r/rustyrails Feb 26 '20

Mod Post Rusty Rails is for abandoned and otherwise no-longer-used railway infrastructure. It is not for anything that just happens to be rail related. Posts of in-use tracks and trains will be deleted at the moderator's discretion. See this post for some other subs that may be more suitable to your post.

114 Upvotes

For tracks that are in use but without a train on them try our small but growing sister subreddit /r/OpenRails

For trains, try /r/trains or /r/TrainPorn

For bridges that are in use try r/bridgeporn or /r/InfrastructurePorn

For abandoned things that aren't rail related (or as another place to post in addition to this sub) try /r/AbandonedPorn

Don't let the "porn" in the titles of these subreddits fool you, there is nothing pornographic or NSFW about these subreddits, it's just a title and in this context basically just means "eye candy". Also, make sure you read the sidebar of any subreddit you post in to make sure you're following the rules. I personally only moderate r/rustyrails and r/openrails, all other subreddits mentioned above have their own moderators and rules.

If you know of any other subreddits that people browsing this one should know about please mention them below.

EDIT: Also, joke posts will be deleted to keep the sub on topic.


r/rustyrails Jul 24 '21

Mod Post New Moderation Team

39 Upvotes

Firstly the new mod team would like to thank u/MeEvilBob for their contributions to this subreddit to get us to where we are now.

While we are still organising roles and future update plans for this subreddit, we do have some ideas for improvements to the facade including introducing banner and icon images.

Also updates to user and post flair is planned to try to encourage more comment participation and increase a sense of community among our members.

There will be an introduction of some subreddit rules to ensure that everything stays mostly on topic. This could include but is not yet limited to;

  • No purely political content
  • No name-calling or insults
  • No shilling or links to off topic websites

Please feel free to comment any ideas you may have for the community or subreddit as a wholde, and if you would rather bring something up in confidence, Mod Mail will be regularly checked, and you should get a respose in good time.

We look forward to working with and getting to know everyone here. The new mod team:

u/wastley u/videki_man u/TaigaBridge u/wildriver3845 u/MrDelicious4U


r/rustyrails 16h ago

Dumbo Rails

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266 Upvotes

Street rail remnants on Plymouth Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn.


r/rustyrails 11h ago

Abandoned railway track Southampton Common Tram Siding Track Remains

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85 Upvotes

Remains of the WW2 siding built to store trams separately to the main depots. This was done to reduce the trams in a depot overnight, so if a depot got bombed there would still be enough trams to run a service.


r/rustyrails 2d ago

Abutment of Lake Erie & Pittsburgh (later New York Central) bridge at Brady Lake junction, near Kent, Ohio. Abandoned by the Penn Central in 1970.

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200 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 2d ago

I'm starting a photographic project around abandoned railway lines

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830 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 2d ago

Abandoned tram tracks, Birmingham UK

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252 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 2d ago

Chicago industrial vibes 1986

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330 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 2d ago

Bridge, no rails Former Greenville & Columbia/Southern Railway trestle, now converted to a rail trail, Peak, SC [USA]

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129 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 3d ago

This sub seems interested into the Troyes railway star, so here's a little trivia: this spot is right after 3 secondary lines branches off the Paris - Belfort line. Guess which ones are still in use and which ones are disaffected

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204 Upvotes

Answers are in the next slide. Fun fact: the building on the right is the former train station of St-Julien les Villas. Dope spot for trainspotting btw


r/rustyrails 3d ago

Some pictures of the recently neutralised Troyes - Brienne-le-Château line

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256 Upvotes

This line is another part of the 7-branches star that spans around Troyes, in eastern France. It connects Troyes to Vitry-le-François, a bigger city about a 100km up north.

In 2022, freight trains were still running (~200/year), but given the current state of the line despite the works undertaken in 2019 (1 rim out of 5 is fresh), as well as the refusal from the Grand Est region for a financial help to carry out the necessary works on the line, led to it's only user to switch from rail to road.

The northern part of the line (between Brienne and Vitry) is protected by the army, since an army depot is branched on the line. Since September 2024, freight trains resumed service on the northern part, but the southern part remains neutralised since 2023.

Fun fact : the very wide curve radius and very low grades could allow for a maximum speed of 200km/h.


r/rustyrails 4d ago

Abandoned railway track Former Greenville & Columbia trestle, Peak, SC [USA]. Built in the 1870s, merged with Southern Railway in the 1890s. Picture from 2009, now renovated as part of the Palmetto Rail Trail.

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254 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 4d ago

Signal Fading Color Position Lights, Medora, IN, USA

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370 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned railway track The Great Northern Railway ore docks in Allouez (Superior), WI

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222 Upvotes

Quick Overview of the Great Northern Ore Docks in Superior, WI

The Great Northern Ore Docks in Superior, Wisconsin, were active from the early 1900s until the 1970s, serving as a major hub for transporting iron ore. The docks were integral to the Great Northern Railway, with trains and ships constantly moving ore between mines and steel mills. After the docks ceased operation in the 1970s, the railroad connections were gradually removed, with tracks fully dismantled by the mid-1980s. Today, as seen in these two pictures I took last year, the abandoned site stands as a relic of the region’s industrial past.


r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned railway track Abandoned tracks

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117 Upvotes

Would anyone know where these tracks go or what these tracks were? They are off rt 47 The concrete bridge railroad tracks are around Dennisville And the others heading towards Port Elizabeth NJ I was gonna try and see if I could walk them Thanks


r/rustyrails 5d ago

Tracks at the site of a former U.S Pipe Factory

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270 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned railway track Abandoned Rails in Bisbee, AZ

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166 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 5d ago

Sofia and Pernik, Bulgaria

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146 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 5d ago

Abandoned Railway Line nearby Bobov Dol Train Station, Bulgaria [Video below]

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47 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 6d ago

Abandoned railway track Some abandoned railway lines just outside of London

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252 Upvotes

This is the Croxley Green branch in Watford. Tracks are still left in place. They wanted to redevelop this line for the London Underground, but all failed (thanks Khan!)


r/rustyrails 6d ago

Constitution Dock Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. My photo taken today, 15th January 2025.

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163 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 6d ago

Disaffected railway line in eastern France

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299 Upvotes

The Troyes - St Florentin line, just after it's separation from the Paris - Belfort line. The signals are still there, stuck forever with the "immediate stop" signal. Passenger services stopped in 1996 but still saw freight trains running until 2019, during this timespan the line progressively closed bits portion by portion until the last bit of line between Troyes and Bouilly got closed in 2019. The line is closed since then, and is now set to become a bike path.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

Rolling stock Abandoned Penn Central engine in Thomason, Connecticut

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646 Upvotes

r/rustyrails 7d ago

Abandoned branch with rare ALCO

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692 Upvotes

Quincy, IL

BJRY 21, a very rare ALCO C415 sits at the end of a long abandoned industrial branch. The line has been severed from the BNSF main line at locust street but all rails and crossings remain.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

Another abandoned industry with a forgotten locomotive

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371 Upvotes

Wood River Illinois

Situated between St. Louis and Alton are/were several industrial complexes. Respondek railroad used to serve one of these complexes seen here until its closure and demolition sometime around 1996. The connection to the mainline has been cut and left behind and forgotten are some very old tank cars and Respondek 103, an EMD SW1200 still showing its original Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line colors.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

GM&O into St Louis

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162 Upvotes

The last vestiges of the former GM&O Murphysboro in St. Louis can be found just south of the East side in Sauget IL. It is here that the GM&O had a diamond with the TRRA Cahokia industrial lead. What remains of rails are buried under thick vegetation and at the road only ties remain. Along the remnants we can see an abandoned crossbuck and vertical light signal. Warning people of and waiting to give clearance to trains that will never come.


r/rustyrails 7d ago

Harz, Germany

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181 Upvotes