Railtrail over in situ Rail Line?

[djf99]

This might sound like a stupid question (especially stupid to expect an answer given the activity on this forum), but is anyone aware of any attempts- successful or otherwise - to lay a rail trail over a existing (but obviously disused) rail line? ie sleepers and/or rails still intact, just buried by the trail topping?

I would think there would be the following issues:
- uneven compaction where the trail is/isn't supported by sleepers
- uneven deterioration of the base (sleepers rot, topping doesn't)
- the resulting trail would probably be a bit too narrow (~1.5m).

[David Berry]

This is the beginning of the Fernvale to Lowood section of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail.

Clearly, there are no problems in cutting grass or tripping over old lines. Near the top right of the photo, you can just see the edge of a children's play area. There's even a young tree to stop late night wanderers from stumbling over the old points lever.

Most important: ambience. It looks like a rail trail! Top marks to the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail planners for not ripping up yet another non-existent hazard.

Exact location of the photo:
http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-27+27.3183,+152+39.1152&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=83.408584,88.769531&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=-27.454817,152.639065&spn=0.045165,0.060039&z=15