Hike #326; Quakertown and Eastern

 Hike #326 1/20/8

1/20/8 Quakertown and Eastern Railroad vicinity; Rieglesville-Quakertown with Wyatt Hassler, Mary Tomsia, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Walter Von Der Linden, "Major Tom" Conroy, Joe Tag, "Naaron" Young, "Amish Paul" Hassler

Quakertown and Eastern Railroad

 My next hike was once again a scouting hike for the Highlands Trail route in PA. The trips we had done in the past connecting the Delaware River to Nockamixon State Park had been done using mainly the Tohickon Creek watershed.

Quakertown and Eastern Railroad cut in Durham Furnace PA

Quakertown and Eastern Railroad cut in Durham Furnace PA

Former Q&E rail bridge site

Former rail bridge site in Durham Furnace PA

Durham Furnace PA, old building

Old Quakertown and Eastern Railroad bridge site in Durham Furnace PA

Former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad in Durham Furnace PA

Another view of the former bridge crossing over Cook's Creek, Durham Furnace PA

A second former trestle site along the former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad in Durham PA

Old mill site in Durham PA

Quakertown and Eastern Railroad bed in Durham PA

Quakertown and Eastern Railroad bed in Durham PA

Mill in Durham PA

Durham boat in it's namesake town

Mill in Durham PA

View south of Durham PA

Rail bed south of Slifer's Mill Road

Quakertown and Eastern railroad bed south of Slifers Mill Road

Rail bed south of Slifers Mill Road

Former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad bed south of Durham Furnace PA

Rail bed near Knechts Bridge Road

Knechts Covered Bridge

A dog that god loose and followed us

Dog that got loose and followed us for a while

Former rail bridge spot near Ferry Lane

Rail bed near Ferry Lane

Former rail bed now used as a farm road

Rail bed north of Pleasant Valley

Site of a former bridge for the Quakertown and Eastern Railroad just north of Pleasant Valley PA

Rail bed north of Pleasant Valley

Rail bed looking south in Pleasant Valley

Rail bed looking north in Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley PA

Walter Von Der Linden on the Quakertown and Eastern railroad bed south of Pleasant Valley

Railroad bed between Pleasant Valley and Pullen Station

Railroad bed between Pleasant Valley and Pullen Station

Fields the railway used to pass through

Abandoned car north of Pullen Station

Abandoned truck north of Pullen station

A driveway follows the former Quakertown and Eastern railroad north of Pullen Station Road.

Fields through which the rail line once passed

Church in Richlandtown PA

Convenience store stop in Richlandtown PA

Richlandtown PA

Richlandtown PA area

A convenience store stop near Quakertown PA

Jen Heisey had recently told me that the Tohickon Trail project was falling through for some reason, and that a new route might be needed, so I fell back on my original proposal of trying to get the right of way of the former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad which operated between Quakertown and Rieglesville from 1901 to December 18 1936 when the last train passed through. I found it interesting as I always do with small forgotton rail lines. I decided we'd meet in Quakertown and attempt to trace the rail line's route. Gerry Martiniak had supplied me with some needed maps which helped me draw the route onto a current Bucks County map, and with it we were off. We met in the morning in the middle of Quakertown where we'd met for hikes before; joining me this time were "Major Tom" Conroy, DJ Ray Cortds, Joe Tag, "Naaron" Young, Mary Tomsia, and newcomer Walter Von Der Linden. Naaron and myself decided to do the car shuttle to Rieglesville, and on the way Naaron got pulled over in his white pickup. Three cops that passed us pulled over, and as it turns out an Amber Alert was in effect because a little girl had been kidnapped the day before in central Bucks County by someone in a white car, and so they must have been pulling over all white vehicles. Naaron did'nt get a ticket and we were on our way. When we reached Rieglesville, we parked on the NJ side of the historic Roebling bridge. We walked across the bridge and then headed down ont the towpath of the Delaware Canal heading south. When we reached a footbridge crossing near Durham Furnace we went across and then headed into a large rock cut that was part of the Quakertown and Eastern Railroad. We followed the rail bed into some sort of industrial area where we found the abutments where the railroad once crossed over Cook's Creek. We went around and crossed the creek ourselves on the abandoned former road bridge parallel with the current road bridge and headed alongside the creek along the unrecognizeable rail bed. We were soon along Rt 212 parallel to the creek, which had overtaken the rail bed. We could kind of see the rail bed a little, and we turned right on Red Bridge Road. The rail bed was barely recognizeable through here, and it crossed the road to the left side heading through people's back yards and such. Behind the houses it looked like it was in reasonable shape, but we could'nt walk it. We continued along the road and saw there were some abandoned buildings I'd wished we'd checked out across the other side of Cook's Creek. We continued on passing an intersection, and the road changed names to Rattlesnake Road. We soon crossed the rail bed which was overgrown, and we saw where it once crossed the COok's Creek. The abutments and piers in the creek were still in place. We moved along following Rattlesnake Road, and could'nt see any remnants of the rail bed in the field on the other side below us. We soon came back out to Rt 212 and had to walk that. There was a sign laying down along the opposite bank along the road for a nature preserve, but it may have been out of place. We could soon see the site of where the railroad crossed Cook's Creek once again below, and we soon turned right on Old Furnace Road which went very close to the rail bed, and maybe even crossed it at some point, I don't remember. Old Furnace Road led us into the little village of Durham, where we checked out some old buildings and then turned right on Durham Road for a short distance. Here, we found a nice little park with a reproduction of an early Durham Boat, which were created here, and were very prevailant along the Delaware and other rivers (George Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas 1776 in one). Also in this little park was the remains of the Quakertown and Eastern Railraod, barely recognizeable. All that remained on the grassy mowed area was a bridge across the field, apparently used for access to contractor's equipment, and a small piece of fill on the south side. It was apparent we would'nt be able to follow the rail bed to the south, so we opted to follow the next nearby road. This was Old Philidelphia Road heading southwest from Durham. We walked the road, which led us out to Rt 212 again. While walking this section of road, we were met by "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler. Paul dropped Wyatt off and headed down the road to meet up with us. Amish Paul had been out drinking with Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews the night before and was in no shape to get up and meet us first thing in the morning. There was soon a road on the right, which my map showed as Haupt's Bridge Road, but it was closed. Paul met us here, and he took me down the road to see if it went through, and it did not. At one time it must have continued through, but was now a private drive. We had to turn back and walk Rt 212 further. Near the bottom of a hill on Rt 212, Rt 412 broke off to the right. We turned here, and on the left just before the bridge over Cook's Creek was a road called Cook's Creek Road. At this intersection is where the railroad once crossed parallel with the creek. Amish Paul parked here and joined us. We headed into the woods, first on a little path, but it petered out. The rail bed was barely recognizeable, but there was a bit of a grade in there. We continued on along the rail bed parallel with the creek until it became obscured by a mowed lawn section, and rather than cross this lawn we opted to just go back out to Cook's Creek Road and follow it parallel. We continued up a hill on the road, and soon came to a dead end, where the road ahead was a gated private area. I surveyed our options and brought up the notion of cutting through a narrow strip of woods and dashing across a field to the creek side and rail bed. Everyone was keen on it except Major Tom who jumped in the car with Amish Paul and took off. They planned on meeting back up with us but they never were able to find us. We bushwhacked through the woods and reached the field. There was a house to the right of us, so we hurried across the field heading toward the creek. We entered a cut between a line of trees separating a lower field which got us out of sight from the nearby buildings. From here, we cut into the woods and soon found the railroad bed, which did'nt look clear enough to follow. There was somewhat of a path along Cook's Creek very near to the rail bed, so we just used that. We continued along the creek parallel with the rail bed, and we soon came closer to the right of way. We also came closer to the homes, but no one saw us to my knowledge. The path along the creek soon ascending onto a tiny fill and began using the rail bed which was very nice. Both creek and rail bed turned to the left to head more south for a time, and I think we were now following a tributary to the Cook's creek. The rail bed was very nice and clear through this section, but unfortunitely my camera siezed up and was no longer working for me to take pictures. We continued on and soon reached the site of a former bridge over the tributary. We opted to cross a bit more up stream to be easier on everyone else. Wyatt and I were able to cross at the bridge site on rocks, but no one else wanted to. One of the piers of the bridge was getting to be in bad shape. We soon reached Slifer Valley Road and waited for everyone to catch up. As we were waiting, a lady came out of the house nearest the rail bed and asked what we were up to, and I asked her for permisstion to walk her section of the rail bed, and she agreed! Her name was Sherry Albre I think (she gave me her e mail to contact her about our trip) and a man soon came out, and we chatted a bit about the rail line. I was told that the bridge site we passed had only just washed out the previous year, that a steel bridge had been there before that. We chatted for a bit, and then we were off along a very nice section of the rail bed. At the end of the people's yard there was a low electrical fence that was intended to keep their dog in. I carried Mary over, and I touched it to see if it was live, and it was as I got a good shock. We continued on along the rail bed, and the dog from the yard followed us having gotten under the fence. The rail bed was very nice, and I was quite happy that my camera started working again. Walter told me that his camera often did the same, and he was right. I just gave it time and it was working. I immediately got some good shots of the rail bed. We continued on and soon were able to see a nice covered bridge through the trees. We then reached Knecht's Bridge Road (obviously offering us the name of the covered structure) where the rail bed was overgrown and posted opposite us. We decided to call the phone number on the dog's tags since it had followed us all this way so that the owners could come and get him. The son of the couple we'd met soon showed up in a pickup truck to pick him up. We chatted with him a bit, and found he might be interested in hiking with us some time. We turned left off the rail bed along Knecht's Bridge Road, then immediately turned right on Springhouse Lane. The guy who picked up the dog told us that it would parallel the tracks easily, and it was a dirt road and therefore scenic. The road was indeed nice, and near the end of it the rail bed followed the route of the road anyway! We soon came to an intersection on what was called Township Road. Directly across from this was a road called Ferry Lane. We headed down this which had the rail bed directly along side it to the left. We continued down this road to where the tracks used to cross to the right. It worked out good, because where the tracks crossed the road was private ahead. We turned right onto the right of way and soon passed a missing bridge site. We descended and ascended the other side, and then emerged onto a field that had farmed the rail grade out of existance. We continued quickly alongside the field, which gave way to a farm access road and into the woods on a shelf alongside Cook's Creek. The rail bed was being used as an access road here and was in great shape. We continued on, keeping alert because there were fresh tire tracks along the rail bed. We soon came to where the access road turned left off the rail bed, and the rail bed ahead became more overgrown but still easily walkeable. We continued on along nicely preserved rail bed and soon reached Rt 212, Old Bethlehem Road in the village of Pleasant Valley. We had to cross a yard to come out to the road, as well as an abandoned building, but no one gave us a hard time. The bridge on 212 to the north was closed for work, and drivers were directed to Bridge Street, probably an older road, just up stream to the south. The rail bed was evident between Old Bethlehem Road and Bridge Street, but we had to turn left and right to get back to it. The rail bed was clear and mowed on the other side of bridge street and apparently being used as part of a park, so we knew we'd be able to get onto it. First however, we opted to walk across the Cook's Creek bridge to see if we could find a place to get some food. There was nothing over there so we soon turned back. We soon reached the rail bed and followed it south bound on a slight shelf above the creek. It was clear for quite a while, but then became far too overgrown to walk. We opted to parallel it in a field to the east for a bit. Eventually we were able to get back onto the rail bed, which we followed but then descended to the edge of Cook's Creek because the rail bed was far too close to houses. Once the open areas were far behind us and we were into the woods, we ascended back to the rail bed. There appeared to be two rail beds, a lower one and a higher one. Much of this rail line used slag as sort of a ballast rock, so it helped us recognize the right of way, but there was a similar lower line which descended closer to the creek. I thought this may have been an ice house siding at one time because there seemed to be a dam ruin down below on the creek. Regardless, I knew the main line had to turn away from the creek in this vicinity on it's way to Quakertown so we made our way to the upper grade. The rail bed was not in bad shape, and soon entered a small cut. There were fallen trees over the way, but otherwise it was easy to walk. After a bit, we came to a signed area saying we were entering a shooting preserve, which did'nt bother me because it was Sunday. We continued from here across a bit more of an open area, and we had to parallel the right of way to the west a bit because it was too overgrown. Parallel fields led us next to it though. Soon, we came to where a house was far too close to the right of way for us to continue ahead so we turned to the west to avoid being too close. We cut into the woods and passed an old car in a gully, then followed a parallel field maybe a quarter mile from the buildings. We cut into the woods at the end of the field before heading back toward the rail bed. We soon reached the old rail bed, now being used as a driveway for the house and buildings we'd seen earlier. We came out right next to the stantions that marked the entrance to the farm area, so we were more comfortable walking this section. There were a few other houses along this road/rail bed up till we reached the intersection with Pullen Station Road. Apparently there must have been a rail station here at one time, but I did'nt see any sign of it's existance. The rail bed ahead did'nt look feasable to walk, so we turned right and then left on Beck Road. We wandered for a bit but did'nt see any sign of where the railroad used to cross. We decided to cut into the woods along some sort of an ATV trail, and we passes a spot that I think may have been the rail bed, but I'm not sure. We made our way out to some sort of field, like a golf course but with no par areas. There was also some railroad ties and a piece of pipe as I recall that led me to believe we were near the right of way. We turned left into a parallel field and passed an abandoned house. We skirted the side of the field and made our way out to the driveway access road out to another part of Beck Road which we followed to Meadow Road and turned right. The rail bed at one time must have crossed Meadow Road, but I did'nt see the site. Along the way, Wyatt was on the phone teasing Brian Rapp pretending he was Mary, making fun of him for hitting on her, and for asking if women "get in heat" as he had the previous week. This road took us out to Rt 212 in Richlandtown PA and we continued south passing some interesting churches. We soon reached a mini mart and went in for some food before moving on. We needed it badly. I had some Taquitos....which reminds me that it must have been a 7-11. We continued down 212 and passed the former rail crossing site just south of the 7-11 but did'nt see any evidence. SOme sort of parallel road to the east of 212 supposedly was built on the rail bed, but I'm not sure. We continued down 212 into Quakertown and did'nt see any more remnants of the rail bed as we passed through town to where we were parked. We had dinner at a little bar and grill in Alpha NJ which was rather good.

Along former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad

Photography

1.) Approaching cut for former Quakertown and Eastern Railroad in Durham Furnace area2.) Passing through the rock cut at Durham Furnace3.) Site of former Railroad bridge over Cook's Creek4.) View from the other side of the railroad bridge site5.) Abandoned house across Cook's Creek in Durham Furnace6.) The rail bed in Durham Furnace area7.) Site of former rail trestle over Cook's Creek just west of Durham Furnace8.) Another view of the bridge site9.) Another bridge site and the rail bed near Durham10.) Major Tom in an old mill works culvert in Durham11.) The rail bed looking southwest in Durham12.) The rail bed looking northeast in Durham13.) Post office in Durham PA14.) Historic spot with a Durham Boat; Durham PA15.) Durham Post Office16.) Nice field view along Rt 21217.) The rail bed south of Slifer's Mill Road18.) Mary and Wyatt on the rail bed south of Slifer's Mill Road19.) Looking south on the rail bed south of Slifer's Mill20.) On the railbed near Knecht's Bridge21.) The group on the rail bed near Knecht's Bridge22.) Knecht's Bridge from the rail bed23.) The dog that followed us from Slifer's Hill Road24.) DJ Ray messing with the dog25.) Wyatt at the site of an old rail bridge near Ferry Lane26.) Farm access road built on the rail bed south of Ferry Lane27.) Dirt road on the rail bed south of Ferry Lane28.) The rail bed north of Pleasant Valley29.) Wyatt along Cook's Creek30.) The rail bed north of Pleasant Valley31.) Rail bed looking south in Pleasant Valley32.) The rail bed looking north in Pleasant Valley33.) Joe and DJ Ray in Pleasant Valley34.) Walter on the rail bed south of Pleasant Valley35.) Former rail bed south of Pleasant Valley36.) This is the rail bed between Pleasant Valley and Pullen Station37.) Abandoned car on a farm where we had to deviate from the rail bed north of Pullen Station38.) Wyatt checking out the old car39.) Driveway built on the rail bed near Pullen Station Road40.) Cutting through fields looking for the rail bed south of Pullen Station41.) Passing an old farm42.) Church in Richlandtown PA43.) Naaron at 7-11 refreshing himself44.) Along Rt 212 in Richlandtown PA45.) DJ Ray at Dunkin Donuts near Quakertown PA