I watch in some dismay as the Rock Island Trail becomes closer to reality, the road bed from just west of Union to KC is now pretty well ripped up, the once mighty line that supplied the materials to Bagnall Dam is now all but gone given up in reparations for the mess of Taum Sauk by Ameren UE. As a trail it is 'Expected' to revitalize the towns of Gerald, Owensville and points west yet I fear the value is over-rated. I walk the KATY trail on occasion, I live outside Hermann where I can see any real benefit of the trail and can state with honesty there is little if ANY financial return from the trail from past Augusta all the way to Jefferson City. Small hoteliers tried to build on the demand from riders and hikers only to not see any increase in demand. Small eateries along the trail found no marked increase from users of the trail the noted increases were from the explosion of wineries and breweries or other establishments along the old route. Remote as many RI line towns are I suspect they will benefit little from this. As a state expense the trails cost literally Millions per year to keep graded, keep functionally open and maintain the facilities along the route. What I did not like seeing as I walked the KATY last was the level of encroaching woodlands falling onto the trail from both sides where it became impassable a number of times. The state parks department brought in 'Volunteers' to clear the trail to remedy the situation at hand but cannot bear the expense as the railroads once did in keeping the softwoods from taking over the right of ways clearing back well wide enough to keep those snags from crossing that ROW. Fuels keep getting harder to find, highways are becoming less viable for shipping and travel as the expense is crippling our nation, why is it we choose to ignore the most viable transit systems as rail and the EU or other nations do not?
I like your post. I see the same thing here in the Carolinas. Despite the existence of many hundreds of miles of existing trails, trail promoters live in an eternal state of dissatisfaction, always wanting more. An inactive branch from Hendersonville, NC to Pisgah Forest, NC has been under attack for years, with efforts to tear it out and make a trail out of it. Just a short distance away is lovely DuPont Forest with 90 Miles of trails, Chimney Rock State Park with a vast trail network, the Carl Sandburg National Park site, Grandfather Mountain, the Ridgecrest/Old Fort area and a bunch more a short drive away, including the vast Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My wife and I have hiked trails extensively at all of these sites and yet barely covered the total miles available in each. New York State recently approved tearing up 34 miles of active track served by the Adirondack Scenic Railroad for a hiking trail. This has been an ugly event, with the railroad subjected to heavy criminal vandalism by "naturalists". Hundreds of miles of existing trails just aren't enough there either it seems. Clearly, trail mania is out of hand in many locales, including yours.
They are grossly over-rated. Few actually produce numbers of users, who input to local economies enough to even be noticed. They are urban entities such as the "Burke-Gilman" in Seattle. Which passes the University of Washington and Fremont areas. Without those two influences, that trail becomes a minor entity. (If you knew those two influences, as I do, you'd understand them to be exceptions, not the normal.) Others which see traffic such as the former MILW r-o-w between Cedar Falls and Hyak, Washington. Which draws all the goofy city people who, well, I'll stop here. I have lived close by or even next to three trails. Saw them from inception. Involved with one. NONE adds to area economies. NONE. All three cause troubles with illegal or unwanted parking, pet issues, bathroom and other facility needs. Such things are not an asset, but a detraction. NO adjacent business profits from their existing.
A NY state supreme court judge just put a halt to that plan by ruling in favor of the Adirondack Rail Preservation Society and the Adirondack Scenic Railroad: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/09/judge-rules-tracks-must-stay/
Wow, that's great news Point353! Toward the end of the story, the writer mentions snowmobile advocates which have been a vocal force behind tearing out the tracks and in some circles, are blamed for the $50,000 in vandalism to electrical system in the Adirondack's locomotive. I hope the judge's ruling puts and end to the matter, but I worry that the Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates are raising more blood money for an appeal. It's much like me buying a jet ski, then demanding that someone else's property be flooded so that I can enjoy it.
Thanks to all, I was hoping I was not the only one realizing this. We are wasting valuable real estate and further moneys for literally nothing but a chance to put a park sign up.
I live near Jefferson City and the ex-RI from Eldon, in both directions, is empty roadbed with plenty of "No Trespassing" signs. Next time I'm down that way I'll try to get some data, photos, and the like. I will say the old, concrete block depot/office in Eldon was torn down and replaced by something newer and nicer but what's going to happen there is not known to me. There had to have been some bait-and-switch going on, and maybe still is, but why there was such a rush to rip up the track, much still in place since the 3-1980 shutdown, and just leave it to the "All-Natural Reclamation Company" is still a mystery to me.
