Hike #257 12/10/6
Group shot, Walnutport
12/10/6
Lehigh Valley Railroad; Slatington-Allentown with Scott "Tea Biscuit" Helbing, Jason Itell, Ira Rubenstein, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Larry Butler, Mike Salender, Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Julie Strohmaier (and Petie the dog), Russ Moyer, Ron Phelps, Gerry Martiniak, and Jim Delotto
Group shot
Walnutport NJ
Walnutport NJ
Lehigh Canal at Walnutport
Lehigh Gap from the bridge in Walnutport
Lehigh Gap from the bridge in Walnutport
The group in Slatington
Former LV railroad out of Slatington
Former LV railroad south of Slatington
Former site of LNE rail bridge
Former site of LNE rail bridge
Former site of LNE rail bridge
Along former LV railroad south of Slatington
Looking down from a signal
Abandoned structure along former LV rr tracks
In the abandoned structure
Teepee along the former LV tracks
Little cave along the LV tracks
Little cave along the LV tracks
Ice along an old rail cut
Messing with ice
Messing with ice.
Lehigh River from a rock outcrop
Former LV railroad
Lehigh River
Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad
Ruins of Treichler Dam
Ruins of Treichler Dam
Lehigh River from Treichler Dam ruins
Treichler Dam ruins
Treichler Dam ruins
Former LV railroad
Along former Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad
Old sign along the rail bed
Culvert
Forget that he's on a log. Note what Jason is wearing. Okay, now note the date on this hike journal!
Lehigh River at a possible dam site
Ruins along Former LV railroad
Ruins. Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad ruins
Former LV railroad ruins
Along the abandoned Lehigh Valley Railroad right of way. A few years later this would become a trail.
Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad
Former LV railroad, Cementon
Lehigh River
Bridge at Northampton PA
Cement furnaces in Coplay PA
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Thomas Iron Works Ruins
Old rail trestle over the Lehigh.
Former LV railroad, busting up old junk, including TVs.
Former LV railroad
Cave along Former LV railroad
This hike would take us along the next section of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad, an abandonment between Slatington and Allentown PA, though the hike would begin in Walnutport and end in Whitehall. The meeting place for this one was the Borders Bookstore at the Whitehall Mall. Some of the participants had trouble finding it, but all found it as far as I know, even if they had to get assistance from me on the phone! Joining for this one were Tea Biscuit, Jason Itell, Larry Butler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Ira Rubenstein, Julie Stroemaier, who brought Kyle Gruter-Curham's (her boyfriend) dog Petie the Pitbull, Mike Salender, Ron Phelps, Gerry Martiniak, Jim Delotto, and Russ Moyer. Russ lived in the area so he helped a lot picking out where to park and points of interest to stop. After meeting at the Whitehall Mall near Borders, we moved our cars over closer to the end point of the hike, at the Lehigh Valley Mall near Chuck E Cheese's. We then shuttled mine, Gerry's, and Mike's cars north to Walnutport and the Superfresh Supermarket, dropping Delotto's car off along the way at Laury's Station. When we reached Walnutport, everyone had to run in to use the restrooms, so it took a while to gather everyone. We soon walked down the streets and across the bridge over the Lehigh River, with nice views of Lehigh Gap. The only problem was there was a chain link fence blocking the view from being as good as it could have been. When we got to the other side, I was delighted to find that the railroad right of way both north and our route south was now a trail in the Lehigh County Parks department. To the north, it was an improved surface with crushed stone, while to the south it was unimproved but still public. A couple of gates with a sign saying "Trail" pointed us in the correct direction. We walked the right of way out of town, and there was still some rails in here and there. A junction came in on the right, which was once a connector with the abandoned Lehigh and New England, which had a spur that came across the Lehigh near here. There was a lot of ballast rock left on the right of way for just about the entire trip, making for very rough footing. As we walked out of proximity from the town, we came to where the LNE Railroad had it's bridge over the river. There was a line of piers across. We continued south, next passing by some interesting stone ruins of some sort built into the often high slate cliffs. As we made our way south, we came to a spot where a dam once spanned the river. Russ said he thought it had been washed out in the 1980s. We were able to walk about halfway across the river on the purged dam, where we had a good break. I tried drinking some Sherry I'd bought at the liquor store cheap, but it ended up tasting rather bad. When I gave Tea Biscuit a taste he spit it right out, and Guillermo said it was rather bad as well. Fortunitely, Guillermo saved the day as always by having a bottle of Spumanti. The right of way remained clear and good to walk for a long time. The first questionable part was when we reached where people had put cars over the right of way. We walked through with no problem. I was a bit concerned that we might have a problem with dogs coming out of the house, but they all stayed put, and Petie did not cause any problems, though he was pulling Julie pretty hard for the first half of the hike. We passed under the bridge for Rt 145, then made our way onto a more pleasant path for the right of way that was more of a cinder base. We continued south to the area of Laurie's station, where Delotto immediately got the feeling we were near his car. He has always had a great sense of direction and distance. Russ confirmed that we were in the place, and Delotto cut back up toward his car through someone's yard, and fortunitely no one bothered him. We took a break along the Lehigh River at the outlet of what was probably Fells Creek. We stopped for a while; Gerry and I chatted for a bit and I walked in the creek while Petie bathed and drank, and Jason climbed up a broken tree to sit on it's fallen across the creek.
We continued south across a small road, and some people had extended their yards across the right of way. We quietly crossed and continued south, passing the site of some sort of large structure near the site of the Laury Dam, another one that had been purged. Ron thought the building might have been an engine house because there was something round that could have been a turntable piece. He and Guillermo climbed on it a bit, then we continued south. We continued south more closely parallel to the river and eventually came into Cementon and crossed Rt 329. Ron had the good idea that we should walk out across the bridge to get the view of the river. We did so, then turned back continueing south the right of way became much wider and continued this way for the rest of the trip. As we reached the north side of the town of Coplay, Russ pointed out the furnaces that were where Portland Cement was originally made. They were originally enclosed (except for the tops of the stacks of course) in a large mill, but now all that remained standing were the ovens and stacks. There was a concrete building adjacent to this, with a metal sliding door opened. I decided to go in. It was badly torn up, and there was a large excavator machine nearby. I knew the place was soon to be torn down so I took some pictures. A policeman saw me exit the building and watched me, but he did'nt bother me. We walked between some of the stacks and took a short break before returning to the LV Railroad bed. The former Ironton Railroad, now a paved trail, came in from the west soon. Not far from here we came to an abandoned railroad bridge over the Lehigh and the right of way we were on. This was probably one time part of the Ironton Railroad. We decided to climb up and walk onto it. It was rather nice and in good shape. We turned back and continued south. Gerry, Tea Biscuit, Ira, and Mike continued ahead of us. The rest of us continued walking, cutting off the right of way again to the left to check out some more ruins of the cement places. There was one building we went to check out that had cement stairs ascending. I reassured everyone I would have to do another hike that would focus in on exploring this area much more. We met a group of paintball players in there, who let us know there was another team ready to attack them and we might want to move it we don't want to get shot. We continued on and went into another interesting building, very open with a metal truss roof, which had only trusses remaining. It was fantastic. Jason and Larry were screwing around with a board on the floor, which was unnerving because for all I knew there could have been a deep pit under it! Also in this area was another abandoned rail bridge across the Lehigh that was missing a bunch of ties. We opted not to cross it at this time. We soon came into the Whitehall area and tracks resumed to our right, though overgrown. The line was originally double tracked, one line being abandoned earlier than the other. There were ties parallel to the path we walked most of the trip. We passed under a couple roads, and after passing under Race Street time went by quickly to the Rt 22 underpass. Similarly, it went by quickly heading south from here. The tracks became less overgrown, and it was even recently cut out more around it, as trains must still use this section from time to time. Guillermo found a little cave in a wall and climbed into it. Joe Tag gave me a call on my cell phone coming home from a Ski trip, wanting to know how the trip was going. I told everyone he said "hi". As we continued, there was an industrial site to our left. We could also see the abandoned rail trestle to the left that Guillermo, Tea Biscuit, and I jumped off of last Summer. We'd thought we passed it for a while, until we saw it. Ahead, the Union Blvd Bridge was visible now. This was where Skyler and I turned back on our hike in the Summer of 2005, and when we reached this point I had now walked the entire Lehigh Valley Railroad for the most part from Perth Amboy to Slatington! Mike was falling behind, so Guillermo walked back to show him a shortcut to the road. The rest of us continued up the sidewalk leading to the top of the bridge. Russ took a few with him along the roads while Ron, Tea Biscuit, Ira, Julie, Jason, Larry, and I stopped in at the produce market on the corner at the top. Ron got some fruit, and Tea Biscuit and I planned on getting their Lehigh Valley Farms Chocolate Milk (consequently, we passed their distribution warehouse just before turning off the tracks) but it was all expired from December 8th. We left here and walked up the streets, reaching Rt 22 at an overpass. I waited for the rest of the group on the north side of the bridge, and Tea Biscuit had stopped at another store and bought me a LV Farms Chocolate Milk that was'nt expired. Mike and Guillermo were the only two further behind. I walked with Mr. Buckett a bit, and then told Guillermo and Mike the way we were going. I went ahead and reached the Lehigh Valley Mall. The others took a shortcut I did'nt know about. It was great to be back at the cars. Russ drove Mike and Gerry back to their cars, and Julie and Ira decided to go home as it was getting late. Ron, Guillermo, Mr. Buckett, Jason, Larry, Tea Biscuit, and I decided to walk a bit further across the mall lot to Chili's for dinner. I stuffed up on Nacho Chips and salsa, and Tea Biscuit gave me his fries. I also had a shake. I was surprisingly not very hungry. Everyone else had a meal, and Guillermo spotted me some money as my cash was in a pack back in my car (now it's written down so I won't forget to pay him back!). By the time we left, we were hurting pretty bad, having sat for so long. Tea Biscuit and I were probably in the worst shape. My left foot was bothering me something terrible, but we'd had a good time. We said our goodbyes and Mr. Buckett drove Tea Biscuit and I back up to Walnutport.
PICS!!!
Please not that unfortunitely, many of my pictures from this hike were lost as a result of the negligence of an employee at Mansfield Wal Mart. 111 images from two hikes were lost. Some of the pictures, which I had printed out, were scanned for inclusion on this disc, but all too many were lost. All that remains of these pictures are the thumbnails from the index prints, which give a basic idea of what the pictures were of.Photos are still numbered accordingly, but you may have to refer to the index image to see it.
1.) View downtown Walnutport2.) Walnutport historical sign3.) The Lehigh Canal looking north from Walnutport toward Lehigh Gap4.) View of Lehigh Gap from the bridge between Walnutport and Slatington5.) Another nice view of Lehigh Gap6.) The group in Slatington on the former Lehigh Valley Railroad; from left, Julie, Russ, Ira, Delotto, Tea Biscuit, Mr. Buckett, Guillermo, Larry, Gerry, Ron, Jason, and Mike7.) Another one of the group with me in it8.) On the right of way in Slatington9.) Delotto and the group on the right of way in Slatington area10.) Site of former Lehigh and New England bridge over the Lehigh11.) Another site of the LNE bridge piers near Slatington12.) Jason and Ira along the right of way, which I took from a signal tower13.) Ron from up on the tower14.) Ruins of a structure along the right of way15.) Delotto in the structure16.) Ron with a teepee someone set up along the railbed17.) Tea Biscuit in a weird cut in the wall along the railbed18.) Beautiful ice cycles along the railbed19-20.) Jason and Guillermo messing around with the ice21.) View upstream on the Lehigh22.) The railbed heading south23.) View downstream along the Lehigh24.) Nice rock cut along the LV Railbed25.) Continueing south26.) On the railroad bed with ties still in place27.) View of the ruins of the washed out dam, maybe the Treichler Dam28.) Another view of the dam29.) View south along the Lehigh from the dam site30.) Larry on the dam site31.) View of the dam site looking northeast32.) Another old rail era structure33.) Lovely barn near Treiclers34.) The railroad bed south of the underpass of Rt 14535.) An old railroad crossing sign north of Laury's Station36.) Creek underpass at Laury's Station area37.) Jason on a tree along the creek38.) Possibly another old dam site along the river, Old Laury Dam39.) What might have at one time been a turntable!40.) Ron on the ruins near that turntable site41.) Guillermo crossing through the ruins42.) More of the ruins43.) Julie and Petie on the right of way heading south44.) Along the right of way nearing Cementon45.) Nice bridge to our west along the right of way46.) Nearing Cementon, across from the town of Northampton47.) View north on the railroad bed at Cementon48.) View south along the Lehigh from the bridge at Cementon49.) Hangin' out on the bridge50.) View north from the bridge (refer to 50 index for numbers 50-57, 59-75 refer to the 50 index sheet.)51.) The right of way looking south from Cementon52.) A structure in Cementon along the right of way53-54.) Continueing south55-57.) In Coplay PA, where the first Portland Cement was made58.) Nice view of the brick furnaces where the cement was first made59.) Another similar view60.) An historical marker. Good luck reading it though.61-63.) An old concrete building in the process of being demolished. Shame I lost these.64.) Another view of the furnaces65.) Taking a break along the LV right of way66.) View of the right of way67.) A bridge crossing for the Ironton Railroad68-74.) Views on and from the Ironton Railroad Bridge in Coplay75.) Jason on the Ironton RR Bridge (for numbers 75-77, 80, 81, 84-86, 91, 92, 97-99 refer to index 75.)76-77.) View of old cement works78.) View of an old cement building79.) Inside the concrete structure80-81.) Inside the concrete structure82.) More wandering around inside the building83.) Looking up at where the roof used to be84-85.) Yet more views in the concrete building86.) View of the right of way87.) Another view of the outside of the structure88.) Ron and Guillermo on another concrete structure89.) View down from the top of one of the structures90.) Mr. Buckett alongside one of the little buildings in the area91.) Crossing a road as we get closer to Allentown92.) More of the right of way93.) Crossing another old rail bridge over the Lehigh. Too badly beat up though.94.) Tea Biscuit smashing up an old TV in Allentown area95.) The group along the right of way nearing Allentown PA, with tracks now in place96.) Guillermo in a little cave along the tracks in Allentown97-98.) Views along the right of way in Allentown99.) Approaching the bridge we were to ascend at100.) Tea Biscuit with the Lehigh Valley Dairies (who makes our favorite chocolate milk) distribution center in Allentown (see 100 index for pics 100-105.)101.) Hard to tell, but that's the bridge102.) Walking alongside the bridge in Allentown103.) On the street in Allentown104.) Guillermo with a sign advertising "Meat Bingo"! What?105.) The group walking back to our cars after dinner in Allentown
My pictures got lost at Wal Mart, all I had was this card that showed the ones that are missing forever.
My pictures got lost at Wal Mart, all I had was this card that showed the ones that are missing forever.
My pictures got lost at Wal Mart, all I had was this card that showed the ones that are missing forever.
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