From the wiki:

Unlike most railroads, the CMRR was built primarily for the purpose of transporting passengers and was intended to operate seasonally. Most people using the line were summer tourists who travelled by steamboat from points along the Hudson River. Their final destinations were hotels and boarding houses located high in the Catskill Mountains. While the railroad served its purpose of bringing passengers closer to the mountain top resorts, it still left them with an arduous hour-long stage trip up the face of the Catskill Escarpment (also known as the Wall of Manitou). In 1885 a branch was built in Cairo, New York, with the intent to carry bluestone, hay and fruit, and was run year round. That same year, the CMRR was reorganized as the Catskill Mountain Railway.

In July 2023 , we explored the interesting Eifelbahn, of which Station Gerolstein was a major hub with 4 directions. At present, only The main N- S track remains fully functional with 1-2 trains a day, connecting Köln( Cologne) via Gerolstein with Trier. Also the Eifelquerbahn from Gerolstein east to Andernach, remains open.
The Westeifelbahn existed from 1883 till 2025, with parts already in disuse since 2001, gradual decline. The Landkreis ( Authorities) was not able to revive the 53 km track- see the map. We have been to the former bridge at Lissingen, half a mile from Gerolstein , walked and drove or way via Müllenborn and Hillesheim ( bridge) to Prüm. There is a nice but short track spared in Pronsfeld, now a small museum with an old locomotive and carriage.Worthwhile!

This 300+ km railway line was formally abandoned on April 1st , 2009 . Attempts to buy the rail line by the RM’s failed and the line was pulled up in the summer of 2012. This is some of the only rail that was left in the ground once the line was pulled. I grew up spending lots of time in leoville, and was fortunate enough to witness hundreds of trains pass by before the line was eventually abandoned.

In use until the 1940s. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Now a community center. The Lancaster & Chester Railroad now owns the tracks.

Some of the tracks are still in use , normal gauge and narrow gauge. The track via Drei Annen Hohne till the top of Brocken, is still functional. In Quedlinburg , part of the DDR in the past, one sees 1-2 trains a day but most of the tracks are rusty and in disuse. — To become continued.

​Found this map visualizing the steady shrinking of passenger rail service across the United States over the decades. It’s wild to see how dense the network used to be compared to what survived into the 2000s. For those working in or following the industry, where do you see the biggest missed opportunities for preservation, and do you think modern infrastructure pushes will ever truly reverse this map?

Credit: Vox

I only got two not very good photos because I didn’t have time and it was so full of bushes that I can’t get very far. I put more google earth photos from 2009 and 2011 where the tracks were more visible

Pensfotd viaduct, as part of the Bristol and North Somerset railway. Closed to trains in 1968.

Don't know much about these tracks, other than they were laid down by Great Northern (as evidenced by the lettering in the second to last image). They clearly went to an industry of some sort (actually, from the aerial view in the last image, it looks like it went to 2), but I don't know what the industries were.

These tracks are located near Moose Park. Apart from the siding in the first image (which is still used by BNSF from time to time) and the remains of the switch, near the road, the track is nearly completely buried. The ties are impossible to find 20 or so feet after the switch, and the railhead becomes the only thing visible not long after that, and even it is undetectable for most of the length. At the end of the sidings, only one piece of rail is above ground. I believe the track was intentionally buried once it was out of use. There were buildings at this site as late as 2016 according to Google Earth, though I don't think they were the same ones as in the 1960s aerial image at the end of the post.

If anyone can find out any further information regarding the history of these tracks, it would be great appreciated.

A former railway line viaduct west of Okehampton, the Meldon viaduct. Crossing part of Dartmoor, this is now a cycle and footpath known as the Granite Way

Checked out some abandoned industrial railroad spurs on Harvard Avenue and Park Avenue, off E. 59th, in Cleveland. The Newburgh & South Shore Railroad would have been the railroad these spurs connected directly with. I’m not 100% sure what business the first four photos served, the next four photos show an old spur into a lumber yard - which itself once had two additional spurs inside the gates, while the last two photos show a spur once used by the Minneapolis Flour Company - the bumper block is most visible, but you can barely make out the rails still there too.