Western Railroad Discussion > Street Running

After viewing the Pentrex tape on street running, I am wondering: Are there any street running railroad lines in the midwest? How about in Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma?

Santa Fe's line to Coffeyville, KS and Tulsa, OK
used to run down the middle of a main street in
Ottawa, KS. There was even a cantilevered signal
bridge growing out of the sidewalk. That all went
away in the late 80's/early 90's, when the track
from Ottawa to Iola was ripped out.

IMRL or is it the IC&E? street run thru Bellevue IA... nice shot to be had from the state park looking down at the town, the tracks and the river....bob

I guess the term MidWest is relative, depending on where you are?? In the video two of the locations are LaGrange, Kentucky-about 20 miles northeast of Louisville...and New Albany, Indiana just across the river from Louisville. Both are still active places today to see street operation.
In the two photos attached you see the Amtrak-Postal Special coming down the Main Street of LaGrange, right in front of the County Courthouse, in 2000.
The second photo is of CSX 1231 in New Albany about the same time. The Track the CSX is on is now listed as abandoned, however the track in the photo to the right of the one the engine is on, is the Monon Line...still in active service .
These two are MidWestern by most definitions.

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I took the family to Chicago last spring
on Amtrak and I think in Springfield, IL
the train travels for 10-15 blocks smack
dab in the middle of downtown. The motorist
seemed to take it fairly well.

It may not "officially" qualify, since the track sits on ballast rather than in concrete, but for a few blocks in downtown LaGrange, Texas the UP's former MKT line ("Smithville Subdivision") runs along trackage that has a city street immediately on either side of it-- one side of the tracks is for eastbound automotive traffic, the other for westbound automotive traffic. (Note the "No Left Turn" sign on the right edge of the pic.) The old Katy depot still stands by the tracks here too, as seen on the left side of the picture.

This portion of line was featured in Pentrex's video on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas.

-fwwr5007

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Here in Hutchinson Kansas, ATSF had a line than ran for a few blocks down Lorraine street to a grain elevator and near the state fairgrounds. I was told they used to bring the carnival equipment to the fair on it. However, the line has been abandoned for at least 20 years, probably longer. Most of the track has been removed, but sections still remain in the street.

Jason

Like stated above, this may not apply, but, the BNSF, former SP, New Orleans main line heads down the middle of a street in New Iberia, LA, separated by a small curb. This line is also (obviously) used by regional, Louisiana and Delta, as well as Amtrak.

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The South Shore Line (commuter) in Michigan City, Indiana

UP's Spring - Ft.Worth mainline through Bryan, TX.
Track divides 28th Street near downtown for about a mile.

Scheeesch, You Texan's...Always trying to pull one over on us !!! Come on guys, If it doesn't occupy a lane and block traffic, It ain't Street Running..hehehe Look at LaGrange again..That's my Explorer pinned against the curb by the CSX Loco. And then we follow the FRED thru the next block !!! When there is a train in the block, everyone treats it like just another large vehicle.

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The Manufacturers Railway in St. Louis has quite a bit of street running near the Brewery. Also the UP bagnall branch in Jefferson City, Mo. has a short stretch of street running.

I'm a little late in reading this thread as I've been out of town all week but Salina, KS must be mentioned with it's 7 block strech running down the middle of 4th St. This line sees almost daily action from UP's yard job serving Salina's south industrial area & also big road trains with BIG road power coming off the main & shoving back to the Scoular elevator & vise versa.

GO BIG TRAIN

Matt