Rail trail in the context of "Philadelphia and Western Railroad"

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⭐ Core Definition: Rail trail

A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a 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 rail corridor with active railways, light rail, or streetcars (rails with trails), 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 (bridges and tunnels), 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.

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👉 Rail trail in the context of Philadelphia and Western Railroad

The Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-equipped, commuter-hauling interurban electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line, though the Strafford spur has been abandoned. Part of the abandoned line within Radnor Township is now the Radnor Trail, a multi-use path or rail trail.

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Rail trail in the context of Barossa Trail

The Barossa Trail is a 40 kilometres (25 mi) cycling and walking path through the Barossa Valley in South Australia, opened in May 2014. Much of the Barossa Trail follows the Barossa Valley railway line, but is not a rail trail as part of the railway was still operating at the time it was built. As it is not on the railway formation, it has more undulations than a true rail trail would have. The part near Rowland Flat is away from both the railway and main road. It has much sharper corners than would be expected on a rail trail.

Until 2019 the 27km between Gawler and Tanunda was named the Jack Bobridge Track, after a cyclist who grew up in the area. Following Bobridge's imprisonment that year for dealing recreational drugs, the Barossa Council extended the name of the rest of the route to that section.

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Rail trail in the context of Cycling infrastructure

Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure there is, the more people travel by bicycle.

Good road design, road maintenance and traffic management can make cycling safer and more useful. Settlements with a dense network of interconnected streets tend to be places for getting around by bike. Their cycling networks can give people direct, fast, easy and convenient routes.

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Rail trail in the context of Shared-use path

A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A shared-use path typically has a surface that is asphalt, concrete or firmly packed crushed aggregate. Shared-use paths differ from cycle tracks and cycle paths in that shared-use paths are designed to include pedestrians even if the primary anticipated users are cyclists.

The path may also permit other users such as inline skating. Contrastingly, motorcycles and mopeds are normally prohibited. Shared-use paths sometimes provide different lanes for users who travel at different speeds to prevent conflicts between user groups on high-use trails. Shared-use paths are criticised for creating conflict between different users. The UK's Department for Transport deprecates this kind of route in denser urban environments.

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Rail trail in the context of High Line

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. The abandoned spur has been redesigned as a "living system" drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. The High Line was inspired by the 4.7 km (2.9 mi) long Coulée verte (tree-lined walkway), another elevated park in Paris completed in 1993.

The park is built on an abandoned, southern viaduct section of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line. Originating in the Meatpacking District, the park runs from Gansevoort Street—three blocks below 14th Street—through Chelsea to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Center. The West Side Line formerly extended south to a railroad terminal at Spring Street, just north of Canal Street, and north to 35th Street at the site of the Javits Center. Due to a decline in rail traffic along the rest of the viaduct, it was effectively abandoned in 1980 when the construction of the Javits Center required the demolition of the viaduct's northernmost portion. The southern portion of the viaduct was demolished in segments during the late 20th century.

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Rail trail in the context of Linear park

A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear parks include everything from wildlife corridors to riverways to trails, capturing the broadest sense of the word. Other examples include rail trails ("rails to trails"), which are disused railroad beds converted for recreational use by removing existing structures. Commonly, these linear parks result from the public and private sectors acting on the dense urban need for open green space. Linear parks stretch through urban areas, coming through as a solution for the lack of space and need for urban greenery. They also effectively connect different neighborhoods in dense urban areas as a result, and create places that are ideal for activities such as jogging or walking. Linear parks may also be categorized as greenways. In Australia, a linear park along the coast is known as a foreshoreway. When being designed, linear parks appear unique as they are planned around the public's opinion of how the space will affect them.

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Rail trail in the context of Barossa Valley railway line

The Barossa Valley railway line is a closed railway line in South Australia. It was first opened in 1911, extending from the Gawler line to Angaston with later branches being built to Penrice and Truro. Much of the line from Gawler to Penrice remained open up until June 2014 (passenger services had ceased much earlier in December 1968). The section of line from Nuriootpa to Truro was removed in the 1990s. The section of line from Nuriootpa to Angaston was taken up in 2010 and replaced with a rail trail.

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Rail trail in the context of Katy Trail State Park

The Katy Trail State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Missouri that contains the Katy Trail, the country's longest continuous recreational rail trail. It runs 240 miles (390 km), largely along the northern bank of the Missouri River, in the former right-of-way of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. Open year-round from sunrise to sunset, it serves hikers, joggers, and cyclists. Its hard, flat surface is of "limestone pug" (crushed limestone).

The nickname "Katy" comes from the phonetic pronunciation of "KT", a short form of the railroad's abbreviated name, MKT. Sections of the Katy are also part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the American Discovery Trail.

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