11/10/17 Lafayette to Netcong with Sue Bennett, San Westermann, Jim “Uncle Soup” Campbell, Jill Gamble Gupta, James Quinn, Jennifer Berndt, Sarah Jones, Shayna Michaels, Dan Asnis, JD Apgars?, Dan Lurie, and Caleb Olivar.
SANDY help me remember names
This next hike came to me because Dan Lurie had recently moved to a lake property in Sussex County, and I realized how close the Sussex Branch Trail was to that. I realize I need to do some simpler hikes for the night hike routes, because we simply have too little daylight to continue doing what I’ve been doing.
The group at the start
We met at 4 pm at the Netcong train station, which is about as far out as I can get after work without too much difficulty. I was still slightly late, but not by much.
We figured out car shuttles, and I had come up with the spot just south of the village of Lafyayette at a little strip mall to start off. It was just off the old railroad bed.
Sussex Branch below Lafayette
The Sussex Branch is a really interesting line; it started it’s life as a simple, narrow gauged iron mine railroad known as the Sussex Mine Railroad, completed between Waterloo and Andover in 1848. Mules would pull the empty cars up to Andover, and the full ones would move by gravity to an ore dock in Waterloo, which was at the time known as “Old Andover”. This was a short lived version of the line, as 1853 saw it converted to a conventional locomotive railroad with a connection to the newly built Morris and Essex Railroad, which passed just to the south of Waterloo Village.
Photo by John Krause; 1940s Sussex Branch image
Service fully began on the line to Andover in early 1854. It was extended north to Newton later that same year, and extensions continued. Another branch to Franklin, where the zinc mines were, went in around 1866, and the main line continued north through Lafayette, and extended from there to Branchville by 1869. It was originally intended that the railroad would pass through Culvers Gap to get through the Kittatinny Mountain and reach a point on the Delaware River, but that never came to fruition.
The apart from carrying iron and zinc, the line above Warbasse, where it would eventually cross the main line of the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad, it was mainly an agricultural railroad.
We continued south of Lafayette, and it was already getting dark by the time we started walking. No matter, it was really a beautiful walk. We went through a bit of a cut, and emerged at the former site of Warbasse Junction.
Warbasse Junction from Steamtown Archives
The New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad was completed through the area in 1881 and crossed directly over. Today, the NYS&W line is the Paulins Kill Valley Trail, and both make up part of the Liberty-Water Gap Trail and 911 National Memorial Trail.
Historic image of Warbasse Junction NJ
The NYS&W was abandoned in 1963 from Sparta Junction west. The Sussex Branch was finally abandoned in 1966, and the last of the rails were removed by 1977.
We continued south along the Sussex Branch from here, and after crossing over Warbasse Junction Road, I pointed out to the left of us the site of Hyper-Humus Junction, where the Franklin Branch broke off to head to the northeast.
The line continued south along a bit of a shelf. The next bit is one of, if not the most beautiful places on the entire right of way. Starting on the right, the Newton Meadows came into view. It was getting darker, but the ambient light from nearby businesses shone on it and made it seem a lot lighter. The expanse of wetlands is amazing.
Newton Station
The entire Newton area is pretty interesting in that the railroad originally didn’t quite make it to the town proper.
When it was first built, the road which is today Hicks Ave out of Newton was the right of way. The official trail turns and follows the original alignment on the road today. Not long after construction, it was necessary to have the railroad in town. Industries such as the Merriam Shoe Factory were all there, and so the line was extended north into town, where the station was built, and then cut across the Newton Meadows on a fill, and returned to the original route.
Historic image of Newton Station
The route was sometimes referred to as the “Newton Cutoff”, but it really wasn’t a cutoff at all. It actually added distance to the line, but still made it more convenient for the people of Newton.
One of the ladies was familiar with the Sussex Branch, but had never gone out to the meadows before, so this was a good treat for her.
Historic image of Sussex Branch in Newton
Although it’s not part of the “official” trail, it’s in a lot of ways better. The trail goes onto a big causeway and and to a very secluded section of the swamp lands. It crosses where there used to be a wooden beam bridge, reportedly the last wooden beam bridge the Lackawanna had in use at the time of abandonment.
At the bridge site, cyclists had installed a new wooden bridge over where the head waters of the Paulins Kill flows. The tributary literally bubbles out of the swamp just a few feet to the east of the trail, and we used to get to the point and stand in the freezing water that had just come up from the ground. If we stood off to the side of the flow on a hot day, it would be warm because the sun was beating on the swamp, but the fresh from the ground water was like ice.
That has changed quite a lot since my first visit; a beaver has dammed along the east side of the railroad fill, making it an impoundment. I’m sure it’s not as cool as it once was.
We emerged from the swamp expanse to a washed out bit, then crossed over Trinity Street. There’s a model of a house off to the left on a lot that I think is what the original house that stood there used to look like, but I’m not sure.
Historic Newton image
We continued ahead through a nice mowed grass section into a cut, then crossed over Spring Street. A car pulled in behind us as we walked, and slowly followed behind us. I thought for sure it was going to be police asking what we were doing out after dark. We’d recently had someone from Oxford Rescue Squad on a night hike tell us there was a curfew in Oxford. That seemed weird, like we’re not allowed to be outside after dark.
When we got to the end of the drivable lot, and we just stepped over a little fence thing to the next bit of lot, still following the railroad bed, the car turned around and went the other way.
The railroad bed is now the parking lot for the apartments that occupy the former Merriam Shoe Factory.
We walked across the lot tracing the old railroad bed, then crossed Diller Avenue. The railroad bed continues as more parking lots behind a few smaller businesses ahead, and so we continued on behind them. I slowed up to make sure everyone could still tell where I was.
Merriam Shoe Factory, 1907
Once we got past the last building, the rail bed becomes more obliterated an inaccessible, but the Quick Chek is directly across the street. This was where Dan and CJ were meeting us, so we went over and took a break.
This was a good opportunity to get some snacks. I don’t think I got anything this time, but we hung out and let everyone use the restrooms for a bit.
When everyone was about ready again, we started to move on to the south. The rental center and party store place had overtaken the old railroad bed, and I believe removed a lot of the fill for it, so we had to continue along the side of Sparta Ave for a bit, until we got to Hicks Ave intersection. From there, I almost cut through someone’s yard with high hedges, and then headed less than a block to where the railroad bed was again accessible.
The section was really pleasant, heading ot the south through some light woods above Drake’s Pond, then to where there would have once been a bridge over Newton-Sparta Road. This is not only long gone, but most the fill on either side of the road is now gone. We headed down along a busy section of road in order to continue on, and then climbed the other side to the clear right of way, which would take us on to Andover with no problem.
We paralleled Stickles Pond Road and crossed Yates Avenue heading to Kittatinny Valley State Park, a long and pleasant section with no road crossings for a while.
CJ and I hung back for a while and talked food and countless other things with regard to differences between east coast and Las Vegas NV where he lives. Of course, top of the list is the pizza is never as good out there. Pizza Hut must make most it’s profit out west, because it’s the closest thing to real pizza you’ll find out there. I did cite that they have In N Out Burger out there, which is an outstanding burger chain. We also talked Mexican food, buffets, casinos, and mountains. It was cool to chat about something like that with someone that has a good frame of reference. I had stayed out in Vegas for a long while helping my ex, Cathy, dealing with her storage space. I even drove two box trucks of stuff over the High Sierras to get her old storage stuff to near her mom’s house. I actually took out the entire Boulder Station Casino wooden sign by driving the over-sized box truck under it and broke it many years ago.
So we had a nice time walking through this expanse, and eventually came out to Goodale Road parking area for the park. We took a break at a trail crossing to be sure everyone would catch up, and then continued toward the actual crossing of Goodale Road. I wanted to get through this section fast.
After I’d crossed Goodale, we waited a bit ahead to see that everyone caught up. I saw headlights stop, and I figured the rest of the group had gotten stopped by cops. We kept going a bit ahead, and waited further up. Dan was the last one, and he said that it was just someone that said something about wild animals I think.
We moved ahead from here, and soon approached the parking area along Rt 206 entering Andover. There was a light in the parking area as we neared, but that soon disappeared. We’d been able to see the lights from 206 for a while, where the rail bed goes over the fill over the two halves of Whites Pond, a lovely little area.
Historic image of Andover Junction
Route 206 was one of the worst crossings, if not the worst. Fortunately, it wasn’t too busy this late, so we just dashed across with no problem. We continued on the other side with the lights of homes all off to the left.
I held everyone up again when we got to former Andover Junction. It was at this point where the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway, which came through in 1882. The line connected Belvidere, New Jersey with Maybrook, New York. It remained in service until 1986 when it was torn up from Belvidere to a point just south of Sparta Junction. The northern end is still in service.
Historic image of Andover Junction
It’s amazing that today, it’s almost totally invisible. Even in the daylight, seeing where the tracks used to go can be very hard because it’s so overgrown. That really amazes me, because Sussex Branch is clear and easy to follow, and it was abandoned almost exactly twenty years earlier.
We continued south of here, and crossed over Smith Street in Andover.
Here, Dan and CJ opted to cut out and get a ride back. The rest of us continued on along a more obscure section. The old railroad bed follows a narrow path parallel with people’s yards, which is not immediately apparent that it was the railroad bed.
Lackawanna Cutoff underpass
We crossed over Brighton Ave, Maples Street, and then High Street rather closely parallel with Route 206, then started to turn away into dark woods again. It wasn’t very long at all before we reached and passed beneath the former Lackawanna Railroad’s New Jersey Cutoff via a concrete culvert. That line was built in 1909, and remains to this day the largest cut and fill project in the history of the world. The line was abandoned in 1979, and the tracks were ripped up starting in 1982.
There was a nice expanse of woods ahead, until we reached where Morris and Sussex Turnpike and Whitehall Hill Roads parallel the right side of the rail bed, and Rt 206 returns to the left and closely parallels there. The rail bed is up on a high fill, which is an interesting sensation, because there’s lights coming from both sides.
Hole In The Wall
We soon crossed “Hole In The Wall”, an original 1853 culvert between 206 and the old turnpike. Just to the south of there, the rail bed gets a bit washed out, but everyone navigated it pretty well. It was in this area that it started raining a bit.
Historic image at Cranberry Lake
We continued along the rail bed, which is overtaken by some of Whitehall Hill Road for a bit, but then turns away. The group ahead of me started walking up Whitehall Hill, and I had to call them to stick with me or they’d be way out of the way.
The rail bed ahead of here is somewheat overtaken by expansion of Route 206. It gets kind of narrow down there below the highway, but it makes for a pretty interesting route to walk. I lent James my umbrella (and didn’t get it back!) since the rain wasn’t really bothering me.
Historic Cranberry lake image
The trail took us across North Shore Road, then emerged in the park and ride commuter lot near the north side of Cranberry Lake. The mini mart across the street was sounding like a great stop, but when we got over there, it had already closed. We opted to just take a break at the bus shelter in the lot from there.
While we were sitting there and relaxing for a moment, I heard “Hey M’ke...they want to talk to the leader...”. A police car had pulled up behind us in the lot, and they wanted to know what we were up to.
I went back and gave them the run down on where we were going. There were two officers, and one of them asked what our group was called. When I said “Metrotrails”, the other officer asked enthusiastically “Are you the ones that post a lot on facebook?”
I was again astounded at how far the name of our group has traveled, and how what we are doing is still overall positive. The officers then offered us rides back to our cars in Netcong. I told them that I wanted to continue, but would pose the offer to the group for takers.
Historic image of Cranberry Lake and the railroad
Surprisingly, the only taker was Sarah! She headed off and got the ride back to her car, and we thanked the officers for their offer. We then continued south along the trail, which left the parking lot and continued on the side of Cranberry Lake. The rain started letting up as we continued to the south, and everything was more pleasant again.
Historic image at Cranberry lake
We continued across South Shore Road after the brief walk along the lakeside, and then entered another long section of deep woods in Allamuchy Mountain State Park.
The route is clear and wide, and often has wetlands on one side with woods and mountainous terrain on the other. We could hear the sounds of water, like at the waterfall where the Highlands Trail crosses. Dan got pretty far behind in this area, but we could still see his head lamp behind us before we’d continue on. We continued along Jefferson Lake, and eventually made our way out to the intersection of Waterloo Road and Continental Drive. At this point, the original Sussex Railroad continued to the southwest, crossed the Morris Canal inclined plane at Waterloo, and joined the Morris and Essex (later Lackawanna) Railroad at Waterloo Junction. Continental Drive, straight ahead, was built on the 1901 Stanhope Cutoff, which allowed trains to connect from Netcong Station rather than Waterloo. This piece made the connection at Waterloo almost completely obsolete, and eventually led to it’s abandonment.
Historic image of Morris Canal crossing, now obliterated by 206 and ITC
We headed south on Continental Drive, and there was a paved trail that turned off to the left, parallel with the main road, and sometimes below it which made it a pleasant walking route. We crossed over the Willis Brook on a footbridge, from which we could see the original stone arch bridge for the railroad, now utilized by the road.
We continued ahead, and James was very tired. He decided to stay behind and wait at the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority Building, while the rest of us followed the path along the road out to the intersection with International Drive. We crossed the intersection and kept to the left side of Conetinental Drive, kind of tracing both the railroad and route of the Morris Canal. It was in this area that the Sussex Branch would have crossed over the Morris Canal, but the entire area and all remnants have been obliterated through construction of the roads and the International Trade Center.
We continued to the left, and crossed over Rt 206 on the railroad bridge, which was built for the rail grade after abandonment, but never used for it. On the other side, I had intended to follow the Morris Canal topwath, but I opted instead to just follow the road back because it might be a bit quicker, and I was pretty tired.
We continued ahead, and the name of the road changed to Love Lane. The rail bed used to be to the left, but it’s pretty much obliterated now.
We skirted Stanhope Cemetery on the right side of us, and then turned left where one abutment remained for the old railroad. We headed down hill and crossed over the Musconetcong River on an historic pon truss bridge built in 1894. There are not many pony trusses left over the Musconetcong, so I think this is pretty special.
On a pony truss over Musconetcong
We continued along the road to the next intersection and turned to the right. I think it was Furnace Street. We continued up and down a bit through a developed industrial area, and continued past Flanders Road on the right. We went slightly up hill, and I saw abandoned rails from a spur leading to a building. The rest of the group got ahead, but I decided to follow the tree line and investigate more of this old spur.
Old spur in Netcong
The wide and grassy field area led me close to the road again, but then on through to the back of a building. I was able to cut to the right from here, and then step up from a curb right into the parking lot for the Netcong Station before anyone else, who were now a ways ahead of me, even turned the corner.
I went up into the lot and casually leaned on my car, and waited for everyone else to turn the corner and see that I’d found a quicker way. People tend not to follow me because I can end up on some crazy route near the end of a hike when everyone else is ready to be done, but this worked out for me.
Historic crossing image in Netcong
Dan was still a bit back so we had to get him, but apart from that everything went just fine. Sandy lives right up near the starting point now, and so she was good enough to get the drivers back to Lafayette, and pick up James along the way.
Netcong station crossing today
I think I had kind of forgotten just how great the Sussex Branch Trail is when done all in one shot. I hadn’t done a hike on the full line specifically in quite a long time; in fact, this may very well be the very first time I’d ever done a hike that was pretty much solely on the Sussex Branch. I always end up using some other historic route, but this time we followed as closely as we could to the historic route between Netcong and Lafayette.
It was also a great hike to sort of “shift gears” for the cold months. I can’t be doing the kind of trails for as long with the days being so much shorter and colder, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be really great anyway. Each season has it’s own charms, and so now I’m ready to have another look at some places I’ve wanted to see that won’t be too difficult, and are complimented by the time of season in the way this one was. Plenty more to get excited over.
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