Hi Mitchell: Yes, someone else set me straight on this geographic note off list. So sad that I don't qualify as a geezer due to my late arrival in Madison!
Al > Al -- > > Patrick is right on this one. The Cannonball Trail route crosses Seminole > Highway by Dunn's Marsh. It's never fun to have railroad tracks at the > bottom of a big hill, but these tracks were reasonably close to > perpendicular. I can't guarantee that nobody ever went down there, but > that crossing wasn't a notorious hazard. > > Further down the road, the IC tracks (route of the Badger Trail) crossed > the highway at a *very* oblique angle. It was easy to catch your tires in > the tracks, and lots of people did. Eventually, they put in an elbow so > bikers could cross perpendicular to the tracks, and eventually the tracks > were removed. > > If you didn't live in Madison at the time, you might not have heard about > these tracks. It's interesting to see the buried memories come to the > surface. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 5:16:20 PM > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bikies Digest, Vol 23, Issue 17 > > Interesting history Patrick. However, the opening is a different - albeit > nearby - trail. > > The one you refer to is the Cannonball Trail. One small segment was to be > built this year; the piece that crosses Seminole will wait a year or two. > > The Badger Trail splits off of the Southwest Trail in Allied Drive and > slices down to where it crosses PD south of PD. > > I'm old enough to remember those days but did not live in Madison then. > > Al Matano > > >> Just curious, anyone besides Michael & me old enough to appreciate the >> irony of the bike path following the trail of the >> at-one-time-controversial railroad track across Seminole? >> >> For years the track crossed Seminole at a close to 45-degree angle, >> which >> forced bikers to either 1) go straight across them and risk catching a >> wheel in the gap, or 2) going wide to get a 90-degree angle going across >> the track and risk having cars try to kill you. (You can almost >> approximate this experience today on the N. Sherman Ave. RR tracks if >> you >> want.) >> >> Various solutions were tried, the "best" being paved shoulder bulges >> that >> let us angle out. >> >> Finally in the 90's the rail owners gave it up, sealed over the whole >> thing, and it was largely forgotten. Until now. Now, when bikers on >> the >> path cross Seminole, they'll be at the same oblique angle the tracks >> were >> at. Hope nobody tries it with a stiff neck... >> >> Ah well, it still beats road dueling with Fitchburgers. >> >> ------------ >> Patrick Lenon >> >> >> >> From: [email protected] >> Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:59:39 -0500 >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bikies Digest, Vol 23, Issue 17 >> >> >> >> On Sep 13, 2010, Patrick Lenon wrote:The trail may not be Officially >> open >> then: >> >> http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_fbad01f0-be9c-11df-9716-001cc4c002e0.html >> >> The sections I've seen are paved but the shoulders aren't done, so >> there's >> a sharp drop off. >> >> Of course, that hasn't stopped a few scofflaws from sampling parts of >> the >> trail. Nothing I'd ever do personally, of course... *koff* *choke* >> *koff* >> >> >> A *FEW* scofflaws!? Watching the Ironman bikes at Seminole and Whalen on >> Sunday, there appeared to be a steady stream of garden-variety Phreds >> out >> sampling the trail. >> I very much doubt it will be ready by this Saturday, since as of >> yesterday, the bridges need railings, the shoulders south of (I think) >> Lacy needed to be graded, and the section south of M needed to be paved. >> But I only know this because, I, um, flew over it in an airplane. Yes I >> did. >> I might go to the opening. I've been looking forward to it since rail >> operations stopped back in the early 90's. >> Michael >> _______________________________________________ >> Bikies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org >> _______________________________________________ >> Bikies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
