I see this as a real possibility… I work for a railroad which involves staying overnight in hotels about 200 miles from home. In the event of a natural disaster, terror attack, etc… Would you recommend taking the road less traveled (RR tacks) vs highway if I had to walk home? I see most people having no idea where they go and I’m very fimiliar with the territory. I see this as a potentially safer way to get where I’m going. What are your thoughts? I’d also have a get home bag and some sort of protection.
I would think this would be a good idea especially in the first few days before people start to recover from the shock and start making their own plans. As far as problems go I think that your biggest issues would be with the illegals that frequent the trains, but if you’re familiar with your route then having areas picked to hide out and rest up would be in your favor. Good Luck.
I think it depends on the area the tracks transit. If it is rural than probably fine, or even reasonable suburban. But a lot of times the tracks are transiting through some of the seedier parts of a city.
Working on the railroad gives you the advantage to be very familiar with the route and what it passes through. Use your judgement and decide ahead of time if there are sections that are too risky of things go bad. Different areas will react differently to power outage, natural disaster, etc.
Railroads are generally fairly flat and above flood level so that would be good. They are off the main traffic route but may be within visual range of interstates. One bad thing is that in wooded areas you would be exposed and it would be easy to be surprised and ambushed. Might be better to walk on one side of the rail bed than right on the tracks. In an open area rails may be much better as it would be harder for someone to surprise you, and the rail bed is always there for protection if you can put it between you and any threat.
Overall I think rail lines are a good possibility since you are familiar with the route. Just carefully review each section to assess risks from cities/towns, bridges, etc.
BTW, in your experience do the trains keep running longer or in more severe situations than trucks; or do they shut down sooner? Floods, rioting, EMP/CME, hurricane, etc?
Like others have said, if you are more familiar with the rout home via train tracks, it makes sense to me. 200 miles is a long walk. Taking tracks means no real steep grades during that trek. As a side benefit, being a railroad employee, you are much more likely to get a ride on any passing trains or rail crews than Joe Blow. However, if the route is compromised for some reason, I would guess that it is a lower priority to repair than surface streets and highways.
just keep a hand cart with you and set it up on the tracks if need be and pump your way home 
My engineer and myself were pointing out all the possible problem areas along the route today. We know where the drug houses/spots are, bad areas, and areas where you may detour to the interstate if needed.
If we had an emp attack I’m not sure what would travel on the rails. Some locomotives have air starters, but a lot of electronics. They’re basically a moving electricity plant. One of the maitienence carts may still run. An old dirt bike would be handy.
Natural disasters and terror attacks will present different issues in egress, access, and route planning.
Don’t underestimate the difficulty in moving on foot. Most folks aren’t conditioned to walk very far, especially carrying a load. Add environmentals, terrain, and any assorted danger to complicate it.
Don’t take my word for it. Take your weekends and do 5k, 10k, 20k, 40k walks (esp with loads) and see for yourself. And that’s with you picking your timing, circumstances, load, and route. 200 miles? For most, it isn’t going to happen. Even for the prepared or conditioned, the time it would take you to move 200 miles on foot would open up a lot of possibilities in alternative travel.
+1 for walking. Of course bicycle may be better but if you know the route and want to be low key walk it. Make sure you can walk that distance or at the least a good distance with a pack before go day. A long walk with a pack is difficult but very worthwhile.
Personally I work about 30miles from home and there dozens of way for me to get home on foot, fastest would be a highway walk which is no issue. I have a BOB with everything id need for it at work.
Improvise, obtain a car,atv or motorcycle.
Consider yourself lucky…I work 150 miles from land (offshore oil rig), and that land is 1600+ miles from my home…
Time to start a garden on the helipad 
Have you considered a railbike? It’s an attachment for a bicycle that lets you ride on RR tracks. With that you could ride on the tracks when possible and hop off when necessary.
http://rrbike.freeservers.com/
It seems like you could make one to support a bike + bob trailer and when you have to hop off the rails pack the unit down on the bob trailer with your gear and detour around the seedy areas until you get back to where the rails are safer.
Tapatalk ate my spelling and grammar.
I think he’s F—ed. That’s a far swim.
That bike seems like a neat idea. I’ve ridden a mountain bike in the gauge of the rail before when I was younger on a branch line. I’m not sure if I’d do that where I work, where we have a faster rail speed. On continually welded rail (ribbon rail) things can sneak up on you quickly.
I could have handled it in my younger years no problem. I was constantly climbing around in the mountains. Now I’m not sure. I’m guessing it would take a week if nothing was moving. Although I do have some macgyver skills I’m sure I could find something to move/roll.
I’ve always wanted to try one of those things. I know they’re popular on abanonded track. There was a (probably still is) a lot of abandoned track in New England and those were pretty popular for it. Some localities had the money to strip the track and ties to turn the grades in to multi use trails but more didn’t which is where those came about. I’ve seen plans for some that have a bike on each rail with a small platform in the middle to hold supplies as well.
But for a SHTF situation where you know that trains are down, especially if you’re working on one, it seems like an expediant way to get home. And if it was some uber SHTF situation and trains were going to be down for a long time it would probably be the safest way tl travel long distances without a relaible vehicle.
Tapatalk ate my spelling and grammar.
You’d probably have luck finding old track in an industry that no longer uses rail. Most class 1 railroads rip their old track up so they don’t pay taxes on it.
Thats a very good idea!
If possible, travel through the woods 100 yards from the tracks, but you can still use the tracks to guide you. I would expect ambushes to be set up on roadways and tracks.
Could you steal a train and drive home?
I think about this senario quite a lot. My job takes me 1500+ miles away from home on a weekly basis and I realize that it is going to take some good planning to get back in the event of SHTF. Fortunately, I have a machine at my disposal that is able to achieve a sustained cruise speed near the speed of sound for 2000 miles (with the fuel load that I need of course). However, this machine relies on electricity to get started and if everything is fried, I have to find a suitable replacement.
If I have to hoof it on foot, my opinion only, I would have to gauge just how severe the situation is and go from there. I would have to live by the “rule of threes” and do the best I could. There is a vast amount of thinking that could go into a 1500 mile walk, depending on the senario. In the mean time, I would try to secure a bicycle and see if it is possible to travel by secondary road at night using minimal lighting and a compass. A bicycle would get me much further with a fair amount of increase in physical effort. It is a trade off I would be willing to live with, until I die of something.