Mark's Photo Travels

My new bicycle arrived a few days ago, and of course I had to find someplace to take it. I haven't owned or ridden on one in a long time, so I needed a bicycle path that wasn't too challenging (such as a rail trail), wasn't far away, and wasn't too heavily trafficked. The Doodle Trail , a rail-trail between Easley and Pickens in Pickens County, fit my criteria nicely. I walked the trail back in February 2016. Since then  the trail has been extended by about mile  into downtown Easley, making the total length now about 8 miles. The current Easley trailhead is near the Easley Municipal Court building of NW Main Street, and that's where I started from. Court must not have been in session today because the parking lot was nearly empty. The Doodle Trail crosses over NW Main Street and enters Westview Cemetery at Wilbur Street. With the recent trail expansion, Wilbur Street has become a one way street for cars on the right hand side, and pedestrians and cy...

The cities of Easley and Pickens in Pickens County, South Carolina are now officially owners of the Pickens Railroad or  "Pickens Doodle" , the deteriorating 8.5 mile railroad between Pickens and Easley. Chartered in 1890, finished in 1898, and i n disuse for some time, the railway that once served several textile mills and passengers at the Pickens Depot is now being removed to make way for a multi-use trail to be built at some indefinite time in the future. I spent a few hours one day last week travelling along the line taking photos while the rails were being removed. Here at Wilbur Street in Easley, the rails have only been partially removed. Many of the remaining cross-ties were in poor condition. While a short distance away at Fern Street, the rails have been removed except for the one embedded in the road (would tear up the pavement I presume). Many of the cross ties here were also in poor condition. I took some more photos at Lewis Street, then moved o...

With the recent filing by Pickens Railway Company with the Surface Transportation Board, the railroad line between Pickens and Easley is in the process of being abandoned. Debate over what happens to the right-of-way after abandonment is ongoing . While the abandonment isn't yet official, there's no real obstacles to prevent it either. Therefore I've added the route to my map of abandoned railroads in South Carolina .