What To Do With Abandoned Railroad Tracks

When I went out yesterday to shoot photos of the abandoned building, I parked my car in the parking lot for one of the best things in my town.

A long time ago there was a canal, and then a railroad, that ran north/south near here. They’ve both been abandoned for decades. Today, the right-of-way, a narrow strip which runs for miles, is the perfect linear park.

The trail runs from Hamden north to Cheshire. There’s talk that it will, someday, be extended south, down to New Haven.

On most dry days during the warm weather months, the trail is jammed. There are bikers and skaters, walkers and runners. As far as I can see, everyone peacefully coexists.

Every day on my way to work, I cross the trail. Often, on weekdays, there are moms pushing their babies in strollers or sometimes towing them in little baby trailers.

Over time I have made one observation. The best bodies belong to the skaters! The motion of roller blading, which seems to be low impact, builds lean muscle… or maybe it’s lean, muscular people like roller blading.

I don’t know this as fact, but I have been told that the linear park is our town’s busiest – busier than all the other conventional parks.

It’s a great idea if you’ve got a railroad right-of-way and no longer know what to do with it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *