Railroad tracks along Virginia’s Eastern Shore that span from Hallwood to Cape Charles are currently being removed and the scrap is being repurposed. The railroad owner, Canonie Atlantic Co. has signed a contract to remove the rails, ties, and signals. The removal of tracks started in the north.
Completed in 1884, the Bay Coast Railroad (BCR), owned by Canonie Atlantic Company, ran from the Town of Cape Charles, Virginia to Pocomoke City, Maryland. The rail contributed to the economic boom of the Eastern Shore peninsula and was used for freight and passenger transportation. It brought job opportunities to the Eastern Shore, caused an expansion and shift in what was grown on the region’s farmland, and spurred the development and success of new communities. However, due to inactivity on the southern portion of the rail line, the BCR ran its last operation in May 2018, and the southern Eastern Shore section was abandoned.
The 50-mile rail corridor has been used by different operators for over 100 years.
Railroad revivalists like John Paffrath of Cape Charles still hold onto the belief that the railroad could still be viable.
As an asset, the owners do not think so.
The final nail in the coffin came last October when the Accomack-Northampton Transportation District Commission voted to begin removing the railroad’s tracks. Rail Enterprise Group, which operates four shorter lines in the Northeast offered a proposal to begin using part of the rail system. Canonie Atlantic Co., which owns the system, stated that it could not stop the removal due to contractual obligations.
Other railroads have looked into the viability of the Hallwood to Cape Charles line, but on average, most found it would need a minimum of $5 to $6 million to bring it up to modern, usable (profitable) standards.
Spencer Murray, senior vice president-administration of Canonie Atlantic Co., said in a previously released statement, “The ANTDC and CAC are fully aware of the history of rail on the Shore and no one desires to see even a portion cease operations,” Hart and Murray’s statement reads. “Unfortunately, economic reality demands this temporary measure by the ANTDC and CAC.”
According to Canonie, “The sale of the tracks to be repurposed more than covers the cost of the operations and gives additional funding for next steps on the trail such as final design…Because the tracks have been committed in the sale, a ‘pause’ is neither needed or possible”
Is a Rail-to-Trails Corridor next?
VDOT has conducted an Eastern Shore Rail to Trail Study to analyze the feasibility of converting 49 miles of the abandoned rail line into a rails-to-trails corridor. The study area extends from the southern rail terminus in the Town of Cape Charles to approximately 0.6-miles south of the Town of Hallwood. Because the existing terrain within the railroad right of way was observed to be relatively flat, the shared-use path alignment is proposed either on or adjacent to the existing rail line and entirely within the railroad corridor right of way.
The image below shows all of the interested parties and stakeholders.
Most parties see the Eastern Shore Rail to Trail project as a win, but as always, funding will be the issue. Currently, that process is still playing out.
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Looking at the list of images involved in the rail to trails, I notice that one of them has an incorrect map of Virginia. Look at the logo for the bicycle group. No Eastern Shore on their map!
Geez, they keep doing that, shameful.
The birth of a trail. Great idea!!
There has been a road along this railroad since it was built. Bicycles have rarely if ever used it.
Liberal Fools.
Its not pleasant to drive with cars on a narrow road
There were no cars on it.
Thanks. That’s good to know. I will give it a try on the bike
There is a service rosad that runs along the R/R tracks. If you are so interested in riding a bicycle along that route, you would already know this.
Bless your heart…
Thanks . I will try that out. I have only used the bike path from the Nature Preserve to Kiptopeake
Then don’t ride a bike.
I certainly hope the Plebes in public transportation don’t spoil your bike ride, madam. After all, who cares about the “little people”, sniff sniff. Let them ride buses….
Although I think there will likely be far less usage than they predict, the gravel currently on the railroad bed is far too course for bicycles to use.
Bless your heart, not for the ‘Mountain Bike’ crowd.
“Bless your heart”…the “mountain bike crowd” don’t like flat trails. They prefer hilly terrain. Don’t be a dick…
Luckily, future plans are for it to be paved! Just need the funding. I believe it’s currently no trespassing as the area isn’t safe for public use.
Bless your heart.
You got a problem?
The right-of-way is privately owned and not for public use..this, as well as the fact it’s thick, loose gravel, is why you rarely saw anyone riding bicycles on it.
Let’s Go Brandon!
…..what? What does “Brandon” have to do with this at all?? Are we running out of sentences to use?
The tracks and rail corridor are privately owned. Biden has nothing to do with it 🤦♀️
…..what? What does “Brandon” have to do with this at all??
He was letting you know you are most likely a spandex wearing, leg shaving, bike riding, liberal.
Funny, Bush rides a bike
Rails will be the future of freight and travel and we have cut out throats by removing this track.. the trail will be a flop. No attraction to use it and no funding to build it.
Already a trail along the tracks wide enough for a dump truck…If it was such a good idea, it would already be packed full of spandex wearing men with shaved legs.
EXACTLY!
It is not a trail. It is private property and not for public use. It’s also thick, loose gravel and not ideal for bike riders. A paved, multi-use path will bring so many benefits to our region!
Amen!
Already a trail along the tracks…wide enough to drive a truck on.
When you go to the store and see all of the empty shelves, ask yourself if rail freight could have been the answer….one freight car can carry as much as 4 tractor trailers and one train can have over 200 freight cars…how much fuel and how many drivers does that eliminate in tractor trailers?? It will be the future.
You nailed it!
The railroad could have been rail banked by the state for future use but in everyone’s short sightedness they failed to do so, as a result we have lost one more piece of the US rail system. Remember, once the rails are gone, 99% of the time, they never come back.
It was rail banked…..
That didnt work out so well did it? Maybe the powers that be need a lesson in what exactly “Rail Banking” means,,,,,,
LOL. By all means, enlighten me
If you can pout aside the snark for a moment, you might realize that the poster was saying that OTHERS need to lean what RB means……
This is a case study as to why public officials should not be trusted with both ownership AND operation of a railroad. They willfully drove off business and let these snake oil trail people stake their claim. Rail Enterprise should sue the county.
AMEN!
Amen to that!
The bit about they could not stop because they had already signed the contract is baloney…supposedly according to them, the company is taking the rails to scrap with no money going to the counties…does not sound like an unbreakable contract to me. goes along with the rest of the way they have mishandled it from the beginning.
There was money handed under a table somewhere.
When one hears the words “economic reality demands,” be prepared to see any public interest about to be bulldozed for greed and profit. The phrase is akin to those we have long heard allowing “market forces,” “deregulation” and “privatization” to destroy public services, be it the loss of our once-finest airline system in the World to those promises of lower utility bills and better service that never materialized and yes, the ongoing attempts to destroy our NATIONAL passenger railroad Amtrak.
As for removing the rail itself and paving over parts of it, although most rights-of-way could easily accommodate both rail service and trails, once the bikers and hikers are handed their free path, they will brutally fight rail restoration despite their mutual and shared interest in our deteriorating air and water and the climate change that may swamp burn or storm us out of existence altogether.
Rails instead of trucks would definitely be an enviromental improvement but they just cant see it….no profit in it for some.
All Things Must Pass. I loved the trains too. Truck drivers need jobs. Keeping a RR because it handles more freight than a truck only matters if the area needs the freight, coming and going. That is simply not the case here. There has not been enough freight coming and going to have enough business need for trains. No manufacturing and not enough farming. That’s quite seasonal. There are/were more problems. The small trains we had here had to travel very slowly because of the weak condition of the track. The tracks wouldn’t support modern trains at larger weights and higher speeds. The tracks were never maintained. Replacement cost for all that is simply not a cost effective idea at all. Therefore the trains could never again be a cost effective idea. Say goodbye.
There are abandoned tracks all over the country, they will be there until there is good reason to remove since the cost of removal far out weighs the “scrap” value. But if the cost to remove is far less than the profits to be made by selling or leasing the right of way to utilities for electricity, water and sewer, than it makes sense. One of the first steps in development is securing the utilities. Unfortunately the statement “ You can’t stop progress, you can only slow it down “ has proven to be true over and over. Hate to see it.
Hey here’s an idea! How about we fix the crumbling roads we TAX PAYERS drive on instead of catering to more bicycle riders! It seems to me the golf carts & bicycles are taking high priority and to hell with the tax paying motorist. Am I the only one witnessing this? While I am not at all against either one it’s time VDOT starting paying attention to the ones who keep the system running!
HEAR! HEAR!!
That scrap steel must be worth a fortune, worth more than what is being put in it’s place.
AM says
JANUARY 26, 2022 AT 11:04 AM
…..what? What does “Brandon” have to do with this at all?? Are we running out of sentences to use?
The tracks and rail corridor are privately owned. Biden has nothing to do with it 🤦♀️
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……I am Free, White and Over 21. I do as I damn well please……
There are very attractive electric rail cars that cary 4 to 8 people that the California Western RR is using for tourest that could have run along this line.
J Wheaton says
JANUARY 28, 2022 AT 12:42 AM
Funny, Bush rides a bike
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Funk the Bush, Clinton, Obama, Biden, and Trump crime families.
Another historical piece of Virginia’s Eastern Shore likely destroyed for ulterior motives by people like Spencer Murray & the plant nursery owners who want to run a water pipeline from across the bay where the railroad now lays demolished with the sole purpose of drawing chemically treated H2O onto their land. The main benefit is for these local government people & not the rest of the population living here.
Spencer Murray & the plant nursery owner’s have destroyed so many of the historical structures & people from the Shore.
A majority consensus is needed to ensure fairness rather than tyranny as is usually the case with the local government leaders in this part of the state.
Please remove Spencer Murray & the plant nursery owners from public office.
Spencer Murry is a Come-Here. Who died and left him in charge?
Must improve the old tracks to use morden fast moving train to take tourists to Eastern shore historic towns n Cape Charles beaches