Hike #901; Flanders to High Bridge

Hike #901; Flanders to High Bridge

12/10/15 Flanders to High Bridge with James Quinn, Jim "Uncle Soup" Campbell, Shane Blische, Dan Asnis, Jennifer Berndt, and Jillane Becker

High Bridge Branch in Flanders

Our next hike would be another repeat for a night hike, and I figured a nice and easy appropriate one for the time of year.
It wasn’t the bigger turnout that I’d like for a hike like this, but it sort of fulfilled my personal want to do a hike on the entire Columbia Trail because it is now twenty years since it was developed as a trail. I had been hosting hikes that included this trail since the beginning of this group, 1997. I remember walking the line when the ties were all in place long before the trail, I remember the trestles being undecked. It’s neat that I have a personal history that dates back to before my own hikes.

Train crossing in Flanders

Symbol freight AY-2 train crossing Carey Rd. in Flanders has SD35 #2504 leading on its way to Picatinny Arsenal via Wharton & Northern Branch. Photo by Richard Polk, 1972.

The High Bridge Branch’s place in American history itself is well established in that it was the line that hauled iron to the Taylor Iron and Steel Company, later Taylor Wharton, and the second longest running business in US history.

CNJ Logo

The first railroad to serve Taylor Iron and Steel was built in 1868, the short spur line that ran from the Central Railroad of NJ main line to the foundry.
The main line opened up to High Bridge in 1852, after the original Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad had mergers to create the CNJ, one of the oldest railroads in US history itself.
The original High Bridge Branch, or High Bridge Railroad was only to Long Valley which then connected to Chester Furnace where a connection was made with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad’s branch there. The CNJ obtained the Longwood Valley Railroad, a separate charter, and completed construction to Port Oram (Today’s Wharton) by 1874. This was a huge step because it made the High Bridge Branch the main artery for iron from mines to the furnaces and forges.

In Califon. Most sources show this incorrectly.

Leased Norfolk & Western Railroad F7 cab diesels lead a CNJ train through Flanders in 1972. Photo by Jeremy Plant.
The High Bridge Branch continued to grow through the 1880s, as the line was extended northeast to make direction connection with the Hibernia Mine Railroad, as well as the Wharton and Northern, Mount Hope Mineral Railroad, and in 1881 constructed the Lake Hopatcong Railroad to form connection with Ogden Mine Railroad.

Historic view of Flanders Station

This combined with it’s connections via Chester and Chester Hill Branches brought in the ore from the Hacklebarney Mine Railroad and Chester area mines. 1882 saw the peak iron traffic on the line with 118 cars filled with ore in one day.
The 1890s were by no means the beginning of decline. Despite the iron industry being beyond it’s heyday, 50,000 people took excursions to Lake Hopatcong in the Summers by way of the High Bridge Branch. Other locations such as the mineral springs on Schooleys Mountain brought more tourists to the line.
Decline didn’t really come until the advent of the automobile. By 1930, passenger service on the northernmost arteries of the line had ended, and all passenger service ended on the High Bridge Branch in 1932. Even freight service nearly ended at the start of the seventies, but local warehouses kept it open.
In 1976, Conrail, the government created subsidy took over, and opted not to keep the High Bridge Branch because they felt it “duplicated” other routes. It had a chance as an NJ Transit line, and probably would have been a good connection between today’s Raritan Valley Line and Morris and Essex Line, but it was instead torn up from Flanders to High Bridge in 1980.
After abandonment, gas companies saw the line as a good route for their pipelines, and the route between Bartley and High Bridge became a Columbia Gas line. Surface rights to the railroad went to the parks departments of Morris and Hunterdon Counties.
The trail was dubbed “Columbia Trail” by Hunterdon County, a decision I personally hate. Some have told me it was a government pay off. I am in possession of the minutes of the meeting where the decision was made. It states that Hunterdon County suggested the name “Columbia Trail” for the new route, and then “Naturally, Columbia gas is excited about this”.
It was not a stipulation of the deal that the trail take the name of the gas line, and I feel that it should have been illegal. This is two government entities giving 100% free advertisement to a privately owned utility, while also freeing them from maintenance burden by keeping the surface clear and open.
2015 marks twenty years since the High Bridge Branch became a trail. I personally think that today, with all of the anti-gas line sentiment and Penn East stirring the residents of Hunterdon County especially, it would be a great birthday present to give the High Bridge Branch back it’s historic name. I decided while writing this to put a post out to the hiking in Hunterdon Group by way of Metrotrails and see what people say.

Train approaching Bartley Road

Symbol freight train AY-2 heads north through Bartley about to cross Duffy Road in 1972. Photo by Richard Polk.
We shuttled in Dan’s car out to the Shop Rite in Flanders. He gave us the history of how that store was built as a Weiss Market, but that it closed and Shop Rite took over, and then Weiss took over the former A&P (From working in the stores, I know the owner of Weiss hates Dominic Romano who owns the Ronetco Shop Rites, and so he vowed even at a loss to build a store anywhere Romano builds one.).
We headed across the street through heavy traffic and walked behind one of the businesses to the tracks. There was a big grey tanker car with a hose coming off the bottom. It was unloading it’s material, but no one cared that we walked by. There was one kid sitting in back of the place messing with his phone, and I don’t even think he looked up to see us. We headed along the tracks through Bartley to where the rails now end. Shane ran off and checked the industrial spurs and switches. Toys R Us warehouse was on the left, and they run a toy train every year. It’s one of the businesses that keep this section of the line active.
It got dark very fast, and we crossed a few tributaries, then made the first crossing of the South Branch of the Raritan as it flew out of Budd Lake. I pestered Shane mercilessly with religious talk along the way.
The surface on this section is far better than what Hunterdon has. It really hurts my feet after a while of walking there, but the Morris area is good. We passed through Naughright and headed toward Long Valley.

Train in Long Valley

Heading south through Long Valley in 1972. Photo by Richard Polk. The train is about to cross Route 24.
Approaching Long Valley, Shane had got ahead of us, and then stopped because he didn’t know where to go. The trail has changed quite a lot here over the years.

Chester Branch bridge over the South Branch

When I first ran hikes on this, we walked right on through along the railroad bed. Only the Welch Farms facility had changed some of it. Now, we had to walk to the left of a fence that went around a metal fabrication facility (Jen is friends with the owners). The trail continues around to the right, then crosses the Electric Brook on the old railroad bridge, as it always has. Where we used to go straight ahead, there is now a huge housing development. Last time I was there, the trail turned at the former junction where the Chester Branch of the CNJ went left out to Chester. Now, the site of the junction had been obliterated. The trail became very narrow where there was a large wooden fence, probably twelve feet high, erected over the former right of way. We followed the trail which soon picked up the old Chester Branch and followed it’s fill toward the site of the bridge that carried it over the South Branch of the Raritan.

Old Welch Farms facility, one of my hikes in 2002

The houses now all appeared to be lived in, while I recall the last time some of them were vacant, or still under construction. We used to walk here across a vacant area and then to the former Welch Farms place.
My dad used to work at that Welch Farms when I was very little. He would always bring home all kinds of ice cream, but unfortunately for him, I was allergic to milk and had to go on the special formula at the time. I remember one day when I was very very small he took me to the plant with him, and showed me all of the conveyors and what he did. I’m glad I was able to see the place actually working.
Welch Farms had built part of their facility right over top of the old railroad bed, probably shortly after the abandonment, so when we hiked through we still had to go around the buildings. There was never anyone around to bother us, and I was even able to climb on top of the old towers without anyone saying a word. Even the metal fabrication place was fine. There were no signs saying not to “trespass”. We just walked by, the guy in the fork lift would stop and wave.

Welch Farms tower on my hike in 2002

The trail followed the Chester Branch only for a short distance. It then turned off to the right as it had the last time we hiked this. Ahead, it is called “Trestle Trail” which is now used as an outlook of the river, and then becomes a foot path heading to the west down stream.
That trail rejoins our route just a bit further down. We walked past a few homes, then large trees were in place to keep privacy for those homes. The trail turned hard right where the Trestle Trail came back in, and I walked everyone down a short distance on that so they could see the giant White Oak tree that is at a bend.
We continued back toward the railroad right of way, and we turned left to cross a bridge over a creek that had been decked in mid 2004. This was the edge of where we would have turned to go around the buildings in Welch Farms when it was standing.

Looking straight on along the former rail bed when Welch Farms was standing. Photo by Rich Pace

Jen was parked on Schooleys Mountain Road and ready to meet us, but she texted me that there was an Empanada Truck there.
I had eaten mass quantities of Taco Bell earlier, and so I didn’t think I was going to be eating anything for the rest of the day, but when I heard Empanada, I knew I would have to try something.
We reached the main street and I could see Jen’s car parked on the trailhead on the other side. The Empanada truck was off to our left in front of a Thrift Store that Jen had gone inside.

Empanada Lady!

I looked at the menu and was trying to talk myself out of getting something, but of course I have no willpower when it comes to food.
I had not enough cash to buy one, so James spotted me the four dollars I needed to get my Chipotle chicken empanada, and it was absolutely glorious. At first, no one else was going to get one, but while I was getting mine, James figured he’d get one, and then it seemed like everyone wanted in (except Shane who sat and drank his chocolate milk, another love we have in common). Uncle Soup was a holdout briefly, but then broke down and got one himself!
After a short break, we were on our way again along the railroad bed. The section heading from Long Valley toward Middle Valley is probably the least interesting of the entire route, but at night I love it.

Pile

Walking this in the daylight was never great for me. I actually have in the past called it the most boring stretch of rail trail I know of. I’m sure since then I can say others top that, but it really doesn’t have that much to see. This time, there was a giant pile of rocks for no particular reason on the left side, maybe another of those gnome homes that turn up on the Hunderdon side constantly. I don’t know, I didn’t get a good look at it. We continued pretty easily on the trail toward Middle Valley. I was getting texts from people who might have wanted to join, and so many more were interested. Jillane was the only other one to meet up when we got to Califon though.
I told Shane about driving my 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme down this section, and how it barely fit across the decked bridges.
I had forgot to mention to Shane and the rest of the group about the Middle Valley Railroad. At the Middle Valley Road crossing, a spur line went out to a trap rock quarry in Teetertown Ravine. It was only just over a mile long, and the right of way is at the start people’s driveways.

Middle Valley crossing of the South Branch of the Raritan

We continued past the former junction site and soon crossed the South Branch of the Raritan on the old deck girder bridge. This is a much longer bridge than the previous crossing, but far lower than the one in Ken Lockwood Gorge.

Middle Valley Bridge

Crossing the Black River at Middle Valley in 1975. Photo by Don Dorflinger.
We continued on the right of way beyond the bridge crossing, then headed to where a driveway used to go under it by way of a very low bridge. This would have to be made a grade crossing if they ever wanted to use it again. One of the lowest bridges I know of, passable only by car beneath it when it was there. The trail goes down and up at that point now.
We made our way soon to Crestmoore Crossing of Rt 513, then went over Jenkinson’s Tree Farm. The trail originally went around the tree farm because he had planted over the right of way, but a few years back Morris County just pushed the trail on through. We entered Hunterdon County just before Vernoy and headed on into the little village area.
There were a few bicyclists using the trail as we went by, and when they came up at us with their lights on, it almost looked like a locomotive coming at us.

Califon Station

Jersey Central Railroad Train ES-99 at Station Califon, New Jersey in 1973. Photo by Todd Hollriff.
We passed beyond Vernoy, and I forgot to point out to Shane where the spur line used to go to the quarry where the stone for the Califon station was obtained.
The Califon Station was a trend setter in it’s time. When the railroad was ready to put in a wooden station, the townspeople said “No, we want a stone station!”

Califon Station on the hike, no wa museum

Willing to work with the people, the railroad agreed to build them their stone station so long as they provide the building materials necessary to do so. The town agreed, and stone was taken from the nearby quarry in Vernoy and hauled to the site.
The handsome stone station that exists today was so beautiful and popular that it became sort of a model for future CNJ stations.
The station set the stage for future stations of stone, with unique designs like the larger scale curved one in Somerville, and the Richardson Romanesque one in Raritan on the main line.
We continued along the rail bed past Califon Lumber to the main street where we took a break. We decided to head up hill to get some drinks at the store on the corner, and I talked to Jillane about meeting us there, where she could park at the recently closed A&P supermarket.

Historic Califon photo

This is former Black River & Western Railroad loco #148! Passing Califon station in December of 1974. The owner, Sam Freeman left Black River and Western during that time and took his beloved locomotive with him, up the Bel-Del to Phillipsburg, using CNJ mainline and High Bridge Branch to Erie Lackawanna main heading to Morristown, New Jersey.
We headed up the street and across the bridge in Califon, and Uncle Soup and Shane remained down at the crossing. While we were gone, they headed west along the right of way to the historic station.
Jillane met up with us, and we headed back down the road and across the bridge to where we had left Shane and Uncle Soup. We stopped briefly at the station, then moved on along the right of way heading west out of Califon.

Califon Station at night

The station is also the reason for the town’s name. As the story goes, the town was originally called California. When the sign maker was called upon to fashion a sign for the new station, he reportedly made it too small to route the wording onto it, so he instead abbreviated it to “Califon”, and so the town became known as that.

Historic Califon Station view

Odd sight for local eyes. These are leased Reading Lines diesels powering a CNJ freight headed south through Califon passing the station to High Bridge. Photo taken in 1976 before Conrail launch by Don Dorflinger.
Shane went over some of the history with us as well as we were leaving. It’s amazing to me that he remembers so much of the history, even for places he had never been.

Waymarker at Califon station

We left the station chatting about the line, the years of abandonment, and then about ALCO and F Unit trains.
The trail took us near houses for a bit, and I reminisced about old John Palmer, the owner of the informal town junk yard, and World War II veteran. I had the pleasure of stopping by and talking to him about his memories, some with my own family who lived nearby. He passed away several years ago, and his property was cleaned up. The site used to be that of a basket factory, as was the one at Hoffman’s Crossing where we went next.
After Hoffman’s Crossing, we began to enter Ken Lockwood Gorge, pretty much the nicest portion of the entire trail route.

Construction of Ken Lockwood Gorge trestle

The railroad bed hugs a shelf on the steep slope of the gorge. I had been coming to this place my entire life, as had my parents when they were in school. I then had the pleasure of maintaining seven miles of the trail when I worked at Hunterdon County Parks till I was laid off in 2011.

Gorge trestle

We approached the gorge trestle next. The thing had undergone many changes in my life, from being open topped to being chained off completely. By the time I started the hikes, it had a top that was fenced off, but we could walk through. A wooden deck was followed by a concrete deck and open top, then chain link fences were put in on the sides. I really don’t like it now as much as I did when it was wooden decked.
The worst wreck to happen in the history of the High Bridge Branch was April 18, 1885 when the central and southern spans of the 250' long Gorge Bridge collapsed as a heavily laden iron ore train drawn by a powerful Baldwin 4-6-0 locomotive (#112) just started to cross the southern span of the wooden Howe Truss bridge.
The brakeman on the train lost his life, but engineer jumped to safety. The bridge was replaced with the current span in short order, and the engine was amazingly put back into service.
More recent documents say that Locomotive #112 was named “Columbia”, but I wonder if that is true at all, and perhaps just a way for the county to save face about naming the trail for the gas line.

Historic shot of the gorge trestle

Double DLW/CNJ crew ES-99 symbol freight train heads north across the viaduct in Ken Lockwood Gorge in 1974. The CNJ crew will switch off at Lake Junction. Photo by Don Dorflinger.
We took a break at the far side of the bridge before continuing on.
It was a really nice walk on the hill above the river from this point, and as we approached Lake Solitude, the ambient light around shone on the water very nicely. We walked actually very fast, even for me. Jillane put up a very quick pace for most of it. My feet were actually starting to hurt, I think because of the surface which is far too hard on the Hunterdon side.
When we got to the entrance of the Taylor Steelworkers Historic Greenway, it seemed like Jillane was the only one interested much in going down, or if anyone else was, too many were not. We decided to just keep going into town to finish the hike at the parking lot.
James and Uncle Soup helped shuttle the drivers back where they needed to go, and Jillane and I continued walking.

Former Taylor Wharton spur bridge, torn down in 1986, photo from around that time

We followed the trail back a bit and turned right to head down to Union Forge Park. On the way, we passed beneath the former site of the bridge that carried the spur to Taylor Wharton.
When I was little, my grandfather and I walked across that bridge. It was scheduled to be town down, and I was glad to have had that experience. At the time, it was pretty overgrown at either end. I was nervous and crawled part of the way.

The High Bridge for which the town takes it's name

A lot of people think that bridge was the reason the town of High Bridge takes it’s name.
It is not.
The town and area around it was originally known as Solitude, but when the Central Railroad of NJ came in in the 1850s, a large wooden span was built over the valley of the South Branch of the Raritan. There are many stories about it, but the one I like the best is that the workers refused to take trains across the bridge because the piers were too far apart, and the wooden bridge would “sag”.

High Bridge station

Freight passing High Bridge station early 1970s, photo by Todd Hollritt.
The bridge was then back filled, and the river and newly dubbed “Arch Street” made use of a double stone culvert. The bridge was apparently just filled in, left in place rather than recycled.
That line and High Bridge Station are still a stop today for the NJ Transit Raritan Valley line.
We walked beyond the former rail underpass and then to Union Forge Park where we hung out on the playground equipment for a bit. There were idiot kids who drove up apparently dumping or something at the other side of the lot while we were there. We heard some clinking and such, and I thought to get the license plate number, but they were too far away when I thought of it.

Historic view of High Bridge Station

We walked from the Union Forge Park back onto the street toward the former bridge site again, then turned left into the middle of the town to walk the pretty main street. There were sounds of people partying in one of the bars as we walked by.

Historic view in High Bridge

The "Red Barron" SD40 3067 leads an ES-99 in the early 1970s through High Bridge. The Erie-Lackawanna diesels behind will be kept on when EL crew members change at Lake Junction.

Historic view at High Bridge station

Same SD35 #2504 with southbound High Bridge Branch train passing High Bridge station in 1972.
We continued up hill back to the former railroad crossing and I showed Jillane the remaining rails that were still partially exposed in the parking lot before heading back to her car.

Downtown High Bridge

I was so glad she came out and had a nice time.
It was exactly the kind of relaxing night hike I wanted at the time, and much more inspiring to me in retrospect, as I shared more history and saw fit to finally start the petition to change the name of this trail for the betterment of history. Time will tell if it gets anywhere, but nothing can be accomplished if I don’t try. If you don’t ask, the answer is always “no”.