When the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge opened in 1889 it was the longest bridge in all of North America. As the only bridge across the Hudson River, sitting between New York City and Albany 150 miles upriver, the new bridge became a major throughway for passenger trains. This included West Point football trains, circus trains, milk trains, trains for pigs and cattle, and more—up to 3,500 rail cars every day! Unfortunately, in 1974, the train bridge burned in a large fire:
The fire that destroyed the tracks was probably started by a spark from a train’s brakes… An hour after a Penn Central train with 100 cars crossed the bridge on May 8, 1974 a thick cloud of black smoke hung over the bridge. Wooden ties were soldering and wooden walkways were burning, fanned by a moderate breeze… When firemen arrived at the site, they found they could not easily pump water up to the top of such a high bridge.
The Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge sat vacant for several decades after the fire. In 1992 the nonprofit volunteer group Walkway Over the Hudson began to make plans and fundraise to turn the burned-out bridge into a walking and biking path. Finally, in October 3, 2009, the Walkway Over the Hudson opened to the public and officially became the world’s longest pedestrian bridge, offering incredible views of the Hudson River and Catskill mountains.3
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The Rise of Rails to Trails
The Walkway Over the Hudson is not the only rail line to be turned into a trail line or walkway. In fact, just a few months before the Walkway opened, the High Line opened in New York City after a group of citizens convinced the City to turn the freight line lifted 30ft above Manhattan’s industrial district into a public park space.5 Rails to Trails projects are becoming increasingly popular. A “rail trail,” as they are popularly known, is “the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding.” Because railway routes are usually flat, long, and located in historical districts, they are prime candidates for walkway developments.6 According to the Rails to Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit group founded in 1986, the rise in rails to trails projects has been aided by the National Trails System Act. The “railbanking” provisions of the Act allow railroad companies and trail agencies to make an agreement that preserves out-of-service railroad corridors in public ownership. The railbanked corridor can later be sold, leased or donated to a trail manager. Thus far, the railbanking provisions of the National Trails System Act have “preserved 4,431 miles of rail corridors in 33 states that would otherwise have been abandoned.”7
Lately, Rails to Trails groups are focusing on urban trail systems. For example, the Rails to Trails Conservancy recently initiated an Urban Pathways Initiative, with projects in Washington, D.C., Camden, New Jersey., Jackson, Florida, Compton, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Cleveland, Ohio as a response to traffic congestion issues and the obesity epidemic spurred by a lack of access to recreational space and activities.8
Find a Trail and Take Action
You can search for rail trails across the United States on the free trail-finder website TrailLink.com. The site includes descriptions, maps, user reviews, and photos of trails. Some people may be fortunate enough to have a rails-to-trails project near their home, but others may find that there’s an abandoned railroad in their town that would be a perfect candidate for a new trail. Thousands of miles of railroads have been abandoned in the U.S. over the last 40 years,9 and some of these may be available for railbanking.
The Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC) offers an “Early Warning System” that alerts local communities of rail abandonments for corridor preservation and future trail use.10 Once a warning is sounded, you can follow the RTC’s How-to Railbank Guide.11 The RTC website also offers resources on corridor valuation, acquisition methods, financing and funding an acquisition, outreach to neighbors and public agencies, trail design, and liability and trail insurance.12 All of those steps might seem overwhelming to you now, but there are many nonprofit groups and allies standing by to help if you have always dreamed of converting a rail to a trail!
