1/21/7
Elizebeth-Dunellen with Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Joe Tag, Judy Prybyla, Hindi Schluser, and Jennifer Chen
Group shot I think in Roselle Park
My next hike would be another urban east NJ hike covering the next section of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey between Elizebeth and Dunellen, where we'd left off previously when we'd done the hike from Metuchen to Somerville. The only one to join me at the beginning, to take a train from Somerville to Elizebeth was Bill "Guillermo" Fabel. We actually got to the parking area at the station in Somerville early. I parked in a really weird parking spot with a number not consecutive with the numbers around it...strange.
The old Helbing-mobile...but look at the parking space numbers!
Looking down into Elizabeth NJ
Elizabeth NJ culvert
Elizabeth station
Elizabeth NJ
Former CNJ main line in Elizabeth
Former CNJ railroad in Elizabeth
Near Elmora Station
In the vicinity of Lorraine Station, former CNJ
Old signal bridge on former CNJ
Former Cenral Railroad of NJ heading west from Elizabeth
Bridge over former Cenral Railroad of NJ west of Elizabeth
Abandoned CNJ railroad in Union County
Abandoned CNJ railroad in Union County
Abandoned CNJ railroad in Union County
Abandoned CNJ railroad in Union County
Abandoned CNJ railroad in Union County
Cranford NJ
Cranford area LV and CNJ crossing
Cranford area
Cranford area rail crossing, former LV and CNJ lines
Cranford NJ station
Cranford station
This is either Garwood or Westfield I think
Westfield Station?
Me in the bathroom at Starbucks in Westfield.
Revolutionary war cemetary in Westfield
An intact section of the original Old Yorke Road
Fanwood Station
Dunellen Station
Dunellen
Dunellen station
While on the train, I made some ridicules high screeching sounds while there were two guys sitting a few seats ahead of us getting freaked out, commenting "What was that? Did you hear that?". I kept it up, and they were convinced there was a bird on the train! They started getting really funny, talking about this being a sequel to Samual L. Jackson's "Snakes on a Plane", and this was "Birds on a Train"! I had to laugh aloud when the one kid yelled "We have got to get these motherfuckin' birds off this motherfuckin' train!". We never told them it was me making the sounds. We could hear them laughing as Guillermo and I talked about Cheese Wheels, why they're made, and if anyone actually tries to roll them! We switched trains at Newark Penn Station, made our way down stairs and waited at another platform for our train to show up. It was really cold on the platform, and I remember thinking I missed the warmer weather that we'd had so far. We soon got on the train and headed to the Elizebeth Station, which did'nt take too long. When we got off the train, we could see a group of women together below, and wondered if they were waiting for the hike. The platform was high above the ground level here, so we made our way down a long series of steps to the Elizebeth Station. The former Jersey Central, to my surprise was completely abandoned through here, which was great because we'd be able to walk off road more than anticipated. Joining us here were three new participants, Judy Prybyla, Hindi Schluster, and Jennifer Chen. Guillermo was really hungry so he took off to find someplace to get food. I talked to the women at the station area for a while. Guillermo soon reappeared with a Dunkin Donuts bag and gave me a terrific giant cookie. We began walking, following the former CNJ east in part of it's original alignment, which went from Elizebeth to Somerville. We almost immediately crossed a bridge over the Elizebeth River. We continued on heading through a cut, and onto a fill. At one point we passed two hispanic guys sitting along the tracks, but they did'nt bother us. We continued on clearly for a bit, but had to cut out to the road when it got too overgrown. We walked through a bit of town and I went into a little Family Dollar store where I bought a ten pack of M&M Peanut bags. We continued on, and made a stop at McDonalds, as the six piece McNuggets were on the dollar menu until January 28. I sat on the ground and ate my McNuggets happily. We then climbed up the CNJ fill and followed the tracks for a while again. We came across one place where there was a really nice signal tower; I was ready to climb it, but the ladies persuaded me not to. I was in phone contact with Joe Tag all day, as he planned on joining us along the way. We continued on the right of way, and had to cut to the south at one point through some businesses property, then made our way out and around to streets again. We finally were able to get onto the tracks one final time continueing to the former junction near Cranford where there was a yard. The CNJ was active from here as part of the NJ Transit system. We walked parallel roads to the tracks just to the south and met up with Joe Tag along the way near where the rail yard was. We all continued on through the towns, and Joe pointed a lot of stuff out. He used to use the trains every day, and once lived in the town of Westfield. He showed us all the railroad stations along the way, taking us through tunnels under the tracks and such, through Cranford, Garwood, and Westfield. We stopped for lunch at a nice bar and restaurant in Westfield. Continueing on, Jennifer, Judy, and Hindi decided to cut out in Westfield, while Joe, Guillermo, and I continued on through Westfield. We walked through Starbucks to use the restrooms, then Joe took us through town, showing us a Revolutionary War cemetary, and an old church that had had an addition built onto it that was barely noticeable. The building was cut in half, and a new middle extended the building to be much longer. We continued on, visiting a section of the original Old York Road, which once went out to Lambertville, still in it's original condition in a little park in Westfield. Joe pointed out where he used to live within view of the old road. Next, we made our way along roads to look for the former home of Charles Addams, the comic artist who inspired the Addams Family TV show. Apparently, the Victorian style homes of the series were inspired by those in Westfield. Unfortunitely, the home must have been destroyed, as a new house stood where the house was supposed to be. We headed along the roads back towards the tracks and continued walking parallel. We made our way to the south side of the tracks and continued toward Fanwood, stopping along the way to use a portajohn set up at someone's house. Joe cut out at Fanwood where he'd left his car, and only Guillermo and I continued on to the west. We tried to walk quickly, with the tracks in view beyond buildings to the right. We soon reached Netherwood Station as we entered the Plainfield area, and continued on. The area began to look rougher, and we picked the pace up a bit. There were some sorts of industrial buildings to the right of us with bars over the windows small enough to keep people from throwing rocks through them. It was dark by the time we reached the middle of Plainfield. We made a right hand turn and headed through the middle of town, because the map showed that the road ended abruptly on the south side. We continued under the tracks and made a left turn onto a road immediately parallel to them. As we walked, there were a couple guys that were walking behind us, so we kept up the pace as not to have any trouble. While we walked, a big black guy was walking across the street from us to the right. I told Guillermo if we'd had any trouble to make our way up to the tracks on the fill. As we neared the guy, we walked by, but I noticed he stopped and turned around as we went by. He stepped down from the curb as if to walk across and follow us. I told Guillermo to hurry up the fill. The guy started yelling something at us, but I could'nt tell what. We continued on the tracks for a bit, until I saw someone step up onto the tracks ahead of us. We turned around and made our way back down at the next underpass. We followed the road out a bit to Rt 28 were we felt a bit safer. As we walked through this neighborhood, a van pulled up alongside us very quickly and a guy jumped out immediately, but he was only going into his house. I thought for sure we'd be mugged. The last spot we were caught in that felt dangerous was where an old factory towered above us to the left, and fenced in industrial areas and buildings were to our right. Had we been mugged, there would have been no where to run but east or west on the street. Guillermo and I laughed that if anyone did mug us, we could just freak out and scream and they would'nt know what to do. Fortunitely, we would'nt have to test this theory. We soon reached Dunellen, as we saw on a sign. The time was running late, and I knew we had only minutes before the next train was to show up. We ended up running a good distance from Rt 28 to the station. We were totally tired and out of breath, but we made it barely on time, and fortunitely the train was running about two minutes late. We were happy to be done, and happier that we would'nt have to wait another hour for a train to come! We took the train back to Somerville, and felt we could barely walk another step!
On an original section of Old Yorke Road in Westfield
1.) My car in a strangely unevenly numbered parking spot at Somerville Station 20, 157, 19?2.) View from the railroad platform in Elizebeth, with the Jersey Central right of way to the right, and two of the women from the group along it3.) Nice little underpass at Elizebeth Station4.) The old station in Elizabeth5.) The former railbed with a view eastbound6.) Heading west on the former CNJ7.) Along the rail bed in Elizebeth8.) Jennifer and Judy on the CNJ with a view east toward Elmora Station area9.) The right of way in the vicinity of Lorraine Station10.) Nice old signal tower along the way11.) Walking the tracks east12.) Nice railroad overpass13.) The group and I along the way in one of the little town sections, Roselle Park?14.) Another view of the tracks in Roselle Park area15.) Fighting through the weeds16.) Guillermo along the tracks nearing Cranford17.) Looking east toward Roselle Park18.) Another view along the tracks east19.) Yet another view along the tracks20.) Guillermo with the underpass of former Lehigh Valley Railroad?21.) Hindi with a view to the east22.) View to the east from the other rail underpass where the CNJ becomes active23.) Cranford Station24.) Joe with the group at the Cranford Station25.) I think this is the Garwood Station...26.) Jennifer, Guillermo, and Judy at Westfield Station27.) Me in the restroom at the Starbucks in Westfield NJ28.) Revolutionary War Cemetary in Westfield29.) The original route of the Old York Road, which Joe showed us here in Westfield30.) Joe and Guillermo on the Old York Road, Westfield31.) Fanwood Station32.) Guillermo resting at the Dunellen Station33.) Dunellen Station34.) Guillermo at Dunellen Station35.) Me on the NJ Transit train heading east from Dunellen36.) Guillermo on the train heading back to Somerville
On the train at Finderne NJ
On a train at Finderne NJ
No comments:
Post a Comment