NYC: The High Line, Originally uploaded by wallyg
The High Line is an abandoned 1.45 mile section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line that runs south from 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center to Gansevoort Street in the West Village. Built by the New York Central Railroad in 1930, the original 13-mile long project was designed to go through the center of blocks, connecting directly to factories and warehoses. The rise of interstate trucking in the 50′s led to a decline in rail traffic, and parts were torn down during the 1960s. Trains stopped running on the line in 1980, and a 5-block stretch was demolished in 1991. Privately owned by CSX Transportation, it was left to a state of disrepair, with wild grass and plants growing along most of the route.
Now it’s an elevated public park. See: news blog, photos on Flickr, Wikipedia.
