Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

Utah Transit Authority , or UTA's, S Line, otherwise known as the Sugar House Streetcar , is an example of a railroad line reactivated post abandonment.  The streetcar runs a 2 mile back and forth route in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City along a once abandoned Denver & Rio Grande Western/Union Pacific right of way known simply as the Sugarhouse Branch . It connects to Central Pointe Station , where riders can connect to the rest of Salt Lake City's light rail system. Image: Robert Holman, 2014 The line was passed down to Union Pacific, who abandoned the line in 2005. Much earlier, the line actually connected Salt Lake City with Park City along a similar path that I-80 follows in the Parley's Canyon. ( Right of way  - make sure the reactivations layer is checked to view this line, it is turned off by default) The project of converting the line into a streetcar began construction in 2009, and opened in 2013. Some of the former rails are still located adjac...

It's the Holiday Season once again, and as a result, I figured I'd mix things up a bit and discuss a Christmas Movie, The Polar Express , and it's significance to the railroad industry as a whole. The movie is based off of a 1985 book  of the same name, which itself is based off of a locomotive, specifically Pere Marquette 1225. The author, Chris Van Allsburg, grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, and visited the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, MI, where the locomotive was in service and on display, which it remains to this day. Image: locomotive.wikia.com According to it's fan-page, Pere Marquette 1225 is "is a class N-1 2-8-4 Berkshire-type steam locomotive". As someone who's interests in railroading are more in the routes themselves and not so much the engines, I really don't know what that means. That said, the locomotive really is gorgeous, and it doesn't take much imagination to see how glorious it would be as a Christmas steam engine...

As with any building, its time and purpose comes and goes. The railroad industry is no exception. Such was the case for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Roundhouse and Locomotive Shop in Aurora, IL. The Aurora Roundhouse in the 1930's .  The Roundhouse and its subsequent buildings were first opened in 1857 for servicing locomotives on the Chicago & Aurora Railroad, not to be confused with the later interurban railway the Chicago Aurora & Elgin. The C&A was the first predecessor railroad which would develop into the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and its Chicago to Aurora route is to this day one of the busiest in the United States, both for freight and passenger traffic. Locomotives using the roundhouse. Image: Matthew Powers There were actually two roundhouses in the complex by the 1870's. But an 1880 fire would destroy many of the original structures. The 2nd roundhouse was replaced with a newer one in 1925. ( Link ). As diesel engines...