Buscher Ditch mystery.

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M.D.Bentley
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Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

I spend alot of time railfanning G earth. But this location appears to have been a grade separation at one time. not much row left to trace. Atlanta on S 100W (5819) Concrete retaining wall on both sides of the road , creek and track. Thanks in advance. Who did it belong to & where did it go ?

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DaveO
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by DaveO »

Somebody removed almost the entire fill to the west abutment?!

Definitely looks like an interurban and it is
The Union Traction Company of Indiana. Quick search returned in service for the 1903-1930 time frame.

https://bridgehunter.com/in/tipton/bh42276/

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~Z~
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by ~Z~ »

Link to the location on google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/J8vwACv3ZRJ2
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M.D.Bentley
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

~Z~ wrote:Link to the location on google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/J8vwACv3ZRJ2
Thanks to both DaveO & ~Z~. What threw me was just a short ways back it appears that the track came off of track that it crossed over. Usually some ROW is visible, but not the case here. Thanks again. Interesting history, although one that has been repeated ( Penn Central maybe ).

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justalurker66
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

A lot of interurbans ran next to other lines. This appears to be a place where building a flyover was easier than getting permission for a diamond.

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M.D.Bentley
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

justalurker66 wrote:A lot of interurbans ran next to other lines. This appears to be a place where building a flyover was easier than getting permission for a diamond.
Seems crazy to go through the time and expense to build something like that. Thanks for the insight.

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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by Dan Cluley »

A lot of times the existing steam roads had no interest in making things easy for the new interurban competition. The line from Jackson to Lansing had a huge wooden trestle at Rives Jct because the Michigan Central wouldn't allow a diamond crossing of their Jackson to Grand Rapids line.

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justalurker66
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

Such issues continue to this day. Class 1s don't want diamonds (or shared track) with commuter rail. For example, for NICTD's West Lake Project (Hammond through Munster to Dyer) NICTD will be building a flyover to cross the CN owned/CSX leased main line and run parallel to the CSX line. Complete separation.

CN shuts down any discussion of West Lake using their ROW to reach Valparaiso from Munster ... and NS has the same attitude in South Bend for any proposed use of the Chicago Line for NICTD trains or even a dedicated new track alongside of NS for the South Shore passenger trains.

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M.D.Bentley
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Re: Buscher Ditch mystery.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Now that I put a little more thought into it. Delta Ohio, DT&I vs NYC. That is a long big hill. Thanks everyone.

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