Hike #157
Tom next to the trestles in Phillipsburg taken from the signal bridge
12/5/4
By this time I had pretty much accepted that Tea Biscuit or my other friends who had done so much scouting with me would no longer be around for new sections, and I decided I would begin re-doing all of my past hikes I had done so that AMC members could experiance them (while I would still do some new scouting hikes as well). For this hike I reposted the former Central Railroad of NJ hike from Phillipsburg to Hampton, which I had not done since 4/9/2! I posted the meeting place at Hampton Pizza in the morning, and only one participant showed up. Tom Olsen, from Bucks County PA had originally planned to do another hike, but thought this one seemed more interesting. We got in the Camaro, leaving Tom’s car at the end point and headed to Union Square, Phillipsburg. We did the same as we had in the past, walking the former Bel Del line to the trestles, and I climbed the old signal bridge.
View from the top of Green's Bridge
Former CNJ Railroad in Alpha
Former CNJ railroad, trees alongside of it in Alpha
Former CNJ railroad in Alpha
Fields along the former CNJ near Alpha
Fields along the former CNJ, Spring Valley
Spring Valley at an old CNJ culvert
Spring Valley culvert below the CNJ
Spring Valley Culvert below the CNJ
Spring Valley culvert below the CNJ
We did’nt take too much time and began following the old CNJ east. The first part, where Norfolk Southern was using it as a main freight route was easy and quick, and the first part of the abandoned part was easy as well, but that soon changed. When we reached Rt 519, it looked as overgrown as ever. We decided to take a break and head down the road to a mine mart for food and drink. We took a good amount of time, chatting with a few people before heading back to the tracks. The bridge over Rt 519 had been removed before I ever hiked it, probably when the line was abandoned in 1986. We fought through some heavy brush, and then made our way out to Rt 78, heading south and using the former Lehigh Valley Railroad bridge to cross the highway. We had to fight through more weeds to reach the CNJ right of way across a piece of gun club land. Unfortunitely, this section was far more overgrown than previously, and we decided to make our way out to the fields along the tracks. We continued on as best we could, but were not making good time at all with all of the weeds holding us back. The final straw as when we reached Still Valley. By this point previously, we were walking clear pathways used by ATVs, but now it looked completely impassable. With no other feasable way around it (that we could do in a timely fashion anyway) we decided to turn this into a loop hike. We walked a small road downhill to Still Valley, passing under a beautiful stone culvert heading north. I had dropped one of my shirts off my bag near the culvert, and did’nt realize it right away, and I had to run back for it. This road led us out to Rt 173, which we followed west to the Lopatcong Shop Rite. We continued on (I think I might have gone into the store) crossing the cemetary, then crossed Rt 519 to Strykers Road. We continued on Strykers Road to the former Morris and Essex Railroad, which we followed west back to the CNJ and Union Square where we began. The good thing about this trip was that we were able to cover a bit of new ground anyway.
Me in the cemetary in Pohatcong
Former Morris and Essex line at Phillipsburg station
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