CALABAMAPEDDLERS

Weather: Blustery, high clouds, low to mid-50s

Mileage: 2 Mile Hike Check out our route here.

Remnant of the old railroad
We watched and waited for the wind to die down so we could take our rig out. It never did. We had not planned for this kind of weather! The clouds rolled on through, and by the late afternoon, the sun poked out and the temperature peaked.

We decided to walk the buried track right-of-way from the old Sumter & Choctaw Railway, which runs east from along Avenue A. On our USGS map, you can see the route extends three miles east to Curl Station and then another three to Lilita, where the line seems to end.

At the end of Avenue A, and the end of the open green space, is a brick ranch house and truck junkyard. We saw a gate and a tied up and energetically barking dog at the continuation of the right of way. Some people were gathered at the front of the house, so we asked them if we could walk the railroad. At first they looked at us like we were crazy; we explained that we are interested in the old railroad and just wanted to check out what’s there. They said awhile back some people came in and tore out all of the tracks, taking all of the metal. They didn’t know what all else was back there, but figured we could walk a ways.

We found a fairly clear, very level pathway, ideal for a recreation trail. (In 2005, a group from the Urban Studio, part of the architecture program at Auburn University, came to York to develop a small town initiative. One of their proposals for York was the development of a rails-to-trails system.

We hadn’t walked but a few yards before we entered a magical and pristine forest, lush with electric spring growth. We walked under the branches of old, mature trees: tulip, pine, chestnuts and something that looked like mulberry. We passed by a lovely wide dry marsh area, populated by tall willows not yet in leaf. In the heart of the forest we heard three loud gunshots; was it hunting season? Something important to find out!

Tulip Tree flower

Chestnut Tree flower

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