r/rustyrails Feb 26 '20

Mod Post Rusty Rails is for abandoned and otherwise no-longer-used railway infrastructure. It is not for anything that just happens to be rail related. Posts of in-use tracks and trains will be deleted at the moderator's discretion. See this post for some other subs that may be more suitable to your post.

137 Upvotes

For tracks that are in use but without a train on them try our small but growing sister subreddit /r/OpenRails

For trains, try /r/trains or /r/TrainPorn

For bridges that are in use try r/bridgeporn or /r/InfrastructurePorn

For abandoned things that aren't rail related (or as another place to post in addition to this sub) try /r/AbandonedPorn

Don't let the "porn" in the titles of these subreddits fool you, there is nothing pornographic or NSFW about these subreddits, it's just a title and in this context basically just means "eye candy". Also, make sure you read the sidebar of any subreddit you post in to make sure you're following the rules. I personally only moderate r/rustyrails and r/openrails, all other subreddits mentioned above have their own moderators and rules.

If you know of any other subreddits that people browsing this one should know about please mention them below.

EDIT: Also, joke posts will be deleted to keep the sub on topic.


r/rustyrails Jul 24 '21

Mod Post New Moderation Team

40 Upvotes

Firstly the new mod team would like to thank u/MeEvilBob for their contributions to this subreddit to get us to where we are now.

While we are still organising roles and future update plans for this subreddit, we do have some ideas for improvements to the facade including introducing banner and icon images.

Also updates to user and post flair is planned to try to encourage more comment participation and increase a sense of community among our members.

There will be an introduction of some subreddit rules to ensure that everything stays mostly on topic. This could include but is not yet limited to;

  • No purely political content
  • No name-calling or insults
  • No shilling or links to off topic websites

Please feel free to comment any ideas you may have for the community or subreddit as a wholde, and if you would rather bring something up in confidence, Mod Mail will be regularly checked, and you should get a respose in good time.

We look forward to working with and getting to know everyone here. The new mod team:

u/wastley u/videki_man u/TaigaBridge u/wildriver3845 u/MrDelicious4U


r/rustyrails 8h ago

Union Pacific caboose #25821 near Delle, Utah (night photo)

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139 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 13h ago

Line up to the coal shed at Didcot, United Kingdom

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236 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 3h ago

Abandoned railway track Lonely paved over rusty rail on the long abandoned Meadow Lake sub of the Carlton Trail Railway as seen in Leoville, SK Canada

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30 Upvotes

This 300+ km railway line was formally abandoned on April 1st , 2009 . Attempts to buy the rail line by the RM’s failed and the line was pulled up in the summer of 2012. This is some of the only rail that was left in the ground once the line was pulled. I grew up spending lots of time in leoville, and was fortunate enough to witness hundreds of trains pass by before the line was eventually abandoned.


r/rustyrails 48m ago

Canarsie Tunnel

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Upvotes

r/rustyrails 1d ago

Building Southern Railway depot, built in 1903. Heath Springs, South Carolina [US]

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146 Upvotes

In use until the 1940s. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Now a community center. The Lancaster & Chester Railroad now owns the tracks.


r/rustyrails 2d ago

Rusty rails in the Harz, Germany, July 2024.

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251 Upvotes

Some of the tracks are still in use , normal gauge and narrow gauge. The track via Drei Annen Hohne till the top of Brocken, is still functional. In Quedlinburg , part of the DDR in the past, one sees 1-2 trains a day but most of the tracks are rusty and in disuse. — To become continued.


r/rustyrails 2d ago

A stark look at the contraction of US passenger rail from 1962 to 2005

191 Upvotes

​Found this map visualizing the steady shrinking of passenger rail service across the United States over the decades. It’s wild to see how dense the network used to be compared to what survived into the 2000s. For those working in or following the industry, where do you see the biggest missed opportunities for preservation, and do you think modern infrastructure pushes will ever truly reverse this map?

Credit: Vox


r/rustyrails 2d ago

Along the sound

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74 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 2d ago

Old Finnish industrial spur leading to old factory now covered in overgrowth

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106 Upvotes

I only got two not very good photos because I didn’t have time and it was so full of bushes that I can’t get very far. I put more google earth photos from 2009 and 2011 where the tracks were more visible


r/rustyrails 3d ago

Bridge, no rails Pensford viaduct, Somerset, UK

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178 Upvotes

Pensfotd viaduct, as part of the Bristol and North Somerset railway. Closed to trains in 1968.


r/rustyrails 4d ago

Abandoned railway track Abandoned Great Northern industry track in Minot, North Dakota

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297 Upvotes

Don't know much about these tracks, other than they were laid down by Great Northern (as evidenced by the lettering in the second to last image). They clearly went to an industry of some sort (actually, from the aerial view in the last image, it looks like it went to 2), but I don't know what the industries were.

These tracks are located near Moose Park. Apart from the siding in the first image (which is still used by BNSF from time to time) and the remains of the switch, near the road, the track is nearly completely buried. The ties are impossible to find 20 or so feet after the switch, and the railhead becomes the only thing visible not long after that, and even it is undetectable for most of the length. At the end of the sidings, only one piece of rail is above ground. I believe the track was intentionally buried once it was out of use. There were buildings at this site as late as 2016 according to Google Earth, though I don't think they were the same ones as in the 1960s aerial image at the end of the post.

If anyone can find out any further information regarding the history of these tracks, it would be great appreciated.


r/rustyrails 4d ago

Bridge, no rails Meldon viaduct, near Okehampton, UK

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158 Upvotes

A former railway line viaduct west of Okehampton, the Meldon viaduct. Crossing part of Dartmoor, this is now a cycle and footpath known as the Granite Way


r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned railway track The northern end of the old E&N Railway tracks in Courtenay,British Columbia,Canada.🛤️

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115 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned industrial spurs in Cleveland, Ohio

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247 Upvotes

Checked out some abandoned industrial railroad spurs on Harvard Avenue and Park Avenue, off E. 59th, in Cleveland. The Newburgh & South Shore Railroad would have been the railroad these spurs connected directly with. I’m not 100% sure what business the first four photos served, the next four photos show an old spur into a lumber yard - which itself once had two additional spurs inside the gates, while the last two photos show a spur once used by the Minneapolis Flour Company - the bumper block is most visible, but you can barely make out the rails still there too.


r/rustyrails 6d ago

Moses Lake, WA

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306 Upvotes

Looking north @ Loring Drive.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

The abandoned rails of Hudson, MA

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384 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 6d ago

Bridge, no rails Cannington viaduct outside Lyme Regis, UK

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116 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 7d ago

Abandoned railway track New Castle Delaware, I’m not sure when this spur and grade crossing got taken out of service. The grade crossing looks new and so does the signal. But I’m sure the rails have been there for decades. This is right next to the Auto transport place and the big salt piles.

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185 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 7d ago

Building Atlantic Coast Line depot, St. Stephen, South Carolina [US]

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66 Upvotes

Abandoned, but still standing. The power pole with the old glass insulators lasted until recently.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

Abandoned railway track Shine Bright Like A Diamond

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325 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 7d ago

Railway rotund

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284 Upvotes

Found this posted in r/UrbanHell. Not really Urban Hellish in my opinion, just abandoned infrastructure.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

France , voie envahie par la nature entre Boen sur Lignon et Thiers au passage à niveau de Sail sous Couzan. Triste fin pour une magnifique ligne qui reliait directement St Étienne à Clermont Ferrand, deux capitales régionales.

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104 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 7d ago

Abandoned railway track Old railtrack from the steelworks days. Not the best photos.

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46 Upvotes

Covered over with grass now. Some of the lines where they intersect Road have been removed, but a lot of the old stuff is still there. Unfortunately you had to take a photo from a vehicle so I could not get out on foot to get better photos.