Right-of-way (transportation)
A right-of-way is a right to make a way over a piece of land to and from another piece of land. A right of way is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for transportation purposes, such as a highway, public footpath, rail transport, canal, as well as electrical transmission lines and gas pipelines. A right-of-way can be used to build a bike trail. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way. In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners. In the United States, railroad rights-of-way are considered private property by the respective railroad owners and by applicable state laws. Most U. S. railroads employ their own police forces, who can arrest and prosecute trespassers found on their rights-of-way. Some railroad rights-of-way include recreational rail trails. In the United Kingdom, railway companies received the right to resume land for a right-of-way by a private Act of Parliament; the various designations of railroad right of way are as follows: Active track is any track, used or only once in a while.
Out of service means the right of way is preserved, the railroad retains the right to activate it. The line could be out of service for decades, thus track or crossings that have been removed need to be replaced. By an embargo the track is removed, but the right of way is preserved and is converted into a walking or cycling path or other such use. An abandonment is a lengthy formal process. In most cases the track is removed and sold for scrap and any grade crossings are redone; the line will never be active again. The right of way reverts to the adjoining property owners. Railroad rights-of-way need not be for railroad tracks and related equipment. Easements are given to permit the laying of communication cables or natural gas pipelines, or to run electric power transmission lines overhead, along a railroad
Trailhead
A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is intended for hiking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads contain rest rooms, sign posts and distribution centers for informational brochures about the trail and its features, parking areas for vehicles and trailers; the cities located at the terminus of major pathways for foot traffic such as the Natchez Trace and the Chisholm Trail were known as trailheads. For mountain climbing and hiking, the elevation of the trailhead above sea level is given to give an idea of how high the mountain is above the average terrain. Trailheads Crowd-sourced database of US trailheads
Interstate 83
Interstate 83 is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Maryland at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street. Most of the route south of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania is a direct replacement of U. S. Route 111, a former spur of US 11; the Jones Falls Expressway, known to local residents as the JFX, is a 10.2-mile-long freeway that carries I-83 from downtown Baltimore to the northern suburbs. It is the area's true north–south artery, because I-95 runs east–west through the city, its southern terminus is at Fayette Street, its northern terminus is at Maryland Route 25, just north of the Baltimore Beltway. Inside Baltimore, the road is maintained not by the Maryland State Highway Administration, which controls most freeways in the state, but by the city's Department of Transportation; the freeway begins at an at-grade four-way intersection between the Jones Falls Expressway, Fayette Street, President Street, located in close proximity to the Phoenix Shot Tower.
President Street continues south along the eastern edge of the central business district to terminate at a traffic circle in Harbor East. Fayette Street serves as an access route into the downtown area. Passing beneath the Orleans Street Viaduct, the JFX runs north, passing near the Washington Monument. Between Exits 3 and 4, there is a 90-degree turn that sometimes requires motorists to slow down just before entering it, with an advisory speed posted at 40 miles per hour; the curve is located between the Guilford Preston Street overpasses. Within the curve, the southbound JFX interchanges with MD 2, with an exit to St. Paul Street and an entrance from Charles Street. Having passed this curve, the JFX begins to parallel MD 25, going under the Howard Street Bridge and interchanging with Maryland Avenue and North Avenue before continuing north past Druid Lake, forming the northeastern boundary of Druid Hill Park. Running northwest out of the city center, the JFX is paralleled by its namesake river, the Jones Falls, on one side, MTA Maryland's Baltimore Light RailLink line on the other.
Closer to downtown, the light rail line peels off in a different direction, while the Falls flows directly underneath the elevated freeway. After interchanging with Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway, the JFX exits Baltimore, entering Baltimore County. Passing close to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, Mount Saint Agnes College, Jones Falls Park, the route skirts the edge of Robert E. Lee Park before interchanging with Ruxton Road just south of the Baltimore Beltway. At the Beltway, I-83 leaves the JFX and joins I-695 for a distance of 1.4 miles, where it separates from the latter route to continue onward into northern Maryland. Meanwhile, the JFX continues for another 0.5 miles in a four-lane divided format before terminating at an at-grade intersection with MD 25 Falls Road. I-83 and I-695 split off at the southern terminus of the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway, I-695 continues its eastward trek towards Towson and Parkville. After separating from the Beltway, I-83 is now known as the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway.
Running due north away from the Beltway, the route parallels MD 45 York Road, the former route of US 111. Passing to the west of Timonium and Cockeysville, I-83 leaves the suburban belt around Baltimore and enters rural Baltimore County just north of Hunt Valley at Shawan Road. I-83 and MD 45 continue to parallel one another through the northern portion of the county, with MD 45 crossing over I-83 once, at an interchange; this segment of I-83 has several sections with higher than usual gradients. The only major settlement encountered by I-83 along this stretch is Monkton, reached via MD 137. To the west of I-83, MD 137 connects with the northern terminus of MD 25, I-83's former companion to the south; the Interstate crosses the Mason–Dixon line into York County, Pennsylvania, 25 miles north of Baltimore, mere feet from a partial interchange with Freeland Road and parallel with MD 45. Throughout Pennsylvania, I-83 is named the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Memorial Highway. I-83 enters Pennsylvania crossing the Mason–Dixon line and passing to the east of Shrewsbury, runs due north towards York.
The route bypasses the boroughs of Jacobus before entering the city of York. I-83 has a business route through downtown York, known as Interstate 83 Business; the business route follows the former path of US 111, while I-83 turns northeast and north again to bypass the urban area. Near Pennsylvania Route 462, the Lincoln Highway, the interstate turns west for a short distance north again to interchange with US 30. Beyond US 30, I-83 resumes its straight path, running due north out of York and passing to the west of Emigsville. North of Pennsylvania Route 297, I-83 is known as the Susquehanna Expressway, it maintains this name as it passes to the south and west of Valley Green, continuing north towards Harrisburg. South of Harrisburg, I-83 interchanges with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. North of I-76, I-83 continues due north, passing through New Cumberland, before an interchange with PA 581 in Lemoyne. After the interchange with PA 581, I-83 is known as the Capital Beltway; the highway turns due east and crosses the Susquehanna River over the John Harris Bridge, south of Harrisburg's central business district, passing through Paxtang before encountering I-283 and US 322 at the Eisenhower Interchange.
Within the interchange, I-83 exits from itself, with each
Northern Central Railway
The Northern Central Railway was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. For eleven decades the Northern Central operated as a subsidiary of the PRR until much of its Maryland trackage was washed out by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, it is now a fallen flag railway, having come under the control of the Penn Central and broken apart and disestablished. The southern part in Pennsylvania is now the York County Heritage Rail Trail which connects to a similar hike/bike trail in Northern Maryland down to Baltimore, named the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. Only the trackage around Baltimore remains in rail service; the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad Company was chartered by an act of the General Assembly of Maryland on February 13, 1828, as the second designated rail system in the state with authority to construct a railroad from Baltimore northeast to the Susquehanna River.
To reach the Susquehanna at any commercially useful point, the new line would have to cross the state line into York County, Pennsylvania. However, the Pennsylvania General Assembly did not look favorably on the prospect of the trade of its southern counties being tapped for the benefit of Baltimore, instead of its own Philadelphia. In spite of the fact that Pennsylvania would have gained access to the Chesapeake Bay, its legislature would not grant a charter for a connecting railroad. Construction of the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad had begun in 1829, reached as far north as the York Road at Cockeysville, north of Baltimore, by 1831. At that time, the B&S obtained an amendment to its charter from the Maryland legislature which allowed it to be built in a northwestern direction via Westminster, the seat of Carroll County; the line would continue into the headwaters of the Monocacy River and reach Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. New construction began at Hollins and ran west through the Green Spring Valley north of Baltimore.
The line reached the Reisterstown Road at Owings Mills on June 13, 1832. Despite continuing fierce opposition from Philadelphia business and political interests, the Pennsylvania legislature chartered the York and Maryland Line Rail Road on March 14, 1832, authorizing it to connect the Baltimore & Susquehanna, at the Mason and Dixon Line/state line, with York, Pennsylvania, a commercial city center in the southern part of the Keystone State, with water access on Codorus Creek; the directors of the Baltimore & Susquehanna did not give up their planned route via Westminster, the terms of the new charter being somewhat onerous. The Adams County Railroad was chartered on April 6, 1832, in Pennsylvania, to run from Gettysburg to the Maryland state line, but was never constructed, nor was the line to Westminster extended further northwest. A further amendment to the York & Maryland Line's charter in 1837, allowed it the unlimited use of the Wrightsville and Gettysburg Railroad, which it had aided financially.
The Baltimore & Susquehanna, York & Maryland Line had completed the line from Baltimore to York by 1838. This line included the use of the Howard Tunnel, near Seven Valleys, constructed 1836-1837, opened 1838, the earliest railroad tunnel in the U. S. still in use today. In 1832 the railroad purchased its first locomotive, the Herald, run along the route from Baltimore to Owings Mills; this purchase was a major undertaking, for it was built in England and transported by ship The America's. Because the age of railroading was new to America, an engineer was sent with the locomotive to ensure that he could teach others the finer art of locomotive engineering. John Lawson went on to own, be first engineer to the Cherokee steamboat, which helped with the Confederate Army effort during the American Civil War. In 1832, the Railway built Bolton Station, the first in Baltimore, with an adjacent roundhouse and shops, at Bolton and North Howard Streets in old northern Baltimore City, overlooking the west bank of the Jones Falls, near the former George Grundy estate of Bolton mansion.
In April 1840, the Wrightsville, York & Gettysburg R. R. had been completed on the Susquehanna. There a connection was made to the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, allowing trains to cross the river and reach the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad just prior to the Civil War; the railroad provided an alternative method of shipping cargo from central Pennsylvania to the Maryland seaports versus the Tide Water and Susquehanna Canal. However, the cost of expansion and inconsistent tariff policies plagued the Baltimore & Susquehanna and limited further growth; the York and Cumberland Railroad Company was chartered on April 21, 1846 to connect the York & Maryland Line with the Cumberland Valley Railroad somewhere north of Mechanicsburg. It was opened on February 10, 1851, running north from York to the Susquehanna and following the river to Lemoyne, across the river from Harrisburg, it was operated by the Cumberland Valley, but the Baltimore & Susquehanna took over operations on June 7.
Work began on the Hanover Branch Railroad, a line connecting Hanover with the York & Maryland Line at Hanover Junction. The Baltimore & Susquehanna system built and opened Calvert Street Station, an Italianate-style structure of
Howard Tunnel
The Howard Tunnel is located near Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania. In operation since 1838, it is the second oldest active rail tunnel in the U. S. Constructed by the York and Maryland Line Rail Road, it formed a critical link in the north-south line assembled by the Northern Central Railway, it is a 275-foot long, brick-lined tunnel built between 1836 and 1837 and opened for traffic in 1838. During the Civil War, the tunnel part of the Northern Central Railway system, was a target of Confederate cavalry troops, but was protected by elements of the 20th Pennsylvania state militia. However, nearby railroad bridges on the NCR down to Hanover Junction were destroyed by Confederate forces. After the war, the tunnel was rebuilt to accommodate two tracks in 1868; the line was again damaged during Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and rebuilt by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1985. Freight traffic failed to materialize and the line again fell dormant by 1996; the Northern Central Railway leased the line in 1996 and operated the Liberty Limited dinner train from New Freedom through the tunnel to York until September 2, 2001.
York County, Pennsylvania purchased the tunnel along with its rail corridor in 1990 and has maintained it as part of a historic railroad, thereby preserving its status as an "active" tunnel. The tunnel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. and in August 1999 the county government completed a track-side trail, the Heritage Rail Trail which led to the tunnel being refurbished in 1999 and again in 2003. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. According to information posted in the front window of Steam Into History Inc. There is a fund raising effort to restore passenger train service through the Howard Tunnel by Steam Into History's Excursion trains; as of 7/9/2016 they have received 1/2 the funds necessary to repair the tracks from Hanover Junction Pa to York Pa. - See Steam Into History Howard Tunnel - Waymarking.com Heritage Rail Trail History - York County Parks Steam Into History
Road surface
A road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have been replaced by asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course. Road surfaces are marked to guide traffic. Today, permeable paving methods are beginning to be used for low-impact walkways. Pavements are crucial to countries such as US and Canada, which depend on road transportation. Therefore, research projects such as Long-Term Pavement Performance are launched to optimize the life-cycle of different road surfaces. Asphalt, sometimes called flexible pavement due to the nature in which it distributes loads, has been used since the 1920s; the viscous nature of the bitumen binder allows asphalt concrete to sustain significant plastic deformation, although fatigue from repeated loading over time is the most common failure mechanism. Most asphalt surfaces are laid on a gravel base, at least as thick as the asphalt layer, although some'full depth' asphalt surfaces are laid directly on the native subgrade.
In areas with soft or expansive subgrades such as clay or peat, thick gravel bases or stabilization of the subgrade with Portland cement or lime may be required. Polypropylene and polyester geosynthetics have been used for this purpose and in some northern countries, a layer of polystyrene boards have been used to delay and minimize frost penetration into the subgrade. Depending on the temperature at which it is applied, asphalt is categorized as hot mix, warm mix, or cold mix. Hot mix asphalt is applied at temperatures over 300 °F with a free floating screed. Warm mix asphalt is applied at temperatures of 200–250 °F, resulting in reduced energy usage and emissions of volatile organic compounds. Cold mix asphalt is used on lower-volume rural roads, where hot mix asphalt would cool too much on the long trip from the asphalt plant to the construction site. An asphalt concrete surface will be constructed for high-volume primary highways having an average annual daily traffic load greater than 1200 vehicles per day.
Advantages of asphalt roadways include low noise low cost compared with other paving methods, perceived ease of repair. Disadvantages include less durability than other paving methods, less tensile strength than concrete, the tendency to become slick and soft in hot weather and a certain amount of hydrocarbon pollution to soil and groundwater or waterways. In the mid-1960s, rubberized asphalt was used for the first time, mixing crumb rubber from used tires with asphalt. While a potential use for tires that would otherwise fill landfills and present a fire hazard, rubberized asphalt has shown greater incidence of wear in freeze-thaw cycles in temperate zones due to non-homogeneous expansion and contraction with non-rubber components; the application of rubberized asphalt is more temperature-sensitive, in many locations can only be applied at certain times of the year. Study results of the long-term acoustic benefits of rubberized asphalt are inconclusive. Initial application of rubberized asphalt may provide 3–5 decibels reduction in tire-pavement source noise emissions.
Compared to traditional passive attenuating measures, rubberized asphalt provides shorter-lasting and lesser acoustic benefits at much greater expense. Concrete surfaces are created using a concrete mix of Portland cement, coarse aggregate and water. In all modern mixes there will be various admixtures added to increase workability, reduce the required amount of water, mitigate harmful chemical reactions and for other beneficial purposes. In many cases there will be Portland cement substitutes added, such as fly ash; this can improve its physical properties. The material is applied in a freshly mixed slurry, worked mechanically to compact the interior and force some of the cement slurry to the surface to produce a smoother, denser surface free from honeycombing; the water allows the mix to combine molecularly in a chemical reaction called hydration. Concrete surfaces have been refined into three common types: jointed plain, jointed reinforced and continuously reinforced; the one item that distinguishes each type is the jointing system used to control crack development.
One of the major advantages of concrete pavements is they are stronger and more durable than asphalt roadways. They can be grooved to provide a durable skid-resistant surface. A notable disadvantage is that they can have a higher initial cost, can be more time-consuming to construct; this cost can be offset through the long life cycle of the pavement. Concrete pavement can be maintained over time utilizing a series of methods known as concrete pavement restoration which include diamond grinding, dowel bar retrofits and crack sealing, cross-stitching, etc. Diamond grinding is useful in reducing noise and restoring skid resistance in older concrete pavement; the first street in the United States to be paved with concrete was Court Avenue in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 1893. The first mile of concrete pavement in the United States was on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan in 1909. Following these pioneering uses, the Lincoln Highway Association, established in October 1913 to oversee the creation of one of the United States' earliest east-west transcontinental
Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, the official name of the Northern Central Railroad Trail, is a rail trail that runs along an abandoned railroad corridor where the Northern Central Railway once operated; the trail extends 20 miles from Ashland Road in Cockeysville, Maryland to the boundary with Pennsylvania. At the Pennsylvania line, the Torrey C. Brown Trail becomes the York County Heritage Rail Trail and continues to the city of York; the trail is 10 feet wide with a stone dust surface and the majority of the trail runs along the Gunpowder River and Beetree Run. Popular activities on the trail include horseback riding, walking, hiking and biking, it is open to the public from dawn to seven days a week throughout the year. The trail is pet-friendly as long as the pet is on a leash; the TCB makes up a segment of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida. The Northern Central Railway, built in 1832, ran between Baltimore and Sunbury, was one of the oldest rail lines in the country.
The railway serviced the growing Baltimore and Harrisburg industries, had 46 stops, 22 of which were in Maryland, operated for 140 years. It carried passengers, people vacationing at Bentley Springs, freight between Baltimore and York or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, the Pennsylvania Railroad-controlled Northern Central served as a major transportation route for supplies, food and material, as well as troops heading to the South from Camp Curtin and other Northern military training stations. In financial trouble, the NCR ceased operations between Cockeysville and York in 1972 after Hurricane Agnes battered its bridges; the old bed, converted to a rail-trail in 1984, can still be seen today. Historical markers can be found along the trail such as the Monkton Train Station that underwent renovations and is now serving as a museum, gift shop, ranger station. In the early 1980s when it was proposed to place the hike and bike trail in the place of the train tracks, a contentious battle raged between property owners and the state.
The owners contended that the property was taken under eminent domain for the purpose of train tracks, that once the property was no longer to be used for a train the property rights should revert to the previous land owners. The state prevailed in its fight for the property and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources converted the corridor into a trail which opened to the public in 1984; the trail is used by hundreds of people daily by bicycle and horse. The trail provides access to the Gunpowder River and Loch Raven watershed for boating and fishing. In honor of Dr. Torrey C. Brown's unconditional support for the trail, it was renamed the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, after the third Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, in 2007; the majority of the trail’s 20 miles is 10 feet wide with a smooth surface of crushed limestone. The trail is wheel-chair accessible. Mile 0 of the Trail is located just off Maryland Route 145, where the road's name changes to Paper Mill Road, in a small subdivision, where there is a small parking lot.
A larger parking lot is located less than a mile north of Mile 0 on Paper Mill Road, additional parking lots exist along the length of the trail. Warning signals, mileage markers and railroad signs are placed throughout the trail to warn and ensure the safety of trail goers. Amenities include drinking fountains, picnic tables and portable restrooms. Within a mile of the trail, there are hotels and motels and there is easy access to a bike shop that rents and repairs bikes. In addition to the renovations to the Monkton Station, there is the Sparks Bank Nature Center, in Sparks, Maryland; the Torrey C. Brown Trail is managed and maintained by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, a state government agency; the Maryland Park Service's volunteer program is in charge of recruiting volunteers to invest their time in the many trails throughout the state of Maryland. The trail receives state and federal funding as well as donations. There are different events hosted every month put together by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, as well as from outside institutions.
Topics include local archaeological and plant-life investigations, night-time bike-rides, inner tubing, a marathon. The Northern Central & York County Heritage Trails The Northern Central Railroad Trail page at RailsToTrails.us Northern Central Rail Trail photos Northern Central Rail Trail Images and Information
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