Followed and abandoned rail siding near work in the South Bay. Not much but in another forum I was reading. Follow a abandoned rail line. You never know what you will find.

Not much here but it's a nice walk at lunch time and it leads to an active rail line as well.

Posted by Sir Ed Followed and abandoned rail siding near work in the South Bay. Not much but in another forum I was reading. Follow a abandoned rail line. You never know what you will find. Not much here but it's a nice walk at lunch time and it leads to an active rail line as well.

I've been walking active/retired RR tracks for over 50 years.
It never gets old. Wherever there's a spur, there is or was something there. Sometimes you find interesting things along the rails that you never find otherwise too. It's true adventure to walk the rails and a nice walk back into the past. Far too many overlook this way of finding abandoned sites. Also good for accessing known sites on the rails; park a mile away or so and walk in.

Always exercise extreme care when walking or crossing tracks with rails. Falling on the steel will fracture bones, ribs and skulls. Erosion of grade rock and/or rotten ties can fuck up ankles and cause falls.
Run at your own peril.
High top lace up boots are recommended.
Always be alert for trains on active lines and give them a wide birth.

If you're crossing and trip on the first rail, the second one will catch you square in the ribs. That hurts wicked bad. Had a train been coming that day I be dead. I was incapacitated for a good minute before I could move off the rails. Fun times...

Thanks.

I know all about active train lines. I'm an old train fan. I can't put myself in dangerous or highly illegal situation. I was just out for a lunch time stroll!

off topic but did any of you see the pics from the derailment over in Niles Canyon a month back or so?

Posted by Sir Ed Thanks. I know all about active train lines. I'm an old train fan. I can't put myself in dangerous or highly illegal situation. I was just out for a lunch time stroll!

They are getting less tolerant on active lines with trespassers. I've never been cited, but they will especially if you act stupid with RR police.
Local cops are generally tolerant if your taking pictures and not interfering with the trains.

I parked in a church parking lot to take some photos of a couple of railroad bridges that crossed each other. A county cop rolled up and asked what I was doing and I told him. He told me to be careful and to watch out for the "railroad police" (which I had no idea there was such a thing). I asked him if I was in any danger from him and he said that they had no jurisdiction. Go figure!

Posted by RescueMe1060 off topic but did any of you see the pics from the derailment over in Niles Canyon a month back or so?

The only photos I can really find are from the angle of the first photo in this article. You may have already seen this photo.

http://www.mercury...and-heroic-efforts

Funny you mentioned that.

I was going over to Pleasanton after work through the canyon. When I got to Sunol there were people on the side with cameras. So I pulled over and asked what they were waiting for. Then got these.

This was luck and being in the right place at the right time.

click to view

click to view

click to view

scary night, I was working and heard the whole incident play out over the radio.