Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomguy34
This is one of the unintended benefits as coal becomes less used: the potential for buying up unused rail lines and running passenger trains on them.
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I spoke too soon. I didn't realize that there is a 7-mile track gap between Nelsonville and Athens. I lived out there before Google Earth so i never really understood where the railroads used to run. I didn't make the mental connection that the active freight railroad that parallels the bike trail to Nelsonville for about 10 miles doesn't actually end up in Nelsonville. Instead it heads due north and not straight to Columbus.
Rebuilding 7 miles of track on the still-preserved ROW isn't a huge project. They'll just have to rebuild the bike trail next to it with a fence between them.
Here is the spot where the bike trail and the active freight lines diverge:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/At...!4d-82.1012554
Follow the bike trail northwesterly to Nelsonville and you'll understand the gap.