The Forgotten Rail Line: No Bridge Needed

soill (37)in #aswcontest • 6 years ago

I've noticed an abandoned railroad track along a country highway for quite awhile and finally got a chance to explore part of it. I could see a little of this part from the road, but it was much more amazing than I expected.

I stuck two pictures together to give this quick preview before I explain.

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This abandoned railroad follows South along State Route 142 out of McLeansboro and down towards Eldorado, Illinois. When I looked up rail road maps for the area, I found one from back in 2012. I wasn't surprised this track was already missing from the map, showing it hadn't been in use for some time. This map is from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the full map is linked below. I've marked the map in red where the abandon tracks are located.

Now back to the good stuff, we can have a closer look. With no bridge remains to be found, these tracks hang over the creek bare. They've trapped quite a bit of dried corn stalks from nearby corn fields and some other debris from recent flooding. In the background you can see the bridge for Route 142 crossing the creek as well.

Abandoned railroad tracks hanging over creek with highway bridge in background

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With a clearer view of the trapped debris, we can see that the cut tree logs are unfinished firewood that had floated away during previous flooding and came to rest in a group here. It seems a bit of a strange result and causes me to imagine these tracks holding back a massive congestion of debris being hammered into it at one time.

Abandoned railroad tracks hanging over creek

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Here we begin to back away and take interest of the tracks hanging over the bank.

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At this point we can see where the creek had previously flooded to, eroding the ground and leaving a bank.

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Looking back we can see just where the tracks begin to hang in the air.

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The following perspective shots show how the rails hang with no help and give a great view of the entire span.

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Here standing at the top of the tracks, we can see the twists and bends the tracks make as they continue off the ledge.

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The tracks seem to end here at the top, but I suspect they continue intact, but embedded deeply in the ground. They seem to disappear into the ground and a large mound of dirt, brush, and broken concrete dumping begin just past here.

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There is much more of this same abandoned railroad track, including portions running through a couple towns. I hope to share some more interesting areas of it, so vote, follow, and check @soill for some of my previous great finds and photos of Southern Illinois.