Railroad to Rail Trail: The De-Railing and Untie-ing Process
The Ammonoosuc Rail Trail is in the process of being extended eastward about 7 miles through Littleton into northern Bethlehem. The project is occurring in 3 phases: Phase 1 was 2.2 miles completed in November of 2020, Phase 2 was another 2.2 miles recently completed on December 3, 2021, and Phase 3, 2.6 miles, will start late spring of 2022.
This fall I watched as the railroad was being removed and the Phase 2 section of rail trail began to appear. There was an anxious anticipation of riding my bike, free from car and truck traffic, alongside the scenic river and farm fields and over the 3 majestic trestle bridges, There was also a melancholy in seeing the rails and ties disappear. The romance of riding a train along the river though Littleton and beyond to a far away place was not to happen again.
Or will it?
As I walked the rotted ties in the overgrown rail corridor, I realized that a train could not travel the rails and ties as they are: abandoned, weathered, cracked and weakened. A rail trail would provide a different type of transportation, recreation and romance: biking, walking, skiing, riding a horse or riding a snowmobile off into the sunrise or sunset. The rail trail will provide benefits to the old rail corridor: regular care and maintenance, bridge and culvert upkeep, tree and brush clearing. This love and attention will preserve the rail bed for the future, enjoyed by all of us, and maybe become another railroad someday.
There are a lot of steps in the tedious, hard work to transition a railroad to a rail trail. It was interesting to watch and to learn about the process. Here I share a photo collection of de-railing and untie-ing about 150 years of the railroad to preserve the corridor and create a rail trail for all to enjoy.
Ties are cracked and rotted, and some sections of the rail bed are totally obscured by vegetation.
De-Railing: First, the bolts of the fishplates are sheared off. Fishplates hold the rails together with 4 or 6 bolts. Note that the ends of the rails do not touch, a space is left to allow them to expand when they get hot.
Spikes and plates hold and align the rails. All are lifted up from the ties by the excavators.
In this project, the rails became the property of the contractors, and will be sold for the steel. The spikes and plates were kept by the State of New Hampshire for reuse.
Here is one of many piles of spikes and plates. ready to be retrieved by the state. At about 12,800 spikes per mile, this project produced at least 28,160 spikes.
The rail bed is free of track and metal plates, ready for the ties to be lifted.
Untie-ing: Ties are lifted, removed and disposed of in a landfill or burned as a fuel source. There are about 3250 ties per mile, so there were about 7150 ties removed in this 2.2 mile project.
The rail bed is now free of tracks, ties, spikes, bolts and the metal plates. In some places the surface is deep with ballast rock. Walking is possible, but it is not ready for biking, yet.
The heavy equipment, traveling back and forth along the rail bed, does some packing of the ballast rock.
The final step is to remove any residual spikes, bolts and plates by a strong magnet. The magnet is swept side to side across the rail bed, “Fishing’ for the metal pieces.
The NH Bureau of Trails and the contractor leave the rail bed in a condition that is amenable for the snowmobile clubs to groom the snow for snowmobile use. Cross country skiers, snowshoers, fat bikers and walkers enjoy the trail, too!
In the spring, the 4.4 miles of new trail (Phases 1 and 2) will be ditched, graded and crowned, then the surface will be packed to provide a solid mix of dirt and rock. This may be sufficient for use, or otherwise will be ready for an application of a hard packed stonedust coating. The trail will then be enjoyed by walkers, runners, cyclists, equestrians and people with mobility aids.
The Ammonoosuc Rail Trail is in the process of being extended eastward about 7 miles through Littleton into northern Bethlehem. The project is occurring in 3 phases: Phase 1 was 2.2 miles completed in November of 2020, Phase 2 was another 2.2 miles recently completed on December 3, 2021, and Phase 3, 2.6 miles, will start late spring of 2022.
This fall I watched as the railroad was being removed and the Phase 2 section of rail trail began to appear. There was an anxious anticipation of riding my bike, free from car and truck traffic, alongside the scenic river and farm fields and over the 3 majestic trestle bridges, There was also a melancholy in seeing the rails and ties disappear. The romance of riding a train along the river though Littleton and beyond to a far away place was not to happen again.
Or will it?
As I walked the rotted ties in the overgrown rail corridor, I realized that a train could not travel the rails and ties as they are: abandoned, weathered, cracked and weakened. A rail trail would provide a different type of transportation, recreation and romance: biking, walking, skiing, riding a horse or riding a snowmobile off into the sunrise or sunset. The rail trail will provide benefits to the old rail corridor: regular care and maintenance, bridge and culvert upkeep, tree and brush clearing. This love and attention will preserve the rail bed for the future, enjoyed by all of us, and maybe become another railroad someday.
There are a lot of steps in the tedious, hard work to transition a railroad to a rail trail. It was interesting to watch and to learn about the process. Here I share a photo collection of de-railing and untie-ing about 150 years of the railroad to preserve the corridor and create a rail trail for all to enjoy.
Ties are cracked and rotted, and some sections of the rail bed are totally obscured by vegetation.
De-Railing: First, the bolts of the fishplates are sheared off. Fishplates hold the rails together with 4 or 6 bolts. Note that the ends of the rails do not touch, a space is left to allow them to expand when they get hot.
Spikes and plates hold and align the rails. All are lifted up from the ties by the excavators.
In this project, the rails became the property of the contractors, and will be sold for the steel. The spikes and plates were kept by the State of New Hampshire for reuse.
Here is one of many piles of spikes and plates. ready to be retrieved by the state. At about 12,800 spikes per mile, this project produced at least 28,160 spikes.
The rail bed is free of track and metal plates, ready for the ties to be lifted.
Untie-ing: Ties are lifted, removed and disposed of in a landfill or burned as a fuel source. There are about 3250 ties per mile, so there were about 7150 ties removed in this 2.2 mile project.
The rail bed is now free of tracks, ties, spikes, bolts and the metal plates. In some places the surface is deep with ballast rock. Walking is possible, but it is not ready for biking, yet.
The heavy equipment, traveling back and forth along the rail bed, does some packing of the ballast rock.
The final step is to remove any residual spikes, bolts and plates by a strong magnet. The magnet is swept side to side across the rail bed, “Fishing’ for the metal pieces.
The NH Bureau of Trails and the contractor leave the rail bed in a condition that is amenable for the snowmobile clubs to groom the snow for snowmobile use. Cross country skiers, snowshoers, fat bikers and walkers enjoy the trail, too!
In the spring, the 4.4 miles of new trail (Phases 1 and 2) will be ditched, graded and crowned, then the surface will be packed to provide a solid mix of dirt and rock. This may be sufficient for use, or otherwise will be ready for an application of a hard packed stonedust coating. The trail will then be enjoyed by walkers, runners, cyclists, equestrians and people with mobility aids.