October 17, 2025

53 thoughts on “Death of a Railroad

  1. 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!

    1. There has been a road along this railroad since it was built. Bicycles have rarely if ever used it.

      Liberal Fools.

        1. 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…

          1. Thanks . I will try that out. I have only used the bike path from the Nature Preserve to Kiptopeake

        2. 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….

      1. 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.

          1. “Bless your heart”…the “mountain bike crowd” don’t like flat trails. They prefer hilly terrain. Don’t be a dick…

        1. 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.

      2. 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.

          1. …..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 🤦‍♀️

        1. …..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.

  2. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

      1. That didnt work out so well did it? Maybe the powers that be need a lesson in what exactly “Rail Banking” means,,,,,,

          1. 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……

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

    1. Rails instead of trucks would definitely be an enviromental improvement but they just cant see it….no profit in it for some.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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!

  11. 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 🤦‍♀️

    —————————————————————————————————————————

    ……I am Free, White and Over 21. I do as I damn well please……

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. Must improve the old tracks to use morden fast moving train to take tourists to Eastern shore historic towns n Cape Charles beaches

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