I went for my annual spring railroad exploration expedition last weekend. I hadn't planned it all out in detail, so I scribbled down a bunch of rail-trails in the southern tier, plus some bridges in Syracuse and Baldwinsville, and some abandoned tracks in Geneva and Seneca Falls. Here are all the rail-trails that I rode on last weekend.
Ride starting Sat Apr 9 12:26:56 2011
10.76 km 35313.80 feet 6.69 mi 2557.00 seconds 42.62 minutes 0.71 hours 9.42 mi/hr
Rode the Vestal Rail Trail. A nicely paved trail, it doesn't go as far as it might. Hopefully will be improved later. Very popular trail.
Ride starting Sat Apr 9 14:01:55 2011
17.48 km 57358.95 feet 10.86 mi 5380.00 seconds 89.67 minutes 1.49 hours 7.27 mi/hr
South end of the Lackawanna Rail Trail. Not officially open yet.
Ride starting Sat Apr 9 16:09:27 2011
5.62 km 18445.52 feet 3.49 mi 1331.00 seconds 22.18 minutes 0.37 hours 9.45 mi/hr
The Big Flats Rail Trail is compacted stone dust. Just a short portion of the railroad is included. To the west, the tracks used to be still present. Somebody is actively removing them. To the east, there's a bridge missing.
Ride starting Sat Apr 9 17:06:12 2011
5.95 km 19535.63 feet 3.70 mi 1961.00 seconds 32.68 minutes 0.54 hours 6.79 mi/hr
Bicycled the Corning Bike Path plus a bit more. The trail seems to disappear once it goes underneath the highway, but if you're willing to duck a few branches, it comes out in the Norfolk Southern yard.
Ride starting Sun Apr 10 09:53:41 2011
15.05 km 49374.67 feet 9.35 mi 5756.00 seconds 95.93 minutes 1.60 hours 5.85 mi/hr
Rode the Naples-Middlesex trail, aka the High Tor trail. High Tor is the name of the wildlife management area through which it goes. Putting "-Middlesex" is hardly accurate since it doesn't get that far. Ran into a wet spot towards the north end. Had to go back, drive up to the north end, and ride back south. That's the next ride in this series.
Ride starting Sun Apr 10 11:44:54 2011
8.00 km 26240.02 feet 4.97 mi 3254.00 seconds 54.23 minutes 0.90 hours 5.50 mi/hr
As above, the trail got wet, and in order to ride the whole thing, I had to go to the other end and ride south.
Ride starting Sun Apr 10 12:59:53 2011
4.15 km 13605.73 feet 2.58 mi 1844.00 seconds 30.73 minutes 0.51 hours 5.03 mi/hr
Wasn't looking for this trail, but as I was driving through Rushville, I passed "Railroad Ave". Like dangling a carrot in front of a mule! Couldn't help but check it out. It's another portion of the Naples Branch I had been riding earlier. Found this trail at the east end of the road. It's called the "Moody Hiking Trail".
Ride starting Sun Apr 10 17:18:12 2011
5.36 km 17583.29 feet 3.33 mi 2494.00 seconds 41.57 minutes 0.69 hours 4.81 mi/hr
On to Auburn and the Auburn Fleming Trail. It's a portion of the Auburn- Ithaca trolley line. Just a mile and a half long, it still has all its original railroad bridges. To the north it's posted. The trail looks physically in good condition. I suspect that the property owners simply don't want a trail. To the south it runs through a propane distributorship and disappears in some brush. It's a nice trail. It should be longer.
Ride starting Mon Apr 11 08:07:43 2011
8.83 km 28955.43 feet 5.48 mi 4862.00 seconds 81.03 minutes 1.35 hours 4.06 mi/hr
I was actually looking for an unfinished railroad, the Pennsylvania & Sodus Bay. Found a culvert in Seneca Falls off Sackett Street. Couldn't find anything further south, so I thought I'd cut over using the old Lehigh Valley railbed. It's a bit grown-over but is tolerably passable. All of the bridges have been removed, and the LV is up on a high fill, so it can be a struggle to get down to the road level. I enjoyed it, though.
posted at: 05:14 | path: /bicycling | permanent link to this entry
