Railbanking is preserving railroad rights-of-way for possible future use. Railbanking leaves the rail corridor, railbed, bridges or bridge right-of-way, and other infrastructure intact. This relieves the railroad operating authority from responsibility of maintenance and taxation. Existing rails may or may not be maintained intact on the railbed, depending on their condition or any planned interim use of the railbed. Often the rail corridor is put in custody of a state transportation agency, which then seeks a rail new operator for possible rehab or reactivation. This helps ensure the possibility of future restored rail service when new economic conditions may warrant resuming operation.
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcars, or with disused track. As shared-use paths, rail trails are primarily for non-motorized traffic including pedestrians, bicycles, horseback riders, skaters, and cross-country skiers, although snowmobiles and ATVs may be allowed. The characteristics of abandoned railways—gentle grades, well-engineered rights of way and structures, and passage through historical areas—lend themselves to rail trails and account for their popularity. Many rail trails are long-distance trails, while some shorter rail trails are known as greenways or linear parks.
Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park is a 92-mile (148 km) long linear state park in the U.S. state of Michigan.
Anderson Creek is a 23.6-mile-long (38.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The Genesee Valley Greenway is a rail trail in western New York's Genesee River valley.
The Allentown Railroad was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1853 with the original intention to connect the Central Railroad of New Jersey at Allentown with the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line across the Allegheny Mountains. Though grading was almost entirely finished, the project was halted by the Panic of 1857, and the completion of the East Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859 made the Allentown Railroad's proposed line largely redundant. As a result, track was never laid on most of the line. The small portion that did became the Allentown branch of the Reading Company from Topton to Kutztown, and was nominally owned by the Allentown Railroad until the Reading dissolved it in 1945 to simplify corporate bookkeeping. Other Reading subsidiaries also laid track on parts of the right-of-way elsewhere along the route. The short line Allentown & Auburn Railroad continues to operate freight service on the Topton to Kutztown route.
Swatara State Park is a 3,515-acre (1,422 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Bethel, Swatara and Union Townships, Lebanon and Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill Counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. 8 miles (13 km) of Swatara Creek lie within the park's boundaries, which are roughly formed by Pennsylvania Route 443 to the north and Interstate 81 to the south. The park is in a valley in the ridge and valley region of Pennsylvania between Second Mountain (north) and Blue Mountain (south).
The Lorberry Creek Railroad was an early railroad in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States intended to feed coal shipments to the Union Canal (Pennsylvania).
The Horse-Shoe Trail is a 140-mile (230 km) trail that runs from the western edge of Valley Forge National Historical Park westward toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It ends about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Harrisburg at the Appalachian Trail.
The Schuylkill Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line ran from the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line at 52nd Street in Philadelphia north via Norristown, Reading, and Pottsville to Delano Junction. From Delano Junction, the PRR had trackage rights over the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Hazleton Branch and Tomhicken Branch to Tomhicken, where the PRR's Catawissa Branch began. In conjunction with the Catawissa Branch, Nescopeck Branch, and Wilkes-Barre Branch, the Schuylkill Branch gave the PRR a direct line from Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre.
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a 4,548 acres (1,841 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park encompasses a gorge, the|Lehigh Gorge, which stretches along the Lehigh River from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam in Luzerne County to Jim Thorpe in Carbon County. The primary recreational activity at Lehigh Gorge State Park is white water rafting.
The Paulinskill Valley Trail is a rail trail along the Paulins Kill river in New Jersey. It is the sixth longest trail in the state at 27 miles (43 km). It was originally a right-of-way of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and the Blairstown Railway.
The Pine Creek Rail Trail is a rail trail in the Appalachian Mountains of north-central Pennsylvania.
The Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail (MVRT) is a rail trail in northwestern Vermont. The trail is owned by the State of Vermont and maintained by the Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and volunteers. The Northwest Vermont Rail Trail Council advises the State on management and use issues. Only non-motorized uses are permitted with the exception of snowmobiles, motorized wheelchairs, and maintenance vehicles. Motorbikes, ATVs, and ORVs are not permitted on the trail.
The Conewago Recreation Trail is a public recreational rail trail that follows the once Cornwall-Lebanon Railroad rail corridor for a total of slightly over 5.0 miles. The trail stretches from Elizabethtown, PA to the Lebanon County Line, PA, at which point it links up to the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail which continues for another 15.0 miles. The Conewago Recreation Trail runs adjacent to the Conewago Creek running through quiet farmland and forested areas.
The Lebanon Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) is a National Recreation Trail. The rail trail goes from the southwestern border of Lebanon County and goes through Colebrook, Mt. Gretna, Cornwall, and the city of Lebanon. At the southern border of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania the LVRT connects with the Conewago Recreation Trail and continues for another 5.0 miles (8.0 km). The trail is partly built on the old Cornwall–Lebanon Railroad created by industrialist Robert Coleman in the 1880s. The trail runs 15.0 miles (24.1 km), and there are many phases in development that would extend the trail to northern Lebanon County and Jonestown. The trail features a packed stone path and paved path at many parts that traverses "Pennsylvania Dutch Country" and other scenic routes. Trail users see untouched woodlands of state gamelands, forests, and views of area fields and farms. The trail is maintained by dedicated group of volunteers, and allows for running, walking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing.
The Pat McGee Trail is a rail trail in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, named for Patricia McGee (1934-2005).
The Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago or Triple C Rail Trail is a rail trail in the Piedmont region of north-central South Carolina.
