Hike #260 12/19/6
12/19/6 Wharton/Dover area railroads with Ryan "Peeps" Short
Peeps on the W&N bridge
My next hike was another new scouting trip on a Tuesday, which would be something I could not feel totally comfortable bringing regular club groups on. I would scout railroads in the area of Dover and Wharton NJ. Joining me this time was Ryan "Peeps" Short, who had not been on a hike with me since August of 2004!
Starting off in Dover
Dover, where we almost got run down by a train.
Dover NJ
Former CNJ line from the M&E line in Dover
Near Wharton NJ
Along the tracks near Wharton
Lake near Dover
Along the tracks near Dover
Lake near Dover
Lake Junction
Tracks heading toward Hercules
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Moth Ball Rail Yard
Former Wharton and Northern Railroad
W&E railroad
W&E Railroad
W&E Railroad
W&E Railroad
W&E Railroad
W&E Railroad
Old burnt trestle over Rockaway River
Old burnt trestle over Rockaway River
Old burnt trestle over Rockaway River
Old burnt trestle over Rockaway River
Never completed development near Rt 15
Fire hydrant at the incomplete development
Incomplete abandoned development
View toward quarry areas
Wharton and Northern underpass near Lake Junction
Former CNJ line near Lake Junction
W&E Railroad
Former CNJ line near Lake Junction
Former CNJ line near Lake Junction
Former CNJ line near Lake Junction
Former CNJ line near Lake Junction
Former High Bridge Branch of the Jersey Central, quarried away
Sunset over the quarried area
Sunset over the quarry area near Wharton
Former Morris Canal locktender's house ruins at Hugh Force Park, Wharton
CNJ High Bridge Branch approaching Wharton
Former CNJ right of way in Wharton where a house was just built over it.
Former CNJ right of way near Wharton
Former CNJ tracks near Dover
Former CNJ tracks near Dover
Former CNJ tracks near Dover
Downtown Dover at night on CNJ tracks
In the Wharton Shop Rite
He had just returned from an Air Force position in Kuwait and was back for the holidays. We used my car and drove east to the Dover area, and began searching for a safe place to park for a loop hike. I chose the Shop Rite on Rt 15 just north of Dover. Immediately after parking, we visited the Shop Rite, which had a liquor store in side. We wandered looking for interesting drinks, and Peeps bought a few things as gifts for his family. I purchased a bottle of wine for this trip for $2.99! We walked back to my car to put Peeps' drinks in my trunk. We then made our way through the parking lot south. We walked behind the buildings and then cut out to Rt 15 walking south. We stopped in at a little deli along the road because Peeps wanted a sandwich, but there were tons of people inside on line, and one old guy slowly cutting meats. After a while of waiting, we decided to wait and get food at the next store we reached. We continued down hill and stopped in the next place where Peeps got a Pork Roll, egg and cheese sandwich. We continued down hill where I stopped in what I believe was a Krauszers store for a chocolate milk. We continued over some railroad tracks, then reached the former Morris and Essex Tracks. We turned west on the tracks, hurrying out of site of the crossing as not to have trouble with police or anyone that would tell us we were trespassing. We made our way along quickly under a road underpass wich was narrow because these tracks were very actively used by NJ Transit. Just as we were reaching the other side of the underpass, a train came barreling toward us. We were able to get off to the side of the tracks just in time. We hurried by and soon were able to walk on a grassy area to the right of the tracks where we could'nt really be bothered for trespassing. Another train headed off in the other direction while we were below the tracks. We soon had to get back on the tracks and continued west. We had to cross a couple trestles over the route, and hurried across as to not be hit by a train mid way. This would not have been too bad even if a train had come because it was double tracked and we could have simply moved onto the track opposite the one a train was on. We did not pass a train on any of the bridges, fortunitely. We continued along the side of a beautiful lake called Washington Pond. I had been looking for where the CNJ Railroad tracks used to cross, but I could not see a sign of them. After crossing Washington Pond on the Rockaway River, we continued west and were able to walk along the Kenvil-Berkshire Road. We soon made our way across the tracks to another road parallel, then back onto the tracks finally where we crossed another part of the Rockaway River on Baker Mill Pond. We then reached Lake Junction where the DL&W Chester Branch, the CNJ, the Wharton and Northern, and nearby the Ogden Mine/Lake Hopatcong Railroad joined. We turned left on the parallel track that used to be the Wharton and Northern (and before that, Morris County Railroad) passing by some abandoned engines. We got the wine back out here, now being out of sight. We climbed around on the abandoned trains, probably property of the Morristown and Erie Railroad, before moving on. We continued on the overgrown former W&N under the NJ Transit tracks, then under Rt 80 parallel to Berkshire Valley Road. We made our way out to the road where the tracks had been obliterated into people's yards. We continued until we could see rails again, now breaking away from the road. We decided to make our way in to the tracks even though it went closely between two houses. We continued through some weeds leading us out to a road called "Little Lane". On the other side, the there was a path following alongside the tracks which made walking easy on us. We continued on and soon crossed Mill Road, with the path continueing, still walkeable on the other side. We continued through woods reacing a bridge over the Rockaway River. Unfortunitely, the bridge had been torched. Many of the ties had been burnt away. Still, we were able to walk on the rails, still in place over the river. This was another one we joked was an "Ultimate Sobriety Test". We continued to the other side and through the woods. There were some foundations we passed to the right at one point, and we passed by some beautiful swamp land to our left. It was amazing that the water level was almost as high as the tracks. This was probably due to Beaver activity. We continued on and reached a new looking road, with some curbs on them. It looked as though it was a developement that was now defunct. We could see a large excavator moving in the distance, but was probably part of a quarry area which was also visible nearby. I crossed the road and reached another road, looking for the continueation of the tracks with no luck. This road continued to our left parallel with the other road with sort of a median in between. Peeps spotted the fact that the tracks continued on in the median, so we continued on along the roads. We reached a couple other side roads, with man holes in place, sticking up from the ground, seemingly ready to be paved. There were some more pieces of equipment above us to the right, and the tracks had been removed at one point to make way for a well of some sort. We continued straight and reached Rt 15 at a gas station. We stopped in at the gas station where I got a Snickers Bar. We turned back from here on the tracks again to the south because across 15 it enters the Picittinny Arsenal, where we would not be able to walk it further anyway. We headed back across the Rockaway River and Mill Road, and then turned right on Little Lane to Berkshire Valley Road rather than cutting through yards again. We got back to Lake Junction and walked out on an abandonment of the Central Railroad of NJ across County Rt 642. As I recalled, the previous visit here, there were some tracks on this right of way at first, but this time they were gone. The rails resumed on the other side of the highway. We continued along, and met a land surveyor on the fill. We asked him about the area, but he did'nt know too much. He told us that ahead the right of way was owned by a quarry. We came to a junction ahead and turned left where the other right of way went right. We turned to the east and reached another junction with the main portion of the Jersey Central Railroad's High Bridge Branch, the next section I had not walked. We turned right to walk as far as we could to finish the section. It led us to the edge of a quarried area, right where the junction used to be with the the line we had just broke off of not five minutes earlier. There was a concrete slab between where the tracks layed, which must have been some sort of rail related structure. Once we went as far as we could, we turned around to follow the remains of the CNJ north and east. The right of way was in great shape, far up on a shelf above a swampy pond type area, which I soon realized was part of the Morris Canal. We passed the ruins of what must have been a lock tenders house, then there was a beautifully restored and watered section of the canal below us. We continued in to the town of Wharton where a house was being built on the right of way. Since there was construction going on, we assumed the home was not occupied so we cut through the yard and around. There were some workers there we asked about the right of way, but they knew nothing about it. We had to walk down the driveway and walk the nearest road parallel. We could see some rail fill in the yards to our right, so we knew we were on the right track. We soon came to where there was some concrete ruins along either side of the road, near the municipal building. I assumed the tracks had crossed here, but we decided to visit the municipal building to check with them. The first person in front had not clue, nor did the next two people we talked to. We finally met a woman who could tell us about it, and sure enough we were right about where the crossing was. She directed us to where the tracks used to cross Main Street in Wharton. We walked down the street and found the right of way, then crossed the road. There was a sidewalk following where the right of way was, with even it's own footbridge across the active NJ Transit (former Morris and Essex). As it turned out, this was part of a rail trail. We soon reached where a junction was with the Mt Hope Mineral Railroad. A bridge ahead had even been decked over. Just before this bridge, the CNJ continued to the right. We walked the right of way with tracks still in place at first through weeds, reaching some sort of an industrial park area. We walked along a road in the area, and passed signs saying "not trespassing beyond this point". We ignored them and hurried through to an area under construction where we decided to cut into the woods to find the next section of the right of way. The tracks were quite obliterated through the industrial park. We could not find any sign of them, and headed out into the woods. It was beginning to get dark, and we were walking through some sort of swamp land stepping from bog to bog, and finally decided to turn back and get out of there. Peeps brought be back to reality by reminding me that we would not want to be trudging through the swamp in the dark. We made our way back to higher ground close to the buildings, and soon reached tracks. The tracks were in a bit of a cut, and it appeared the cut had been filled in up ahead to make way for the industrial park. We continued on the tracks passing where there was a connection with the NJ Transit tracks, then continueing east. We crossed a small trestle parallel to the NJ Transit one we'd crossed earlier and soon made our way into Dover again. There were a couple people actually walking the tracks ahead of us to our surprise as well. When we reached Rt 15, we turned back uphill on the road back toward the Shop Rite where we began. We went into the store to see if we could find any free cookie samples, but there were none. Peeps' feet were hurting him a lot, but he did great considering he had not hiked with me in so very long. We stopped for dinner at the Fatburger before heading back to my house.
in the mothball rail yard
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