Hike #990; Waterloo to Warbasse

Hike #990; 911 Trail Part 10, Waterloo to Warbasse

11/26/16 Waterloo to Warbasse with Justin Gurbisz, Lyz Hagenbuch, Ric Giantisco, Gregg Hudis, Russell Lord Byron Rapp, Serious Sean Dougherty, Michele Valerio, Kellie Kegan, Robin Deitz, Sue Bennett, Tom Edmunds, Jennifer Tull, Don Mayberry (with Buddy Mayberry), Emily Mayberry, Shayna Michaels, David Li, Jack Lowry, Sarah Jones, Kevin Gondek, Cindy Browning, Eric Pace, Rich Kowal, Brian Coen, Baixiu Liu, and David Zhu

The group at Cranberry Lake

Our next hike would be the tenth in the Metrotrails 911memorialtrail series, focusing this time on the section from Morris Canal Greenway, along Highlands Trail to Sussex Branch Trail, to Warbasse Junction where the route switches to the Paulinskill Valley Trail.
It may very well be that the first section of this hike is the most rugged of the entire 911 Trail route, at least the hikers’ route, over Allamuchy Mountain with the outstanding vista. The biking and hiking route will differ in some areas, due to safety and quality of the trail. At Waterloo Village, cyclists will continue on Waterloo Road to the trailhead of the Sussex Branch Trail, at the corner of Continental Drive and Waterloo Road. This route on Waterloo Road is no good for hikers because there is no shoulder, and so hikers continue over on the Highlands Trail to join the Sussex Branch Trail just north of Jefferson Lake, which is a more scenic route anyway.

Waterloo Village church

We met in the morning at our end point, Warbasse Junction, formerly the junction site with the Sussex Branch of the Lackawanna Railroad (now Sussex Branch Trail), and the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad (now Paulins Kill Valley Trail.
I talked to a guy I knew from Kittatinny Valley State Park who stopped by to do some morning routines while we were waiting, and got a lot of interesting information about how things are going up there. Kittatinny Valley impressed me as a park when I was stationed there for a time in 2011. Following Tropical Storm Irene, countless trees had fallen over the trails, and they took pride on now much work was done, so much so that they kept a tally of how many they’d done every day. It was 77 by late September when I left that location to go to work at Spruce Run.

Waterloo Village

We shuttled to Waterloo Village with as few cars as possible and parked to the left of the entrance.
From there, we started our hike by walking into Waterloo Village.
I can’t remember the history perfectly, but I tried to give the history as best I could starting with the Lenni-Lenape tribe to present day.
The first inhabitants were the part of the Lenape known as the Minsi. On the far side of the village is a reproduced village, now home to Winakung at Waterloo. We walked into the entrance to the village and down along the old main road through town, where I told everyone about the church and the volunteers from there. A guy named Jim Braun does some amazing work not only at the church, but throughout the village to help protect it.
Waterloo Village is actually far older than what is let on popularly. It’s widely known as a Morris Canal town, developed much in the 1830s and after. The truth is, it was already a significant settlement in colonial days.
Waterloo was originally the area known as Andover before the present town of Andover.

Newly refurbished 1878 Seymour Smith House

The village began it’s life sometime around 1760 with an ironworks owned by William Allen and Joseph Turner, the same entrepreneurs behind the Union ironworks located at Spruce Run. They leased the property some time around the American Revolution, and the ore used from the mines near present day Andover was said to be among the highest quality for making firearms.

Historic view of Seymour Smith House

It was during this first development of the village that the Musconetcong River was dammed at the site. There is disagreement about where exactly the furnace would have been, but most agree it was on the village side of the river, and likely where the nineteenth century mill stands today.
Waterloo was originally the area known as Andover Forge Farm before the present town of Andover. The mill building on the right, which we soon passed, was actually built in 1763. There is one reproduction, but the other building is said to have been refurbished into a mill from it’s original use as a charcoal house or similar structure.

The original charcoal house is the mill

After passing the church, the first building was the remodeled and fine looking Seymour Smith House, built between 1876 and 1878. It was nice to see this building in nice shape.
We continued along the road as far as the colonial Ironmaster’s House, which now has a tarp on the roof (I helped to secure such a tarp during my time working in Waterloo Village in 2011). We didn’t continue too much further; I just wanted to showcase the village’s pre-canal history, which is worth mentioning and too often overlooked.
I tried to describe roughly where it was believed the furnace used to be, and then I went onto the later canal history of the town.

Construction began on the Morris Canal in the late 1820s and was complete in the area about 1832. Waterloo Village was named such probably about 1810, and before that for a time it was known as “Old Andover”.
I explained to the group that this was the only location that contained a lock, an aqueduct, a slack water section, and an inclined plane all together. The Morris Canal was the greatest climber of the world’s canal’s, not only for it’s lock system, but for it’s implementation of inclined planes, of which there were 23 between Newark and Phillipsburg. The canal was refurbished and extended to Jersey City by 1842, and the planes rebuilt utilizing scotch turbines.

Inclined Plane #4 West at Waterloo

I pointed out to everyone where the plane was directly across the Waterloo Lake, where the lock was, and showed how the canal was slowly silting in next to the old Smith’s Store, which has a nice doorway where goods could be loaded from canal boats.
In 2011 during Irene, the wooden sluice from the aqueduct that kept the section of canal filled with water broke and got swept into the canal, causing siltation. I went in with a seasonal employee who was really awesome, pulled it out, and re-installed it. Unfortunately, the next storm washed it out again and it was never replaced. Today the water flows from the top of the aqueduct site into the canal and erodes the ground beneath which has caused some of the formerly dredged open canal to become shallow and full of dirt.

Sussex Branch bride over Plane #4

The area that came to be known as Waterloo was purchased by John Smith in about 1812. The Smith Family is closely associated with the development of the village through the heyday of the Morris Canal.
Because the inclined plane was built at Waterloo, it was of great advantage for the Smith Family to develop business at this spot. Because the plane was a one way traffic thing, canal workers could utilize the convenience of the store build by the Smiths. John’s sons, Peter and Nathan developed the store as well as the grist mill at the site, and refurbished some of the original iron workers dwellings into their homes.

Historic canal image at Smith's Store

The village took shape during the early canal years, and this also included the development of the first railroads to serve the site.
The first was a mule drawn railroad known as the Sussex Mine Railroad that started in the 1840, shortly after the canal.
The rail line came down from the Andover area mines to a dock on the north side of the Musconetcong just to the east of the church. We walked on a bit and I showed everyone where the level part of the road was the likely former right of way of the Sussex Mine Railroad.
The original mine railroad passed back to the back of the main houses, then came to the main road a bit further. It’s route was close to the present site of the Rutan Cabin today. That is the only building in the village that is not authentic to it, moved to the site to save it. =

Waterloo Village map showing railroad and canal routes

The Sussex Railroad built upon and improved the original Sussex Mine Railroad route in 1853. I went into a bit more detail with this because the majority of this hike was to be on the Sussex Railroad right of way.
When the Sussex Railroad came in, the ore dock was moved to the other side, and it made connection with the Morris and Essex Railroad. In the years to follow, the Morris and Essex was absorbed into the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, which soon made it it’s main line. In 1881, the Lackawanna began operating the Sussex Railroad as it’s Sussex Branch.

Peter D. Smith House

The first railroad activity at Waterloo was particularly good for the Smith family, and this is why the first Peter Smith’s sons, Peter D. Smith and Seymour Smith were able to build two of the finest homes still visible in the village.
I told everyone how the Peter D. Smith house, built in 1874 was my favorite in the village. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
The Sussex Branch continued operations for many years with Waterloo as a major place of business until 1901, when a “cutoff” was built to Stanhope, to connect with the Lackawanna at the present Netcong Station site. With this as the main artery, much of the business to Waterloo Village was cut out.

Waterloo Village from the top of the Inclined Plane in 1907

The Morris Canal declined, and was bought by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The railroads were quicker and didn’t have to be closed during Winter months when the canal froze over. The canal couldn’t keep up, and closed in 1824.

Morris Canal

The construction of Interstate 80 moved Waterloo Road from the village, effectively isolating it from all transportation, and Waterloo Valley Road was severed from the north, and it’s bridge over the lake was destroyed by a careless quarry truck driver.
These developments also served to keep Waterloo as a sort of window to the past, the village that time forgot.
Percival H. E. Leach and Louis Gualandi discovered the beauty of Waterloo in the fifties, and decided to develop it as a living history museum. School class trips and families traveled to the village regularly. I visited several times with my grandfather, as well as on class trips. I came to love the village early on.

Morris Canal at Waterloo

The village was later developed as a concert venue, with a huge stage set up on the west side of the town. Big name acts from all over performed at concerts and festivals, some with over twenty thousand in attendance.
Everything came to a halt when the state purchased Waterloo Village in 2007. It was closed, and started getting notoriety as one of the abandoned towns, and fell victim to vandalizing and deterioration from neglect. Fortunately, in more recent years work has been done to stabilize some buildings, refurbish them and get tours going again. Winakung at Waterloo operated out of the Indian Village in 2011, and that Summer the first concert at Waterloo was held in years.
Another significant thing, to me anyway, is the not often brought up Water Bond Act of 1958 and the authorized reservoirs that are still on the books. The act created Spruce Run, Round Valley, Yards Creek, Merrill Creek, and others, and was to create Tocks Island above the Delaware Water Gap, but that one was de-authorized. One such reservoir that is still authorized calls for the flooding of Waterloo Valley, which would destroy Waterloo Village. I would imagine it could be a problem for funding to have a potential reservoir destroy the village. There should be a move for de-authorization of the Waterloo Valley reservoir project, similar to that of the Tocks Island one where Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area exists today.
I got to learn a lot about the area through working at Waterloo, on top of what I already knew, but the volunteers and historians who have kept watch over it for years are slowly disappearing.

Jakob Franke

I closed my statements about Waterloo Village and the Morris Canal by mentioning two of the outstanding individuals we had lost over the course of the past month.
First, Jakob Franke, an amazing volunteer who both wrote much of the history on the canal and did enormous amounts of trail work, passed away suddenly just a few days prior to this hike.
I spoke to him on the phone and exchanged a few e mails in these past few days, and am honored to have associated with him. I had brought his name up a great many times on hikes in 2016, because he was the man responsible for organizing the volunteer trips to clear the Morris Canal towpath between Waterloo and Hackettstown over the course of the year. His work was appreciated by our group numerous times and its probably the section of the Morris Canal we have hiked more times than any other.
In addition to Morris Canal related things, he was also part of NY/NJ Trail Conference, and was supervisor of the Long Path south for a long time.

Kevin Wright

I found out that within the month we had also lost historian Kevin Wright.
I had the pleasure of bridging a rift between Mr. Wright and the state park service through my work at Historic New Bridge Landing in 2011. Mr. Wright didn’t care much for the state’s handling of the site until I was brought on board. I was told through my then boss, Steve Ellis, that he liked me.
Not only did he walk me through that historic site and impart priceless history, he also told me about some things associated with Waterloo Village, including the existence of a colonial cemetery where the Indian village is today, and that some graves were at the present site of Waterloo Road. He said when the road was being built, they accidentally exhumed a coffin of a man who still had a full red haired beard.
Mr. Wright has written countless historic documents, and many had seen him as moderator of the Old Mine Road facebook group. He had added historic documentation to my own posts even within days just before he passed.
I regret not having organized a hike with him sooner; we had planned to have a Metrotrails hike through Teaneck area, and into the Von Steuben House where I first met him.
We walked the Morris Canal out of the village to where we had left it before, on the previous hike, and then turned where the Highlands Trail turned away. Lord Byron was running late, and met up with us here.

Highlands Trail on Allamuchy Mountain

My next bit of history was the recent development of the Highlands Trail, starting in the 1990s.
The Highlands Trail follows the spine of the geological province of the same name, intented to connect the Delaware River with the Hudson River. It’s over 170 miles long, and I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in it’s development since 2002. The section we were now following, up Allamuchy Mountain from Waterloo Village, I first hiked with former HT supervisor Bob Moss in 2002. Not much has changed about the site since then, as it has not been moved from the base of the mountain to the overlook of Waterloo Valley.

Tilcon Lake view from the top of Allamuchy Mountain

We made our way up, and Serious Sean took his own off trail route up the mountain. Whenever someone goes the wrong way, it’s funny to watch how he rest of the group will just blindly follow.
We made it to the top after passing a vertical spot, and took a break at the overlook.

Historic view of Waterloo Ice Houses

I pointed out everything I could think of from the top, from the fire tower across the valley, the Tilcon Lake, Waterloo Lakes, the village, Interstate 80, and the old Sussex Branch. I also pointed out where the old Mountain Ice Company used to have their ice houses. Ruins of this area can still be found out along the lake by bushwhacking away from the old Sussex Railroad bed.
While up there, I got a call from Michele who was to meet up along the way, where the Highlands Trail hits the Sussex Branch Trail. She got there quite a bit earlier than the rest of us and was going to have to wait for us a bit.

Waterloo Valley

I reminded Jack at the top that his second hike with the group and I included this overlook.
It’s one of the most beautiful places on the entire Highlands Trail within NJ. Once it makes it’s way from the Wyanokies south, it has far less overlooks, but this one is a gem.

Jack at the same spot some nine years later :D

We took some time for a break at the overlook before continuing on. The section ahead of this one weaves around through woods like crazy.
There are many crossing trails that go all over the place through these woods.
Back around 2000, when I had a day that no one would show up for the hike, I spend a solo day hiking all of the trails I could get on before dark. They were all marked white, or with other odd tin can lids or whatever. I ended up somehow over in Tranquility area, and then came all the way back. Mind you, this was before I had a cell phone or a GPS. There were no recognizable landmarks for me. I just had to go. I recall stopping at a spring for water, because I was out and getting dehydrated.

View on Allamuchy Mountain

When Bob Moss laid out the Highlands Trail, he made a route that weaved around, and barely utilized any of the existing trails. This helped him to curb the abundance of ATVs the hiker would encounter while following the Highlands Trail. Bob would come up with great routes that would be nearly impossible for an ATV to traverse.
He had not used GPS on his route, and did his measurements with a wheel. When we did that first hike with Bob, Rich Pace was the first to GPS the route. I remember Bob being surprised at the circuitous route his trail took.
Still, it was the best route, and quite beautiful. We continued along the mountain, stopping for one regrouping before the descent to the Sussex Branch.

Old abutment, likely Sussex Mine Railroad

When we got to the bottom, we first emerged on the narrow right of way of the original Sussex Mine Railroad. It deviates in this area from the later locomotive railroad in the area north of Jefferson Lake.
We turned left on it to emerge at the Sussex Branch next to the small waterfall on the inlet to Jefferson Lake. Michele met up with us here.
We turned left to follow the Sussex Branch to the north. Soon, we passed a wetland on the left, and another stone remnant was visible. I believe this too was part of the original Sussex Mine Railroad. Interestingly enough, although they follow almost the same route, the later railroad is probably more off of the original right of way than on.

Sussex Mine Railroad abutment

We continued to the north, and I pointed out other places where the Sussex Mine Railroad right of way deviates from the later locomotive route.
Beyond a wetland, bridge abutments complete with a wooden bracing still exist to the left of the trail. The wood is likely from a later use as a road I would imagine, but could be related to the railroad. Also, there is a large cut through which the old Sussex Branch passes. I pointed out how the original mine railroad circumvented this obstacle on a separate right of way to the east of it.
The trail skirted a swamp area to the east of us, and then came out at a road crossing on the south side of Cranberry Lake.

Serious silliness

We did our group shot at the edge of Cranberry Lake, and then continued along the shore to the north. There used to be a station along the edge of Cranberry Lake, a once resort destination.
We continued to the north just a bit to where there is a commuter lot built on the old railroad bed. Across the street is a mini mart and deli, which was the spot I had chosen as our lunch stop.
We went in for drinks and sandwiches and stuff. I was immediately happy that they’d had Cream O Land chocolate milk, one of the best you’ll find. I think our group cleaned them out of their inventory on this.

Map showing old rail alignments from Waterloo toward Andover

Someone got a sandwich, and i twas looking quite good, so I too indulged. Kellie treated me to mine, and we all hung out outside and ate. It was a pretty good temperature and there wasn’t really any wind at this point coming in from the lake.
Once we were finished, we headed to back across and to the north on the old Sussex Branch. Cindy had to cut out early, around here, and the rest of us made our way to the former home of Waving Willy, a guy who sat along Rt 206 waving at everyone for years. The trail that intersects with Sussex Branch here is named after him.
We followed the right of way intimately close to Rt 206 in this section ahead. The highway was expanded at some point and had much overtaken the old rail bed. It used to be so tight that your shoulders would scrape up against the walls going by it, but now it was cut back and crushed stone base was added to make it much easier.
The trail crossed over a connecting road to Whitehall Hill Road and continued past a washout area.

Justin and I being silly. Photo by Kellie

This area was known as Whitehall. Whitehall Hill Road follows the right of way on the west, and then the old Morris and Sussex Turnpike, with Rt 206 on the east.
After the washout, we passed over an old original Sussex Railroad stone culvert. We couldn’t really see how awesome the structure was from on top of it. It is locally known as the “hole in the wall”. Just beyond, there is a billboard facing the northbound Rt 206 that I’ve always liked to climb onto and wave at traffic. Justin and I went out and climbed onto this one again. There was surprisingly not much traffic on the highway, and I don’t think anyone even honked at us this time around.

Historic image of Sussex Branch passing below Lackawanna Cutoff

We continued north to where the Sussex Branch passes under the former Lackawanna Cutoff by way of a large concrete culvert completed in 1911.

Lackawanna Cutoff overpass today

I had to of course stop and sing a little bit under the culvert. Lordy Byron climbed up the rocks on the west side to have a closer look at all the graffiti.

Historic view of the overpass

The Lackawanna Cutoff cut a huge corner on the old Lackawann main line which used to have to go south to Washington, then east through Hackettstown and to Landing where it joined the older main line. The completion of this route was the largest cut and fill project in world history. We took a quick break at the culvert here.
It’s interesting that we were only a day walk from Hainesburg, but that was still a few hikes away on our 911 Trail series.

VAPE NATION!

There was tons of graffiti under the culvert. It’s really a sign of the times with the stuff you see in these things.
We laughed at one particular one that read “Vape Nation”. So many have quit smoking and moved to the e-cigarettes and vape things. It’s trendiness finding it’s way to the graffiti made me feel like an outsider judging the world for it’s blatant expression of trend.
I wonder what the graffiti had said some twenty years ago, and how much less there was.
The Lackawanna Cutoff ended service in 1979, and the last train to pass through was an Amtrack inspection one around ‘82. The tracks were ripped up soon after.

Watch your mouth!

We continued laughing and carrying on about the graffiti, including some motherly advice, and realized that much of the group had gone quite a ways ahead of us while we were climbing around on signs and rocks and such.
We continued on to the north of the old culvert, which soon approached the town of Andover and the crossing of High Street, directly along Rt 206. It’s not obvious where the trail goes at this point because it’s right along people’s back yards.

Sussex Branch culvert being constructed

The Lackawanna Cutoff was the largest of many cutoff projects undertaken by the Lackawanna Railroad under it’s president, William Truesdale between around 1909-1913.

Sussex Branch Culvert today

We continued into town to where the rest of the group was waiting at the crossing of Brighton Ave, Rt 517. There is an old railroad switch box at the corner.

Crossing in Andover

As stated earlier, the Old Andover iron works were established in present day Waterloo by Allen and Turner. The name of the town of Andover dates back to the early William Penn grants, and “Andover” was associated with a very large tract of land north of Waterloo Village.
The name is taken from Mr. Turner’s home in Hampshire, England. The mines still exist and are on the northeast side of town.
When the railroad was first developed, the mule drawn route was to the east of present Rt 206. It can still be seen to some degree behind some of the businesses in the downtown.

Map from Lowenthal and Greenberg's "Lackawanna Railroad in Northwest NJ"

I had learned all about the area of Andover and the Sussex Railroad from my favorite book growing up, “The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwest New Jersey” by Larry Lowenthal and William T. Greenberg. My grandfather gave it to me as a gift after I’d asked more questions than he could answer.

We continued along the rail bed to the north a bit more, and soon Tom and a few others had to cut out a bit early. They had spotted cars in Andover earlier in the day.

The northbound connecting track to the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad in Andover

The place they had cut out was about where the Sussex Railroad had it’s spur to the Andover Mines. The earlier mule drawn railroad joins this route just east of where it breaks away from the later main line.

Former Andover Junction.

Just ahead was Andover Junction. This really looks like nothing at all today. To the right, a connecting track right of way, visible to the keen eye that is looking for it, breaks off to the right.
Just ahead of that, we cross the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad main line, completed through around 1886, but almost nothing is visible of this former route. It’s rather interesting that the tracks were removed on this line in the late 1980s (I believe 1986 at this point), and it is completely overgrown and barely recognizable, while the Sussex Branch at this point was gone by the late sixties.

1932 view of Andover Junction. Lehigh and Hudson River RR north straight ahead, Sussex Branch south to the right

The section of Sussex Branch we continued on across Rt 206 was extended from the original route in 1866 to Newton. It was a century later, 1966, when passenger service ceased to this location.
After crossing 206, we saw one of the spurs to an old iron mine to the right. We then passed over a causeway across part of White’s Pond.

Whites Pond, Kittatinny Valley State Park

The next section is a nice long stretch, with the only paved road crossing being the entrance to the Kittatinny Valley State Park, Goodale Road. It was on this stretch that I came in first on the “Pack Test” for NJ Forest Fire Service in early 2010.

Sussex Branch in Kittatinny Valley State Park

It was a relaxing route through nice woods as we headed to the north. We saw more people on this section of the trail than anywhere else during the course of the hike.

Slate Cut

We soon passed through the Slate Cut. There was a nice historic marker at this point I had not seen in the past denoting a bad snow drift that occurred at the site in 1857, where a great many citizens of Newton got together to dig it out so the trains could get through.
We continued from here across Yates Avenue, and then across Newton-Sparta Road where there would have at one time been a bridge. We regrouped again here to continue on, because I would be taking a different route than the actual designated trail. There was no good signage here saying where to go anyway.

Sussex Branch nearing Newton

We headed up hill and soon picked up the right of way again above Drake’s Pond, which was below us to the right. We continued from here north to Hicks Avenue.
Officially, the Sussex Branch Trail turns right to follow Hicks Avenue from here. When the Sussex Branch was first built into Newton, it broke off to the right just before this crossing. This is why much of Hicks Avenue is totally flat today: it is built on the original Sussex Railroad bed. The route that actually goes into Newton, sometimes referred to as the “Newton Cutoff”, is in fact not a cutoff at all, but an additional mileage. It was of greater benefit to have the railroad go through town than circumnavigate it altogether.

Historic image of Newton Station

The town of Newton finds it’s roots in the 1700s, before the railroad was ever a thought. First tracts were settled in the early 1700s, and by mid 1700s the area was developed and named “Newtown” after Newtown in Queens, New York, where the Petit brothers, who were prominent landholders, originated.
We had to turn left down to Sparta Avenue and walk the parallel road because a private land owner had blocked the former trail ahead. We used to just go straight through and then down a slope where the fill had been removed near a rental center.
We stopped for another food break at the QuickChek on the left side for some good snacks. I got some of those pizza bites which filled a needed space. While there, my friend from the park stopped by on his own car at the end of his shift, and said “You’re STILL walking??”. I think he scared everyone by telling them we still had a long way to go!

Merriam Shoe Factory historic postcard image

We headed out of the Quick Chek and back up to the railroad bed which is now parking lots of businesses through town. It’s rather obvious where the railroad used to go behind apartments built out of former industries.

Rail bed at former Merriam Shoe Factory

One of the historic buildings that were now apartments was the former Merriam Shoe Factory. Even the old stack for the factory was still in place.

Entrance to Newton Meadows

We walked to the north from there with no trail markers. Obviously the route was heavily used by cyclists because it even has the Belgian block removed from the ends of the lot to allow for a more pleasant jump off of the pavement.
We crossed over a couple of streets and followed the nicely mowed right of way. There was a tiny model of a house on a vacant yard to the right, and I wondered if maybe there used to be a house that looked like that right there. When I say tiny, it was actually large enough for one person to fit into. Just sort of interesting.

Foot bridge in the meadows

We soon entered the Newton Meadows. The railroad bed was badly washed out from the runoff from the roads flowing to the meadows.
This was always an interesting spot to me because one of my books describes this as having been a forbidden area, where few photographs were ever taken. The land is apparently not part of the state park, but it is completely un-developeable, because it is a huge wetland. There were no signs saying to stay out of it, and it’s been used as part of the Sussex Branch Trail for forever. I consider it to be the most beautiful spot on the entire former rail line, and it’s part that is not officially part of the trail.

Beautiful Newton Meadows

As we reached the center of the meadows, the sun was starting to go down which left a beautiful hue on the water. It was also great to see that someone had taken it upon themself to build a very nice wooden bridge over the missing beam bridge.

Newton Meadows bridge

When I started hiking in the area, there was no bridge here at all. We always had to wade it. In fact, there had never been a bridge at the spot until Jillane and I went back to the spot and found a ramshackle bridge there a couple of years ago.

Ramshackle bridge that used to be in Newton Meadows

This time, there was a beaver dam across the site. That made the water to the east side of the trail far deeper than it was on previous visits. When we had to wade across, it was some of the coldest water one could ever cross.

Newton Meadows at the bridge site in 2003

Newton Meadows are the head waters of the Paulins Kill. Descriptions refer to this as the South Branch of the Paulins Kill.
Before the area was inundated by beaver activity, it was always amazing that the water of the meadows in most places was warm, but if we were to go into the water where it flowed beneath the railroad bed, it was always freezing cold to the point where we could barely stand it. This is because the Paulins Kill bubbles up out of the earth just to the east of the trail and then flows into the rest of the meadows. It was a favorite little spot to cool my feet on a Summer day. We wouldn’t be doing that this time.

Sussex Branch at Newton Meadows

When the Lackawanna Railroad was abandoned through this stretch, I recall reading that the wooden beam bridge across the center of the meadows was the only such bridge remaining on the entire railroad’s inventory of land holdings.
We cointinued north across the meadows, and even when we got to the dry land to the east of us, we continued to have beautiful meadow views to the west of the trail. The sun was going down, and the colors reflecting on the water were outstandingly beautiful.

Sunset over Newton Meadows

Soon, we came to where the official trail route joins from the right. We were now parallel with Hicks Ave which becomes Warbasse Junction Road. The surrounding area was now state wildlife management area, while the trail is part of Kittatinny Valley State Park.
The meadows are still to the west of the trail even after the trail joins, which afforded us even more great sunset views in the last section before we reached our end point at Warbasse Junction.
Just before the junction, we passed another junction to the right known as Franklin Junction.
The Sussex Railroad was extended toward Newton and it’s terminus at Branchville in 1866. It was once an intention to continue the line to the PA state line by running it through Culver’s Gap, but Branchville was the terminus, never to be extended.
In 1868, the Franklin Branch was completed, and it’s junction is a somewhat obscure right of way to the right side of the trail (east) before we got to Warbasse. The line was created to reach the Franklin Furnace as well as the zinc mines. We crossed over Warbasse Junction Road, and then soon reached the crossing of the two railroads.

Sunset on Newton Meadows

The area historically got the name Warbasse Junction later on, while the Sussex line originally jused used the name “NYS&W Crossing”. This was the crossing of the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad, which was completed through the area in 1881.

Sussex Branch map

To the east, NYS&W heads to Jersey City, and to the west it terminated at a part of East Stroudsburg PA known as Gravel Place until 1898 when it built it’s own subsidiary line to Wilkes Barre PA.
The 911 Trail switches at this point to the NYS&W, which is now Paulins Kill Valley Trail. We turned left only a very short distance to reach the parking area where we had met in the morning.
People dropped out during the course of the trip, but most did the majority if not the entire thing.
This concluded the tenth 911 Trail hike. It was, as always, a great time, and I have since formulated the entire next year of hikes in this series to carry us toward Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The series continues to bring out more participants as we near the end of the northern NJ segment of the designated route. There are only two more hikes fully within New Jersey remaining in the series, most of which will be on the old NYS&W right of way.

It’s been a wonderful experience for me to conduct this series of hikes because it’s been a bit of a trip down memory lane, and an opportunity to impart some history along the way that can only be interpreted by those who have experienced the sites by foot already.
I hope this series and our other Metrotrails hikes continue to attract more like minded, free spirited, outdoors loving folks to our extended walking family.