati, Ohio and Chattanooga, Tennessee.



Oneida and Western Railroad Bridge
Railroad / Kentucky, Tennessee

The Oneida & Western Railroad is an abandoned rail line between Jamestown and Oneida, Tennessee. The line served vast pockets of virgin timber and coal mines before it was abandoned in 1954 after many years of financial troubles.



New York Central Aurora Branch
Railroad / Indiana, Ohio

The 3.9-mile Cincinn…



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