Hike #1073; Northampton to Slatedale

Hike #1073; Northampton to Slatedale

9/10/17 Northampton to Slatedale with Eric Pace, Mike Heaney, Jack Lowry, Jennifer Berndt, ?, James De Lotto, Kevin P. Gora, Lynn V., Daniel Trump, Sy P. Deunom (Martyn), Sue Bennett, Mr. Buckett (Jim Mathews), Brian Coan, Teun Ott, Traci Vicaro, and Russell Lord Byron Rapp!

Our next hike would be the nineteenth in the 911 Memorial Trail series, again on the D&L Trail route. We would do the entire route as planned, but I also tacked some stuff on the beginning and end to be a little bit more interesting.
There was only around ten miles between Northampton, where we started the previous hike to Musikfest, and Slatington on the trail, but I always have to make the hikes fifteen. So, I decided to tack on a section of the Lehigh Canal to the start, because we had hiked the entire canal as a group to Northampton and I didn’t want to just leave off and “forget” it. At the end, I tacked on the Slate Belt Trail, which follows a slate quarry spur of Lehigh and New England Railroad on out to the Schuykill and Lehigh Branch of the Reading Railroad. I’d walked most of this when it was still under development in 2007 and never came back to it. I’d be doing new ground by putting the remainder of that trail into the plan.

Crossing Lehigh Canal the hard way

We met in the morning in Slatedale, then shuttled with as few cars as possible south to Northampton to start off the hike.
I didn’t have it 100% figured out, but I’d checked the maps to sort of figure out where we could park. We drove around a little bit until we finally settled on the lot of Redner’s Warehouse Market in Northampton. We could go from there and get whatever water and snacks we needed for the hike there. I recall purchasing some cheese or something. We were then on our way, up the Cherryville Road, then left on 27th Street, which eventually became Towpath Road. We were heading north at first, which is of course out of the way, but again I wanted to showcase at least some of the canal towpath.
Along the way, I egged Mr. Buckett on with silly conversation, which is always great. I pestered him non stop about whether he’d prefer to defecate in a pair of shorts with our without swim trunk webbing, and he didn’t want to answer.
We continued on the road until it turned abruptly and was soon very close to the still active former Central Railroad of NJ tracks. We walked on the hill above them shortly, then bushwhacked down hill a bit to them. We then walked north a short bit more until we got to a path that took us down to the Lehigh Canal, which still retained some water and was being used as a trail.
For a long while, like in the Lehigh Canal guide book, this section was not yet a trail. I’d heard it was at this point, but it had been almost a decade since I’d been on the section, so I didn’t know how good it would be.

Historic view of Lehigh Canal Lock #32

Before we even went down to the canal, I could see some ruins in through the weeds. The Lock House, where the tender lived was on the berm side of the canal, which we were on, and I could see some foundation. I was quite certain we were looking at the site of Lock #32, so I took a photo angled down at it, and I recall pointing it out to Jack.

Lock #32 today

I found a way down on a vague path, and soon I was along the canal. It was still holding some water, but there were two branches together that would get us across. Eric didn’t want to come down because he didn’t realize it was some sort of trail yet. He eventually made it down, and was quite impressed with how nice the section was.

Lock #32 with lower gate remnants still in place

I was also very surprised when I got down there to see that a good amount of the framework from the lower lock gates was still in place. It’s not often we see an authentic canal lock remnant still in place. I inspected the site while the others were crossing the branches.

Lock #32

The inland side of the lock was still old masonry construction, while the river side was of concrete. The section of the Lehigh Canal below Guard Lock #5, which is the next lock up stream, and this one, were for a time in later years the end of navigation on the canal. There was a train to canal transfer put here around that time, and so locks below Guard Lock 5 might have received later maintenance than the locks up stream from that point. There was once a smaller building on the river side of the canal here, which also has foundations, and the lock still has some of the metal bolts in the walls.

Lehigh Canal

The towpath down stream from this point remains very clear and welcoming. We were able to follow it with no problem, and it got clearer as we went. There were some benches and such that lined the way, and then there was a fooat bridge crossing over the watered canal to access the towpath, though I’m not sure where it came from, or I would have used this route rather than the fighting through weeds we had done.
We saw a couple of other people walking along through sections, and no one said anything to us, but it was rather uncomfortably close to the sound of gunfire from a shooting range.

Lehigh Canal

I was excited moving ahead, as we approached the site of Lock #33.
When I was at the site in the past, it was fantastic because a lock had been removed and sat up on display, and a full Lehigh Canal boat was sitting directly beside the canal.
When the canal was abandoned, boats were intentionally sunk in a nearby quarry, which was purged out to connect with the canal. They were sunk so that when floods came along, they wouldn’t get caught up and flow down stream causing more damage, which they would tend to do.

Historic image of Lehigh Canal Lock #33

We passed the sounds of gun shots pretty close, and just hurried along. We had no real problems from there. We then reached the site of Lock #33.

Lock #33 site now

It was rather disappointing to see that the canal boat that I’d wanted to visit had been completely removed, with no sign saying a word about what had happened with it.

Lehigh Canal boat in 2008

The boat had been rescued from the quarry and put on display, but was in rather bad shape. Similarly, the old lock doors were set up for display, with miter gates in place.

Old lock gate in place in Northampton

Unfortunately, the lock gates today have collapsed into the forward position, and it looks as though they are going to simply rot into the ground without a more car.

Old lock gates today

I’d always understood this to be a public stretch of the canal, because nothing says not to go that way from the side in Northampton, but there were signs facing properties around from the towpath. It was only ever unnerving when we were going closely by where the gun shots from the club were going off to the east.

Loading area from the old concrete plant to canal

We crossed the vehicle access road to the club properties and continued to the south, and soon came to a former unloading site from quarry to canal on our left.

The loading point today

The loading point was from a major plant, the Lawrence Portland Cement Company. Reportedly there are still some ruins of it left in there, but we didn’t have the time to get over there to check it out. This plant was the first to produce Hydraulic Portland Cement, the first in modern history that could dry under water (although ancient Romans apparently found a way).
The section of the towpath had a good number of historic markers through this area, formerly known as Siegfried. They were deteriorating a bit, and getting harder to read with age, but still good enough.

Bridge over the Lehigh

Siegfried was one of three little boroughs that merged together to form Northampton Township, and many of the historic names are getting lost. Siegfried lasted longer, probably because the Central Railroad of NJ’s station there retained that name even when the town name changed.
We continued along the canal to where the watered section ended. Through Northampton, the canal has been filled in, and replaced with a paved trail route. We continued on the access road and soon met up with Jim Delotto. Some of the others headed off to a nearby store, and I jumped into the Lehigh to take a swim. It wasn’t nearly as hot out as it had been, actually rather colder than I was expecting, but the dip felt pretty good.

2006 group shot on the LV Rail bed, the first time I did this hike, and the day I met Russ Moyer

I couldn’t help but think of my old friend Russ Moyer in this area. He was a resident of Northampton, and had only recently passed.
Russ had hiked hundreds of miles with me, starting when I was co-posting my hikes through Appalachian Mountain Club in 2006.
There were some people who would come along every so often and have an effect on a group in such a positive but not immediately apparent way, and Russ was one of those. We would be doing our ridiculous stuff, hiking in suits or whatever, and when we did the Wal Mart vests, Russ said “Hey, you got another one of those?” and he joined right in on the fun. Often, Russ and Fred Hafele would be in the front of the group, powering ahead, and laughing at us all for being silly. Russ and Fred definitely have the appreciation for the miles we like to do, and their participation I think sort of makes it okay for other “serious” hikers to enjoy it too. Their acceptance makes it more palatable to others.

Historic image of Cementon Station

Once everyone was back together, we headed up to cross over the Lehigh River on the 21st Street Bridge. This is the official route of the D&L Trail, where it switches from the Lehigh Canal towpath to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad.

What the trail looked like in 2006

The parking area is near the site of the former Cementon Station on the railroad. When we had hiked this section before, there was barely a parking lot and the old railroad bed was just a wide ATV path heading north. Now, the trail was built on the former double tracked railroad right of way, and it was curiously not always on the ATV path. They seemed to clear a section of woods to the left on what would have been the former southbound/eastbound track, and I could still see the now overgrown former ATV path in the woods to the right of us.
The town of Cementon was originally more identified with Siegfried on the east side of the Lehigh. It was once known as Siegfried’s Ferry, and then Siegfried’s Bridge after the first bridge was built at the site over the Lehigh. It was finally renamed Cementon in 1900 or 1901 when the Portland Cement industry really took off in the area.

Lehigh Valley RR bed

It really was weird seeing this site as this wide and popular trail. We passed many bikes along the way. This is one of the lines I didn’t totally disagree on, because it does make a good connection and the rail line on the other side of the river is still used.
I’d love to have seen passenger service out this way too, but there’s just too much fight against railroads to make it happen. The section is pretty good for the trail because it’s so secluded from everything, and provides plenty of good views of the river along the way.

I think Spring Creek bridge in 2006

I tried comparing as we walked the different structures, clearings, bridges, or whatever else along the way that were different from how they were almost eleven years earlier. I think when we crossed the Spring Creek to the north of town, the bridge had been replaced, but I’m not sure. I did take a photo of the old one, and it was one of the places I don’t recall seeing when we walked on through.
We continued north through sections that bare no resemblance to how they looked my previous visit whatsoever. When we weren’t on ATV paths, we were often walking on tops of old railroad ties and ballast rock. It’s taken on different character.

How the rail bed used to look

Along the way, we also passed by the site of Dam #5 and Guard Lock #5 for the Lehigh Canal on the other side of the river. There were too many trees growing this time, so I didn’t notice it off to the right. Only the far end abutment was in place from what I hae recorded on the previous hike. The canal was a slack water section of the river up stream from that point to the next lock, but I couldn’t see much.
We continued walking to the north, and came to a little settlement to the right of us. Rt 145 was closely parallel, but much higher up than us, so it felt more private.

We continued past this little development on well cleared trail. I remembered this section well as the part of the railroad bed that had not been cleared at all. It just took us out in people’s back yards and such, and we had to cut through to return to the route the ATVs were taking around.
This street crossing was once part of the settlement of Laurys Station.
I’m not exactly sure where the railroad station used to stand. We got to the street crossing and took a little break. It was getting to be past noon, and everyone was anxious to eat. I tried to get them to hold off.

David Laury

My plan was to have lunch break on the awesome ruins of the Treichler Dam. Laurys Station didn’t really have much to offer for lunch.
The location is quite historic. It was originally known as “Slate Dam” for the Lehigh Canal dam that was established at the site in the 1830s. The town takes it’s present name from David Laury, who established a hotel at the town’s present site in 1832. He eventually became Postmaster in 1853, and when the Lehigh Valley Railroad arrived in 1855, he became the Station Agent. At one point, the location even had an amusement park along the Lehigh River. It operated from 1890 until 1902.
The hotel had little amusement rides, a miniature train ride, toboggan, boat ride, and merry go round. Lehigh Valley Railroad held excursion trains to Slatington.

Historic image of Hotel Laury

We continued to the north here, along the narrows of the Lehigh where it went around one of it’s more dramatic curves. It’s hard to believe that Lehigh Valley Railroad constructed four tracks wide through this area. It would have been no simple task to overcome the slopes along the river here.

Historic view of Laurys Station

There were ruins off to the right of the right of way, which I remembered we climbed around on when we did the previous trip, but we kind of blew by them on this one.

1938 image of Laury Station and Slate Dam from Penn Pilot

I did not know what the ruins were when we were looking at them before. It had some sort of tower base that looked like it was a sort of turntable, but it was far too small. Now, I know that it was the Mauser Flour Mill.

Recent google map image of Laury Station and Slate Dam

I’m not sure the years of operation for that structure, but it appeared to utilize the same water that was impounded by Slate Dam, also known as Dam #5 on Lehigh Canal.

Mauser Flour Mill ruins

This was the same slack water section we were just below when we started the hike. Guard lock #5 was just across the river from this site.
We continued on the right of way with a crummy sort of camp area to the right, then a newer house. It wasn’t all that long before we came to the crossing of Gypsy Lane where the railroad once paralleled Cove Road.
The area was originally known as Kuntzville, because David Kuntz established a mill at the site in 1794. The name was changed to Treichlers when Henry Treichler purchased it. There was another Mauser mill in the area, on the other side of the river, which remained in service by Conagra until 2014.

Hotel Laury

This was a section I remembered taking a photo the last time I was at the section in 2006, and it looks amazingly different now. It looks much more welcoming now, but I may still prefer the rustic older look.

The Lehigh Valley rail bed in 2006

The area I took the photo was just east of the former sie of the Treichler Station, which is of course long gone like the rest of them on the line. There used to be an old bridge across the Lehigh in this area as well, which connected to the Northampton Co Treichlers.

The same scene from this hike

Everyone was getting tired of wating to have lunch, so it was decided that we would stop at the boat launch there at Treichlers for a good break. It was a nice spot, so we took some time here.

Older photo of Treichlers on the other side of the river

Both the Lehigh Valley Railroad on our side, and the Central Railroad of NJ had stations at Treichlers. There’s sort of like two separate settlements because the Lehigh Valley line is in Lehigh County, and the CNJ on the other side is Northampton.

Lehigh Valley Railroad station and old Treichler Bridge

The original bridge over the river at this site was built as a toll bridge in 1884, and it was replaced by other structures a few times. The bridge currently spanning the Lehigh at this point is much more modern, built in 1997 much higher up.

Trechlers on the east side, CNJ line

Today, people on Rt 145 just blow through this area and don’t give it a second thought, but the site we found below along the river was really pretty nice. When we were all settled, we decided to play around in the river a bit.

CNJ Treichler Station

Lord Byron and I walked pretty far out onto the thing. He had gotten quite a ways out, and I just decided I was going to try to walk all the way across and back. The current was rather bad near the middle, bu tthe water never got too high above my knees.
When we were good and rested up, we continued on along the trail. At this point, we were actually walking south because of the bends in the river.

Old concrete phone booth in 2006

The next point of interest was one of the old concrete phone booths on the left of the trail. I had seen this and photographed it on our hike in 2006 as well.

Concrete phone booth today

This was quite a nice little surprise; I see the concrete phone booths all the time on the abandone dlines, but never have I seen an effort to restore and interpret a site until this point. The booth was an project by Eagle Scout Evan Karpyn. The site was well cleared with pea gravel, paint, and an interpretive sign. Bars were put in place for some reason to keep people out of the booth.
These ones were called Block Phones, and were in service until the 1950s when smaller metal boxes were used. They remained in service until the 1980s with better communication.

Treichler Dam in 2006

Our next point of interest, just barely further, was the site of the Trechler Dam, which I have always liked. It was originally an eleven foot high dam for the Lehigh Canal.

Treichler Dam now

The dam was built with the other Lehigh Canal dams in the 1830s of crib style construction, piled up lumber with rocks in between. It sounds rudimentary, but some crib dams are still around today. They do stand the test of time.

Treichler Dam

Except for a few more trees, Treichler Dam looks much the way it did when we hiked by in 2006.
On the opposite side from us, Guard Lock #4 on the Lehigh Canal separated the trench from the up stream, three mile long slack water pool. It is said that this site has the best remaining example of the earlier “Bear Trap Locks”, which were sort of a dangerous open lock deluge of water system for down stream navigation only. They were taken out of service when the proper canal was built, save for a few north of Port Jenkins.

Old 1830s crib work at Treichler Dam

I didn’t notice the remnants on this trip, probably because it was so blocked by vegetion. My friend Craig Craig mentioned to me on this one that he had recently read about a very intact Bear Trap Lock, but I didn’t realize it was at this site until reading more into it.
Dam #4, or Treichler Dam, was also known as th Three Mile Dam.
We climbed down the slope from the railroad bed to the breast of the dam and walked out to the middle to take a little break again. I climbed down and checked out the nicely laid crib work that was exposed on the town stream side, some of it with the giant metal pins that held it together.

Some rails still in place

While we were were taking some of these breaks, Jack started playing all sorts of great little songs on his guitar. He brought his black carbon fiber one out again for this one.
We continued to the west and passed through a rather dramatic cut at one point. There were a couple of times that there were rails still in place along one of the former four tracks of the line, mostly obscured by undergrowth beside the trail. We took another little break when we got to a very dramatic rock outcropping that juts out next to the railroad bed to an overlook of the upstream Lehigh River. Jack and I sang Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind of Wonderful" at this point.

Also, there was randomly a Muskovy Duck along the trail at this point. Muskovies are probably the ugliest ducks you'll ever see, with the bubbly, almost bloody looking face tied into it's bill, but they tend also to be quite gregarious.
We continued along the right of way rather quickly. The time seemed to go by pretty quickly when there wasn't this or that little thing to see along the way. We did pass a large masonry structure which I don't know the history to on the left side, built into a hill.

Old stone structure

I'd checked the thing out before in the past, and gotten on it. It was nice to see something look pretty much exactly the same as it had the previous time I was there.

We continued to the north, and passed through a small settlement area I don't know the name of, if it has one. It's kind of across from where Lockport used to be, a forgotten settlement on the Northampton County side and Lehigh Canal. One road went to the right of the rail bed, and we continued north into more seclusion again after that.

Wha?

We also passed a weird little fence thing with a bike and paper cut out sort of skeleton on it that read "river closed". I suppose that's a private piece of property there. Rather humorous anyway.
The next little point of interest was the former bridge site for a branch of the Lehigh and New England Railroad.
Lehigh and New England was once one of the major coal carries of the region, and it's always fascinated me because it has so many little spur lines going off in all different directions from it's main. This was just one of those weird lines.

LNE trestle site

The former trestle site is now just a lot of concrete piers remaining of the bridge. I've never seen a photo of what it looked like, probably because everyone was always enamoured with the one further up stream in Lehigh Gap, which carried the main line of the same railroad. This particular line broke off of he main line in Danielsville in Northampton County, then cuts to the southwest a bit, across what's now Becky's Drive In Theater, and then is developed over quite a lot just on the other side of the Lehigh.
This spur made it's way into Slatington to the north and made a connection with the the Lehigh Valley Railroad, as well as the Schuykill and Lehigh Branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. My plan was to follow part of this connection from Slatington to Slatedale, on what is now the Slate Belt Trail, once we got up to the junction site.

The Lehigh Valley line in 2006

The Lehigh and New England line had a sort of sloping right of way down toward us and the rights of way we were following started to look wider. I set up some photos to try to get then and now shots with more of the shots I'd taken in 2006.

Just about the same view now

We headed north on the trail across Trout Brook after paralleling some of the streets entering Slatington. It was a great little spot for a break when we arrived, with a lot of trail users gathered around.

Lehigh Valley line in 2006

The new trailhead they'd made was quite nice. There was a good amount of parking, and a large new restroom building done in rather rustic style. It was made of stone, and the stalls inside were sliding wooden doors rather than typical close/latch ones.

Lehigh Valley line now; trail

We were getting closer to the end. From this point we would be turning off of the Lehigh Valley Railroad bed/D&L Trail and follow the Slate Belt Trail to our end point, so it was good timing to get some food and snacks.

HOT DOGS!

There was a hot dog vendor with a cart there, and it was looking just too tempting not to go for it. I didn't have enough cash for it, but fortunately Dan Trump offered to spot me.
I got to talking to the guy behind the counter, and I can't recall if I was talking to someone in the group about the place in Lehighton to the north or what it was, but it turns out this guy is the same guy that runs that place!
I'd stopped into this place way back, probably on a hike I'd done with my ex girlfriend Cathy in October of 2008. I remembered the guy made us some hot dogs, and then had something cooked in a gravy that tasted outstanding. I'd never had anything like it before or since, but this was the same guy.

Dan and some good dogs

The history of Slatington itself is quite interesting. It was settled in the early 1700s when mills were first established, and even Benjamin Franklin purchased wood processed at the site. In the early 1800s, Welch settlers realized the value in the slate in the area. The first quarry was set up in 1845, the first factory in 1847, and the municipality was founded in 1864 around this industry. In addition, iron, knit goods, and silk were industries found in the town. The town was once known as the Slate Capital of America.

Historic image of Slatington PA

After our last good break, we were ready to get moving toward the end. We had to walk back the way we came ever so slightly to get to the junction with the former slate spur, which is now the Slate Belt Trail, or Slate Heritage Trail as I hear it referred to more often now.

The Slate Heritage Trail in 2007

After looking at my ten year old photos from this same line, I'm rather astonished at the changes over the short period of time.

Rails in place on Slate Heritage Trail

There's a lot of history surrounding this trail. I would really like to go back to it and do some more exploring off the beaten path. Maybe through some of the slate quarries or something.
We started following the route, which touches people's driveways and such. There are still some partially buried rails in place on this section.
I've read some conflicting things on what line originally operated what is now the Slate Heritage Trail. Old maps I had said that it was Lehigh and New England which made that connection from the south.

Old Slatington Quarry

The official website for the town says that it was Lehigh Valley Railroad, and that the spur was built in 1874, which is probably correct, known as the Slatedale Branch. Somewhere else I had read that it was Philadelphia and Reading and that there was trackage rights or something on it from Slatington at the junction with Lehigh Valley Railroad out to the junction where the Reading headed west toward the city of Reading. Whatever the case, it’s a very interesting route for me. I knew I’d have to do more research on it when I was done.The rail bed follows the south side of the Trout Creek for a good while.

The only authentic restored rail bridge on Slate Heritage Trail

We passed beneath a major road bridge, which seemed to have it's new piers capped on old nineteenth century stone footings, which looked pretty cool. Foundations started to appear on the left of the trail, and then there was an interpretive sign.
The signs told the story of the "New York Tunnel". Slate in this area, to my great surprise, was mined similar to that of coal mines in tunnels which stretched well beneath the town of Slatington. The New York Tunnel was reportedly along the creek just below us somewhere. It was also called the "Bed Bug Cave" because there was a mattress factory in front of it.

Covered bridge

Another sign told the story of "Truckers Mill". The first settler, Nicholas Kern built the first mill in what is now Slatington around 1740. His son, William, went on to run the mill after him. William was a jovial fellow known as a "truckener", or a joker to the German residents, and so the mill became known as "Truckers' Mill".
We passed beneath Main Street, passed over Willow Avenue, and continued along the south side of the creek to a nice red painted through style girder bridge, which is the only authentic railroad bridge still standing along this line.

The trail and covered bridge in 2007

Much of the line that had only a crushed stone or cinder surface the first time I had walked it was now paved over. Other improvements were added to it such as a pavilion and benches.

The covered bridge

We passed by some apartment buildings after that and then crossed 7th Street. A more park like atmosphere started us as we approached a nice covered bridge that was constructed for the trail. It's not an antique old covered bridge, but it does add to the ambiance of the area a bit.

One of the trail bridges

We passed next through a nice wooded area with the Trout Creek to the right of us. In the area ahead, it's questionable as to exactly where the railroad used to be because it's approaching the PA Turnpike, which of course would have obliterated some of it. I'd hiked this section just once before in Summer of 2007, as part of an effort to cover the entire Schuykill and Lehigh Branch of the Reading, and on that trip these bridges were not yet complete.
The trail crossed over on the bridge, which I recalled crossing on stones in the past. When we walked it before, the bridges were in place to a degree, but there was no sloped approach. We eithre had to climb up, or go down and cross, which at the time was easier.
The trail on the north side of Trout Creek was rather built up. We followed this out to the road crossing at Center Street. This was the little village of Emerald, another slate quarry town. We turned left on the road, then right again on the trail. Bridge abutments were still in place for where the railroad used to cross.

Little Creek Junction; the "Berksie", Scuykill and Lehigh Branch heading west in 2007

The road took us across the Trout Creek again, and the trail continued on the south side for a bit. It was just past this point that we reached what used to be Little Creek Junction.

Little Creek Junction

The junction site was far different than when I was last there in 2007. The line to our left, heading west was originally the Berks County Railroad, which soon after became the Schuykill and Lehigh Branch of the Reading. I'd followed that all the way to Virginville on two different hikes. To the right, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Slatedale Branch continued on to the quarries (there was also another spur that went north from near Willow Avenue in Slatington, which one day I'll have to follow).

Before bridge completion

What was clear and looked like a driveway on the previous hike was now completely grassed over.
On the previous hike, I had only followed the Slatedale Branch from Main Street (I had to go around the house that was on the Reading line). I'd met some kids on bikes there that told us that "rails to trails" was coming in.
There was another bridge over Trout Creek in place at that time, again with steep climbs on either side to get up and over. It was neat to see everthing finished after seeing it in the process.
We headed to Main Street to continue on along right of way I'd never walked before.

Slatedale Branch from Main Street in 2007

Main Street was the only other place I was able to get a "then and now" photo. I turned and took a photo of the right of way in the western direction in 2007, almost as a reminder to myself to come back and finish walking it. It only took me a decade.

Slatedale Branch now

The trail cut across a large lawn, which really didn't look all that different, but the addition of a split rail fence and the crushed stone surfacing really made it look official.

Trail and rail bed diverge somewhat

We entered a swath of woods with the creek still down below us to the left, and the right of way got sort of narrow. It was probably washed out a bit. The trail left the right of way to hug the inland side a bit more for a bit, then returned to it after the narrow part.
We weaved around a corner on the rail bed, then came right up alongside Main Street. I think the line might have gone into what's now an active quarry area or something. When we came to the intersection with Lover's Lane, we went back on the right of way turning away from the road yet again, at first parallel with someone's yard.

Entering Slatedale

The trail took us from there directly into the ball fields and Slatedale Playground where we had parked in the morning. We had finished in pretty good time; it wasn't dark out, and the group figured out who was doing the shuttles.
I wasn't yet tired at all, and really wanted to continue on, but no one else was up for it. I decided then that I would continue around to have a look myself. I wanted to know if that line had continued on.
I said goodbye and headed back into the manicured ball fields. There was no sign of a rail bed just yet, but I figured if there was anything it would still be somewhat along the creek heading to the west.

Old masonry from a bridge site

Sure enough, I didn't have to travel too far for my answers. I walked to the edge of the field, and although I spotted no remnants of a right of way, I did spot the masonry ruins of a small bridge. The line continued alongside the creek, and crossed a small tributary that flowed in just below the park. Some of the masseive stone blocks had fallen off into the creek, but most of the abutments were still looking good.
Upon further research, I found that the Slatedale Branch actually continued on quite a bit further than I thought it did. It continued along the Trout Creek all the way to County Bridge Road to the west where it served the Saegersville Quarry.

Old bridge abutments

There were houses close to the right of way on the other side, and I didn't feel like bushwhacking the other side at this time to try to find more.
I still waded across the brook for a little bit and explored the other side somewhat, then came back across further down the ball field before it got dark. I was able to leave happy with what I had discovered on the line.
The hike was really a crazy trip down memory lane, with plenty of new places and new discoveries to keep me alert and interested. I really enjoyed every bit of it thoroughly.

Historic early 1900s image of a Clambake in Slatedale

This series promises to keep being awesome for the duration of the year, and it's looking like the extensions beyond and into the Schuykill region will be better than anticipated. I have a lot to look forward to.

Dan Lurie special