USRAI is not an official organization. It is simply an idea I had which I extrapolated from the rather surprizingly popular hobby of exploring abandoned railroad rights-of-way. This hobby is often an outshoot of a person's interest in a specific railroad. As can often happen, while on trips exploring the old rights-of-way, impressive or surprizing discoveries can often be made. These might include an unknown bridge still in place or the existance of an old factor along the line.
Here on the Freedom Central's website, you will find archeological topic of many diverse artifacts, cabooses, old engines, abandoned lines and bridges, even things such as Signal Towers. You will find that while I may use my job to learn of new things of interest, I will never do any archeological research while working for the railroad... unless NS decides to add a position of Archeologist to work alongside their company photographer.
My interest in railroad archeology was original born of my interest in the Arcade & Attica; however after moving to Pennsylvania, I realized that the world of railroading extended to the farthest reaches of the continent. As a result, I have add pictures to my collect of locations and artifacts that have absolutely no bearing on the existance of the A&A, but have piqued my interest none-the-less. I do hope you enjoy the artifacts cataloged by my chapter of the US Railway Archeological Institute.
