Ghost towns born and killed by the railroad — boomtowns that sprang up along rail lines and were abandoned when the tracks moved on or the trains stopped running.
Piedmont Ghost Town, Wyoming: Charcoal Kilns, Butch Cassidy, and the Town That Helped Build a Railroad Wyoming Railroad Free to visit · ~14 min read Quick facts Initial settlement~1867 Formally founded1869 Original nameByrne Founded byMoses Byrne & Charles Guild Primary industriesRailroad helper engines, charcoal production Peak kiln output~100,000 bushels/month (1873) Decline triggered byAspen Tunnel bypass…
Thurmond, West Virginia: The Coal Town That Out-Earned Cincinnati and Died When Steam Did West Virginia Coal Mining Free to visit · ~13 min read Quick facts Founded1873 (land surveyed by Capt. Thurmond) Peak population~500 (early 1900s) Current population3–5 residents Peak freight revenue$4,824,911 (highest on C&O mainline) Coal shipped annually4,000,000 tons (at peak) Primary industryCoal…
Terrace Ghost Town, Utah: The Railroad Town That Vanished When the Trains Stopped Utah Railroad BLM backcountry · ~16 min read Quick facts EstablishedApril 1869 Founded byCentral Pacific Railroad Peak recorded population350 (1879) Chinese residents (1880 census)54 recorded Primary purposeRailroad maintenance & repair hub Key infrastructure16-stall roundhouse · 8-track switchyard Decisive decline eventLucin Cutoff completed…