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1 $ $6. 95 Canada

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3 -'" ;;( c. a:: National Trails System Act to allow railroads to bank abandoned lines thus preserving corridors for possible future use. Since then, 1,250 trails have been created on more than miles of former railroad tracks. Trails can and do serve as wonderful tools in preservi~g our nation railroad infrastructure after a decision has been made to discontinue rail service " said Katie Magers, spokeswoman for the Rails to Trails conservancy. "Without rail banking, it would be virtually impossible to piece these corridors together again."- ii; i'i) The debate surrounding the future of the Western Maryland Scenic has renewed the question: Can trains and trails co-exist? BY MARK VERNARELLI n Maryland, a hiking and biking trail stretching from suburban Pittsburgh to Washington, D., is taking shape alongside one of railroading s most sacred stretches of track: the former Western Maryland Railway main line just west of Cumberland, which includes the famed Helmstetter s Curve. The construction of the Allegheny Highlands Trail, coupled with the phasing-out this year of some state subsidies to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, has prompted Maryland officials to question whether the 17-year-old tourist line is still justified. It also has renewed concerns among the owners and operators of tourist railroads, short lines, and Class I railroads about trails being sited adjacent to active railroad lines. Although the Federal Railroad Administration opposes rails with trails based on safety concerns shared by many railroaders, the fact is that nationwide, about 90 of these trails are in use, and dozens more are in the planning stages. Those in use operate along rail lines that see everything from one local freight each week meandering along at 10 mph to the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak trains whiz by at speeds of up to 125 mph. All of this has resulted since 1983 when the u. S. Congress amended the Lessons learned' In 2002, four federal agencies, including the FRA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, prepared a 156-page report called Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned." Among the study s many findings and recommendations were these:. Setbacks: The minimum distance between center-of-track and edge of trail should be 10 to 25 feet, with greater distances based on train speeds and other factors.. Separation: Fencing may be the best way to keep people off the tracks but if it's broken, it s an invitation to curious kids or others that can lead to deadly consequences. Fence maintenance must be agreed upon ahead of time and addressed promptly when needed.. Grade crossings: Trails should avoid at-grade trail-rail crossings. Where crossings must be used, warning devices and adequate warning signs are crucial. The report points out that in some European countries, which have many rails-with-trails such devices as automatic gates that completely block the trail are common.. Tunnels: They should be avoided.. Use of existing railroad bridges: This is extremely rare, but it can be done. Downsides: It's expensive, rail- TRAINSMAG. COM

4 Staying the distance: Some states have issued guidelines for setbacks; BNSF says considers each trail project proposal on a case-by-case basis roads are concerned about the close proximity of trail users to trains, and many railroad bridges aren t wide enough to accommodate a trail anyway. The report notes that trails-withrails tended to reduce, and in some cases all but eliminate, trespassing and illegal dumping along railroad rights-of-way. The report singles out the Lehigh River Gorge Trail near Jim Thorpe, Pa., as an example of a location where dumping has ceased since the trail was added. The repon notes that no national standards or guidelines exist advising how trails-with-rails should be built. Some states have come up with policies on trails paralleling active rail lines. Maine, for example, called for a minimum setback of 18 feet from the center line of tbe track, to 12 feet, 6 inches in constrained areas. BNSF, in 2002, provided the FRA with specific minimum setback.requirements for trails based on the speed of the trains its tracks, but says today it has no formal policy. The Alaska Railroad' s general rule for setbacks is "one railcar length. Some smaller roads allow or even encourage trail development, such as the Vermont Railway Co. ; others, such as the Wheeling Corp., say they recognize that a safe trail is a good way to introduce the public to the importance and economic benefits of railroads, and to reduce vandalism and trespassing. The railroad says it prefers trails along low-speed lines, with fencing. The consensus: Rails-with- trails are not appropriate in many situations, and they should be given careful study before construction. On the safety issue, the Rails-to- Trails Conservancy studied 61 trailswith-rails in 2000, and found that only one serious accident had occurred between a trail user and a train, and that was due to a cyclist driving around lowered crossing gates. Roughly half of the trails studied were along Class I trackage. Going to extremes In several instances, trails have found ways to co-exist with tracks in some of the most unusual locations. At historic Harpers Ferry, W.va., a popular tourist destination, the Maineto- Georgia Appalachian Trail, one of the nation s busiest with thousands of annual visitors, uses a fenced walkway along a CSX bridge. Trail users and visitors to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park can cross above the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers on the same bridge that CSX freights use to reach Winchester and Strasburg, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley. Opened in 1986, and re-fitted thanks to $ from the National Park Service, the bridge allows hikers to avoid the heavily used u. S. 340 bridge. In York County, Pa., the nowdefunct Northern Central excursion railroad agreed to stop its trains at an 1835-built tunnel until it was verified that all trail users were clear of the 250-foot passage. The ultimate, however, may be found in the college community of 52 I TRAINS I SEPTEMBER 2005

5 Newark, Del. Here, a 1.76-mile trail runs alongside Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, where trains routinely zip past at 120 mph. The city of , teeming with 15, 000 hiking, walking, and biking students from the University of Delaware, wanted to build a trail directly alongside Amtrak's main line, which in Newark features four tracks, a parade of more than 100 trains a day, and long strings of NS auto racks frequently calling on the sprawling Chrysler/MOPAR plant. The contract for the trail design called for the city to install and maintain a fence, and to keep the minimum trail setback at 30 feet from the center line of the closest track. But there were other concerns, such as thousands of college students in homes and apartments near the trail and foot traffic from a busy SEPTA commuter station nearby. Opened on July 23, 2003, the James F. Hall Trail is popular with college students, elderly walkers, parents with babies in carriages, and folks walking dogs. Enthusiastic users maintain that it has helped to reduce traffic on often congested streets in the university area. The Newark city manager s office says no serious problems have resulted since the trail opened, thanks in part to its effort to educate residents about staying off the railroad right-of-way. The Philadelphia-based engineering firm of Pennoni Associates won an award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Delaware for its role in designing the $1.65 million project, which includes police call boxes, playground areas, and bright lighting along the wide, paved pathway. The Hall Trail is so successful that the city manager says Newark is working on the funding and design for another three to five miles. Across the nation, examples of safe co-existence between rails and trails abound. Downtown Minneapolis has a popular trail along BNSF that s not even fenced. The Cedar Lake Trail and its extensions feature separate paths for west- and eastbound trail users with coal and manifest trains a stone toss away. Then there s the Duluth (Minn. l.akewalk, which wends its way along former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range TRAINSMAG. COM

6 _.~_... trackage, now part of the North Shore Scenic Railroad, with only a wroughtiron fence between trains and trail users. That s another popular three miles of rails with trails along Lake Superior in one of the Upper Midwest s favorite tourist spots. The western Maryland dilemma Back in western Maryland, the first five miles of the Allegheny Highlands Trail opened in April, with plans to use the ex-western Maryland Frostburg depot as a visitor center. Rather than plying the nearby former Cumberland & Pennsylvania right-of-way, trail planners instead made clear their ~ While most trails are close to low- speed rail lines, the James F. Hall ~ Trail in Newark, Del., is at the opposite extreme, on the busy Northeast Corridor intention to use the formerly doubletrack Western Maryland right-of-way lor the remaining 16 miles into Cumberland. The Western Maryland Scenic is publicly owned, so it wouldn require any right-of-way acquisition. Western Maryland Scenic Railroad operations manager Doug Beverage says despite reservations formed from his 34 years in the operating departments of Baltimore & Ohio and CSX s willing to share the right-of-way. That includes 913-foot Brush tunnel which is on a double-track right-ofway. Beverage says guards could be posted at either end of the tunnel when the train is running through. Fencing, he says, would be limited to the narrowest parts of the shared right-ofway. In my mind " says Beverage trains and people never mix. But since they're determined to put a bike trail in here, I'll do everything in my power to make it possible." Because Allegany County, Md. owns the railroad' s right-of-way, county officials have the final say in what ultimately happens to the rails and the trail. The options discussed early this year: Rails and trail share, tjje right of way; the railroad shortens its route; or the trail gets the right-of way to itself. A special committee studying the issue got an earful on that last option. The railroad' s backers made clear that the railroad is debt-free, that its bridg-

7 , " es are sound, and that its tracks meet FRA Class II standards for 25-mph operation. The Western Maryland Scenic has been averaging riders a year, or about 175 per trip on its oncedaily round trip, so far this season. That provides a nice economic boost for a mountainside city that s counting on tourism to help offset the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs that left Cumberland in the '80s and '90s. On the other hand, the state phased-down track maintenance subsidy was due to expire this summer and some have said that truncating the scenic line s route, or even discontinuing the operation altogether in favor of the trail, might be the best alternative. Public hearings in Cumberland have included impassioned cries from locals imploring officials to make the rails-and-trail work. Beverage points out that if both could share the rightof-way, it would be the only place in America where trail users could be up close and personal with a live steam locomotive as it goes by. And it appears the Western Maryland debate is about to be mirrored on the West Coast. In late May, The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train began a major public relations campaign against King County (Seattle) officials who favor ripping out the excursion line s tracks in order to make room for a trail. "In reality," says the dinner train s Web site there s room for both... So from the Pacific Northwest to the mountains of Maryland, the railswith-trails debate is on. And the Rails to Trails Conservancy says at last count, 83 more rails-with-trails were on the drawing board. ~ MARK VERNARELLI, during a 23-year career in television and radio news won two Emmy awards and honors in every major category from spot news to features. Today, he is a public information director in Maryland who writes extensively. He travels by train whenever possible. The Federal Railroad Administration opposes new trails along active rail lines on safety concerns, but about 90 exist and dozens more are planned TRAINSMAG. COM