Airports With Railroad Crossings

Almost every railroad crossing in the entire world is meant for either cars or pedestrians to cross railroad rights of way. But there have been a few railroad crossings across the world where a rail line crosses an airport runway. In Wynyard, TAS, Australia, the Far Western Railway of TasRail once crossed the north end of a runway at Burnie Airport.

Imagine the runway delays for this. Image: Airways Museum
The railway was constructed along Tasmania's north coast in the early 1920's. "During the late 1930s when the aerodrome at Wynyard was constructed, it was built on the only flat land in the area - the flood plain of the Inglis River. When properly formed runways were constructed, Runway 05/23 was built over the railway line." (Airways Museum)

This arrangement was not without precedent in Australia, or in other parts of the world, as Sydney's Airport had a similar crossing before the tracks were relocated. Chicago's Midway Airport also had a similar situation early in its life, "A passenger aboard a TWA Skyclub plane noticed a snail-like image crossing the center of the field. Upon landing, he learned that it was a freight train. Bewildered, the passenger left the depot wondering whether Chicago will have one useful airport or two useless ones." (Chicago Tribune)

An aerial view of the Chicago Municipal Airport shows the old and new field bisected by railroad tracks. Chicago Tribune Historical Photo
These Belt Railway of Chicago tracks were relocated around the airport in 1941, and remain in use today.

Chicago Tribune Historical Photo

The "Golden Spike" ceremony of the newly re-aligned Belt Railway Tracks around Midway airport that allowed it to expand. Chicago Tribune Historical Photo

Obviously, as trains and planes occupying the same space is not a good idea in any situation, almost all of these situations have involved the railroad relocating. That said, there's at least one active rail line through an airport remaining at Gisborne Airport in New Zealand.

Image: Unusual Places

Ultimately, the Far Western Railway closed between Burnie and Wiltshire in 2003, removing the runway crossing at Wynyard in the process. Thus, the line never had to be relocated around the airport.

Thanks as always for reading!
Location: Burnie Airport, 3 Airport St, Wynyard TAS 7325, Australia

Comments

  1. purpleriderSeptember 23, 2020 at 1:04 PM

    There have also been numerous railroad realignments around Chicago's O'Hare airport.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat tha
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i
Read more

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would
Read more