The world is full of abandoned and mysterious places. The thing which is permanent in the world is change, the places that are abandoned now were once full of life. Old buildings, castles, parks, hotels, railway lines that were meant to be built for people are now left abandoned with no people around them. Some of the abandoned places are immensely famous around the world, but still, there are many places which you have barely heard of. Let’s look around the 10 abandoned places you barely heard of.

1 Goat Canyon Trestle

Goat Canyon Trestle, also known as “The Impossible Railroad,” was built in 1919. With a whopping cost of $18 million, it was developed as a part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. This largest wooden railroad stretch collapsed after the 1932 earthquake and 1976 hurricane. It is now left abandoned and is surrounded by ghost stories.

Goat Canyon Trestle is a wooden trestle built in 1919 as part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. It took around 12 years to finish with a whopping cost of $18 million. The railroad required over 17 tunnels and multiple trestles to run.

Its redwood planks stand 200 ft tall and 750 ft long which is the world’s largest curved wooden trestle. People worked in 120-degree heat in the summer and in extreme forces of nature to create this “Impossible Railroad.” It was made of wood instead of metal to handle the extreme temperature changes. To handle high winds, the trestle was designed with a 14° curve.

An earthquake in 1932 collapsed one of the portions of the tunnel. Again a lot of damage was done by a 1976 powerful hurricane, collapsing some of the tunnels. It is also surrounded by ghost tales like stories of glowing orbs, abominable sandmen, and ghost trains. The wooden trestle is set up for new repairs and talks of the reopening of the railroad are in the air. (1, 2)

2 Russian Space Shuttle, Kazakhstan

Several Soviet-era space shuttles have lies in an abandoned hangar in Kazakhstan for nearly 30 years. These space shuttles were part of the Buran Program which aimed to take the Cold War into space. The ruins of space shuttles are all that’s left of the forgotten Russian Buran program. 

Several Soviet-era space shuttles that used to be a part of a once-proud program have been gathering dust for nearly 30 years. These two space shuttles which were part of the famous Buran Project are tucked into an abandoned hangar at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The famous Russian Buran Project which aimed to take the Cold War to space was started in 1974 and was suspended in 1993. This project was the USSR’s plan to outdo the U.S.-winged orbiters.

Two space shuttles were developed named Buran and Ptichka. The Buran space shuttle took off in 1988 and the other one, Ptichka, never flew. The Buran space shuttle was destroyed when the hangar collapsed due to an earthquake in 2002.

The other space shuttle, Ptichka, and one more test shuttle which remained at Baikonur, represents the sad remains of the USSR’s once-active Buran Program. Although the site is not open for public view, a few photographers and daredevils occasionally sneak in and take a look. (1, 2)

3 McDermott’s Castle, Ireland

Abandoned McDermott’s Castle in Ireland was built on a 0.57-acre island in the 12th century. The current castle was built in the 1700s by the King family as a summer house. The castle is surrounded by a tragic love story of the daughter of a McDermott chieftain and a lower-class boy. It is said both of their bodies are buried on the island.

Abandoned McDermott’s Castle, which is located in County Roscommon, Ireland, is a national monument built in the 12th century. It is one of the most haunted castles in Ireland. Surrounded in a 0.57-acre area, the current castle was built by the King family in the late 1700s as a summer house and was later burned down due to lightning during World War II. 

The local legend tells of a tragic love story of Una Bhán who was the daughter of McDermott chieftain. She fell in love with a lower-class boy. Her father was against this brewing relationship. He decided to leave his daughter on the island to prevent his daughter from meeting her lower-class lover.

The young couple was not in favor of this separation and the boy decided to meet Una secretly at the castle. He began swimming from Lough Key to the castle and eventually drowned. Shortly afterward, Una died of grief, and the two lovers never met. It is said that both Una and the boy’s bodies are buried on the island in a spot upon which two intertwined trees grew. (1, 2)

4 Fukushima City, Japan

After the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear disaster was the Fukushima disaster in 2011. A 12.5-mile exclusion zone was created and caused the relocation of 160,000 people. Nature took over and covered up the abandoned vehicles, buildings, and homes.

In 2011, after the Chernobyl disaster, the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan became the worst disaster that happened in 25 years. The disaster happened when a tsunami struck following an earthquake. 

Three of Fukushima’s Daiichi reactors were deactivated and melted; over four reactors were disabled. Around 12.5 miles of exclusion zone was created and over 160,000 people were displaced after the radioactive material leaked into air, sea, and soil. 

Thousands of vehicles, buildings, businesses, and homes were abandoned post-disaster after a warning of radioactivity. Visiting this area is risky due to radioactivity, still, some adventure-minded people visit here at their own risk.

Ten years of this accident, nature took over the buildings, vehicles, and homes. Overgrown bushes have swallowed vehicles which used to be a stretch of road near the power plant. These scenes look like they were taken from a horror movie. (1, 2)

5 New World Mall, Bangkok

In 1997, the New World Mall in Bangkok was closed after it was found to have breached building regulations. Afte rward, a fire in 1999 led to the destruction of the roof of the mall allowing the rainwater inside the mall. After tilapia fish was introduced into the water to control pests, the fish thrived and multiplied.

The New World Mall in Bangkok was demolished due to having breached building regulations in 1997. A partial demolition was ordered by Thailand’s Supreme Court; the judges concluded that seven of the eleven floors were illegally built. 

In 1999, a fire broke out and left the mall without a roof. When the mall was exposed without any roof, it invited rainwater to collect in the mall which led to an increase in mosquitoes. To get rid of the mosquitoes and other pest problems, locals decided to introduce tilapia fish into the water.

Eventually, the fish thrived and multiplied, creating one of the world’s strangest fisheries attracting gawkers from around the world. The fishes roam around the 5,000 sq ft lower floor of the mall. (1, 2)