Originally Posted by dwightonabike
why not jsut ride on in-use rail lines? The lines would be in good shape, trains can be heard from long distances away, and are certainly more predictable than automobile traffic! Just don't get stuck out on a long bridge!
About 700 trespassers get killed on the railroads every year in the US. Many of them never hear the train coming. Further, every year experienced railroad workers are struck by trains of which they had been unaware, and which they appear not to have heard coming. Don't bet your life on such a whim. Further, if the rails are still present, it is a good bet that what you are looking at is a lightly used line rather than an abandoned line, because railroads cycle their track from one line to another, finally selling the rails for scrap when they no longer can bear the weight of a train. They almost never abandon steel in place.
Always expect a train
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/338