Rails may be the most cost- and energy-efficient way
to move commodities across our landscape, but they’re also a
shrinking asset; America’s major railroads abandon about 3,200
miles of track every year.
How should state and
local governments, and community activists, respond when a railroad
files to abandon a line?
Colorado, where rail
mileage has declined to half its 1913 peak of 5,764 miles, has come
up with some answers in an authoritative and quite readable
guidebook, authored by Skye Ridley.
For starters,
the Colorado Railroad & Rail Corridor Guide suggests, fight the
abandonment. What works best is to get rail shippers to oppose it
before the federal Surface Transportation Board. If that fails,
look for a short-line operator who might continue rail service;
every full rail car is the equivalent of four loaded semis, which
damage roads while adding to pollution and
congestion.
But by all means preserve the
corridor, even if it has no ties or track. It may be needed again
someday for rail purposes (local governments are trying to
resurrect the Glenwood Springs-Aspen route for mass transit). In
the interim, these 100- to 200-foot-wide rights-of-way can serve as
trails for hikers, horseback riders and
bicyclists.
Further, there are environmental
benefits. Railroads scarred the landscape when they were built in
the 19th century, but “time heals all wounds.”
According to the Colorado Guide, after a century
the railroad grades have “become natural and benefit the local
ecology.” Native plants can thrive, and, “the raised railbed can
act as a dam, creating many small wetlands which provide rich
plant, animal and bird habitat.” Wildlife also migrate along these
routes. Community support for corridor preservation is vital, the
Guide points out, and so is an informed
public.
The Guide explains the abandonment
process in common-sense language, rather than the stilted dialect
of $500-an-hour railroad lawyers, and it starts with ways to tell
whether a line is in danger of
abandonment.
There’s also a directory that covers
everything from federal agencies to potential short-line operators
and rail-to-trail conversion experts. Colorado’s existing and
abandoned rail lines are examined in detail for their survivability
and suitability for corridor preservation.
This
is a model government report – comprehensive, informative, and
above all quite readable, with guidance for action if that becomes
necessary. Railroad corridors are as important now as they were a
century ago when the lines were constructed, and every state ought
to produce a similar guide. This one, though designed for
Coloradans, contains much that would be useful elsewhere in the
West.
The Colorado Guide is well worth your time
if there’s a railroad corridor – be it an operating through line or
a long-abandoned narrow-gauge spur – near your community.
*Ed
Quillen
Colorado
Railroad & Rail Corridor Guide was published in 1998 by the
Colorado Department of Transportation and the State Trails Program
of Colorado State Parks. The guide, published in two parts, with
illustrations and maps, is free and can be obtained from Colorado
State Parks, 303/866-3437; or Colorado State Parks Trails Program,
1313 Sherman St., Room 618, Denver, CO 80203; or from e-mail:
cotrails@aol.com.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Riding the rails in Colorado.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
