Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Silver Hills rail link, mobility solutions, and what we will or won't learn.

Kudos to these spirited volunteers, and yes, to Councilman Caesar, too.

As always, the challenge in a place like New Albany is to take this 122-year-old lesson, lift it from the realm of museum piece fetish, and apply it to "modern" times. Count me among those not willing to hold their breaths.

Silver Hills line leads group on a search for history, rail link to the past, by Grace Schneider (C-J)

For the last six months, Kelly Carnighan and a group of helpers have dragged mounds of old tires and cleared scrub from the hillside overlooking New Albany’s Main Street to unearth a 122-year-old relic.

It’s the path of the New Albany Highland Railroad Co., a two-mile electric streetcar line that ran from western New Albany to Silver Hills starting in 1891.

The volunteers found a steel rail, five original railroad ties, and, best of all, an idyllic corridor carpeted with myrtle and dark green ivy.

They’re planning to share what they’ve found May 18, exactly 122 years and a day after the electric railway took its inaugural ride. They expect to unveil an historical marker, pass out brochures and send hikers and history buffs on self-guided tours of the line.

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