Yesterday my Dad and I went for a drive following to the best of our ability an abandoned Frisco railroad that I hope some day can become a rail-to-trail. It would leave Wichita and meander Southeast through many small towns along the way. The near Wichita portion of the old railroad is slowly being developed and from what I”ve learned several other segments have been rail-banked and there may be work-arounds for those that haven”t been.
From what we could tell, the old railroad is in pretty good shape and could be ridden now with the appropriate (fat)bike. We only spotted a couple of minor obstacles. I”m not comfortable doing so though without knowing what is private property and what is not so for now I”ll just dream of the day I will be able to ride this old railroad and view these scenes from the seat of my bike…
It”s pretty common and understandable that adjacent land owners to the abandoned railroads will fence off the ROW whether they were deeded back the land or not. I don”t know that”s the case here.
Railroad bridge over original US400 highway which has been moved just to the right as seen in this photo from atop the railroad bridge.
The town of Beaumont, KS has quite the railroad history.
Highschool in Piedmont, KS.