Success Stories

Converting Unsustainable Roadway to Urban Trail Brings Major Environmental Benefits to D.C. Community

Posted 06/29/17 by Shane Farthing in Building Trails, Trail Use, Success Stories | Tagged with Repairs and Trail Safety, Design Strategies, District Of Columbia, Ecology and Environment, Success Stories

Photo by Shane Farthing

Recent developments with the Klingle corridor show how sustainably designed trail systems can work to solve transportation and environmental issues while benefiting the environment and surrounding community.

Full Story
Taylor on the chainless bicycle on which he won the world championship and broke world records in 1899. Uncredited photo, Taylor scrapbook. | Courtesy Major Taylor Association, Inc.

Honoring the Legacy of African-American Cycling Legend Major Taylor

Posted 02/16/17 by Danielle Taylor in Success Stories, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Biking, Champions, Encouraging Trail Use, History Happened Here, Illinois, Minnesota, Success Stories

Around the turn of the 20th century, bicycle racing dominated America’s sporting scene, with top cyclists commanding the same media attention that A-list Hollywood celebrities enjoy today. As with other mainstream sports in the U.S., professional bicycle racing was generally understood to be for white competitors only, but in the late 1890s, an African-American dynamo exploded onto the scene, racing at record-breaking speeds that couldn’t be ignored. Today, Marshall “Major” Taylor’s legacy lives on in cycling clubs across the U.S. as well as a popular rail-trail in Chicago, his final resting place.

Bill and Pam Metzger (second from left and right) on their wedding day in June 1997 along the Montour Trail in Pennsylvania | Photo courtesy Bill Metzger

A Trail Life Well Lived—And Loved

Posted 02/13/17 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Pennsylvania, Success Stories

In this blog posted in honor of Valentine's Day, the co-creator of the legendary Great Allegheny Passage and Montour Trail talks about some of his fondest memories of the two pathways—including the day he got married!

Bobby Whittaker, president of Ferry County Rail Trail Partners, with 770-foot trestle over Curlew Lake in background | Photo by Rich Landers

Former R.E.M. Tour Manager Creates Rural Connections in Washington

Posted 11/07/16 by Amy Kapp in Success Stories, Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Featured Magazine Articles, Private Fundraising, Rural Communities, Success Stories, Washington

It may be a no-brainer that Seattle-born Bobby Whittaker has always loved the outdoors, having been raised by the first American to summit Mt. Everest. It was the city’s music scene, however, that led him to a rewarding 25-year career, first with Sub Pop Records, and then as a manager and tour manager with iconic bands including Mudhoney and R.E.M. A decade ago, Whittaker read about a former rail line in rural Ferry County, Washington—a place he’d long been going to “slow down.” Now trail advocates in Ferry County are on their way to completing the 25-mile “rock n’ roll” rail-trail, which is changing people’s lives.

The High Line in New York City | Photo by Adrian Cabrero

10 Rail-Trails That Helped Build the Movement

Posted 02/11/16 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Best Of, Celebrating 30 Years, Success Stories

In February 1986, RTC opened its doors—and since that time, trails have become the fabric of our existence—for health and physical activity, transportation, economic development, recreation and cultural impact. (They are, in a word, awesome.) In honor of RTC’s 30th anniversary, here are 10 game-changers of the rail-trail movement.

John Wayne Pioneer Trail | Photo courtesy TrailLink.com/Washington State DNR - Southeast Region

Update from the West: The John Wayne Trail Is Safe—for Now

Posted 01/22/16 by Laura Cohen in Taking Action, Policy | Tagged with Local Organizing, Overcoming Opposition, RTC in Action, Success Stories, Washington

You may be aware that longest rail-trail in the U.S. has been under fire lately, but we’ve got good news—at least for now—for John Wayne Pioneer Trail supporters. RTC learned that Rep. Schmick has decided to stop his effort to close the John Wayne.

The North Bend Rail Trail out of North Bend State Park, near Cairo, West Virginia. | Photo by Jake Lynch

West Virginia's North Bend Rail Trail

Posted 12/09/15 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Rural Communities, Success Stories, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, West Virginia

There aren’t many rail-trail stories like this. In the late 1980s, the abandoned CSX rail corridor that would one day become the North Bend Rail Trail was little more than an overgrown afterthought—a dumping ground, a place for derelict “partying,” an informal pathway for hunters and landowners in a densely wooded part of rural West Virginia. All that was about to change.

Photo courtesy Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc.

Final Missouri Rock Island Trail Segment Confirmed in 450-Mile Trail Network

Posted 10/01/15 by Amy Kapp in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Missouri, Success Stories

On Sept. 30, 2015, Jackson County, Missouri, Executive Mike Sanders and KCATA President Joe Reardon announced that a cooperative agreement was reached to purchase a 17.7-mile section of disused Rock Island Corridor stretching from Kansas City to Lee’s Summit for future rail-trail conversion. This is the last peg in the planned 200-plus-mile Rock Island Trail and a 450-mile trail network that spans the width of the state.

Photo courtesy Love Healing Deb

RTC Mourns the Passing of Friend and Bike/Ped Advocate Deb Hubsmith

Posted 08/19/15 by Marianne Wesley Fowler in Policy, Success Stories | Tagged with California, Success Stories

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Deb Hubsmith on Aug. 18, 2015, after a two-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia. She was 46. Deb was a passionate, persistent and amazingly gifted champion for the many advances the nation has seen in trails and bike/ped policy and practice over the past 20 years.

Elroy-Sparta 50th Anniversary Celebration - left to right: Stephanie Klett, Wisconsin secretary of tourism; Kurt Thiede, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Keith Laughlin, RTC president; Brigit Brown, Wisconsin trails coordinator; and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson | Photo courtesy RTC

The Trail That Started It All: Elroy-Sparta Celebrates 50 Years

Posted 06/15/15 by Elizabeth Striano in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with Community Events, Success Stories, Wisconsin

Earlier this month, one of the oldest rail-trails in the nation turned 50! RTC President Keith Laughlin joined local leaders and residents from several towns along the trail’s path at a 50th anniversary ceremony sponsored by Friends of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.