revrnd Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Great news up in Dist' 6: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2016/04/28/renfrew-county-signs-historic-rail-trail-deal I wonder how this will affect the current route of TOP A? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02Sled Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Great news up in Dist' 6: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2016/04/28/renfrew-county-signs-historic-rail-trail-deal I wonder how this will affect the current route of TOP A? Wow... what a great situation. 300 km of one continuous smooth trail. Bodes well for the future. It will be great for the towns and businesses along the rail line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Fantastic news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Way to go! Thanks to all with the foresight map out this strategy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Way to go! Thanks to all with the foresight map out this strategy. I guess they learned the lesson from when the CN line between Whitney & Renfrew was decommissioned. Some of the townships turned the railbed over to the adjoining landowners resulting in tenuous routing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Time to send out some 'way to go!' emails? Who's got some addresses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupkids Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) And then some dick head politician will say not for use by motorized vehicles Edited April 30, 2016 by soupkids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 And then some dick head politician will say not for use by motorized vehicles That is true, hopefully people respect it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupkids Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 That is true, hopefully people respect it. Oh I'm shure the tree huggers and the nature people will get all up in arms about it and it will get shut down to sleds and ATV's may not happens this year but it will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 I was checking the railbed out when I was camping @ Driftwood Prov' Park last summer. The "surface" is still the ballast that was under the ties. Not conducive to cycling unless you're riding a fat bike. I imagine the tourism assoc' has the info to support the motorized use of the route. For the most part the line runs thru uninhabited territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manotickmike Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Good news, even if you don't like rail trails.. More trails = more trails! Wonder what they'll do about some of those bridges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted May 1, 2016 Author Share Posted May 1, 2016 Good news, even if you don't like rail trails.. More trails = more trails! Wonder what they'll do about some of those bridges? I imagine they'll need railings and decking. The railway bridge over Bissett Creek, the highway arrived later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 I was checking the railbed out when I was camping @ Driftwood Prov' Park last summer. The "surface" is still the ballast that was under the ties. Not conducive to cycling unless you're riding a fat bike. I imagine the tourism assoc' has the info to support the motorized use of the route. For the most part the line runs thru uninhabited territory. Not conducive to skis either. Hard and sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Good news, even if you don't like rail trails.. More trails = more trails! Wonder what they'll do about some of those bridges? I'm not sure this will create more trails Mike, it will just replace some, at least in my area. For example 2 different trails in our clubs trail system make a large loop. The A trail is one and a local trail is the other but both have different trails feeding into them so both are used quite heavily. Now the old rail-bed divides these trails almost down the middle. I can see replacing both of these trails with just the rail-bed for the most part if the club can still get the feeder trails to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manotickmike Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Hmmmmm.... I prefer trails with turns. I can see the rail lines being OK for traversing an area in a hurry, and with good visibility. I prefer to ride (when I can!)up in the Missing Link area. Here's hoping the rail trail there will be an addition, not a substitution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Not conducive to skis either. Hard and sharp. My son uses the rail-bed to get to work on his dirt bike in the summer. We live spitting distance to it and I can tell you tires don't last too long riding on that stuff. The odd spike still gets turned up and punctures the tire. We have picked up spikes on the 3 kms he uses for the last 3 years, I don't think there is an end to 'em. Will not be much good as a recreational trail in the off season unless the slag is removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Hmmmmm.... I prefer trails with turns. I can see the rail lines being OK for traversing an area in a hurry, and with good visibility. I prefer to ride (when I can!)up in the Missing Link area. Here's hoping the rail trail there will be an addition, not a substitution. Have to wait and see I guess. With the highway, railway and A tail all so close together in that corridor I would suspect the trail would move on to the rail-bed. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 My son uses the rail-bed to get to work on his dirt bike in the summer. We live spitting distance to it and I can tell you tires don't last too long riding on that stuff. The odd spike still gets turned up and punctures the tire. We have picked up spikes on the 3 kms he uses for the last 3 years, I don't think there is an end to 'em. Will not be much good as a recreational trail in the off season unless the slag is removed. Other than in areas where they expect a lot of foot traffic (near villages & towns) along the route, I can't see them adding a better surface (limestone chips) for users. I haven't traveled along the former CN railbed between North Bay & Capreol in the summer, so can anyone say what the surface is like for ATV travel? It was a mainline too, so it would've been ballasted to the same standards as this line. Most of the railbeds we are familiar w/ in Ontario were branchlines, so their standards wouldn't have been maintained as regularly. The tracks from Trenton to Wallace (north of Lake St. Peter) that now is the Hastings Heritage Trail were lifted in the 80s. Riding along in the Ranger I sometimes wonder if this route ever had been ballasted. There doesn't appear to be any gravel & what is visible could almost pass as "pit run". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Found this on the Ottawa valley rail trail fb page. ------------------''' The full trail (formerly Chalk River Subdivision) from Smiths Falls to Mattawa is 296km, and the Lanark County portion is 49km in length and 400 acres of property, has 9 bridges and 47 road crossings, and will travel through Montague, Carleton Place and Mississippi Mills. The bridges have all been inspected by the County. A very preliminary estimate of upgrade the rail bed to stonedust trail is $20,000 per km, so beyond the purchase costs, the conversion cost will be about 1.5 million and annual costs about $75,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Thanks for the update Yukon, I'll have to 'like' that page. I hope the Atv & UTV users don't eff that up? This spring I've already seen where quads have roosted a trail that was done last fall w/ crushed stone that was bigger than railway ballast. Azzhats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 No trouble. From what I recall from conversations at past OFSC conventions this railbed has been on the radar for the last 6 or so years. This is huge for Snowmobiling. This will no doubt be a multi use trail for powersports, but also likely open to horse back riding , hiking etc etc. With the majority of $$$$ coming from powersports and tourism... I know that Mattawa and Pembroke areas have good relations with atv and snowmobile clubs working together... 296kms of trail not on private land is a huge win..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 I just looked at the " Ottawa Valley Rail Trail" FB page. They appear to be on the non-motorized side. Wait and see I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manotickmike Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Yup. Bikes and hikers for ~1.5k outside of the population centers... Then..... Crickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake G Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 (edited) Some folks prefer non-motorized use only.... http://millstonenews.com/2016/05/cpr-line-to-become-trail-usage-debate-begins.html Edited May 14, 2016 by Blake G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 I just looked at the " Ottawa Valley Rail Trail" FB page. They appear to be on the non-motorized side. Wait and see I guess. Ottawa is extremely against motorized vehicles in down town core. I was once almost run over by a commuting cyclist. There cycling network Is massive though. Hopefully they will allow atv's and sleds access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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