Hike #329 2/9/8
2/9/8 Lackawanna Cutoff; Tranquility-Hainesburg with "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Fred Hafale, Ron Phelps, David Noble, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Christina Manley, Chris Herbig, Russ Moyer, Craig Nunn, and Bernie Lieberman
Inside Greendell Tower
My next hike would actually be a repeat of a hike I'd done previously, Tranquility to Hainesburg which I last led on 1/27/2, which was hike #45. We met in the morning at the parking area in Hainesburg on the Paulins Kill Valley Trail and shuttled to Tranquility Post Office.
Tranquility NJ
Former Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad north of Tranquility NJ
LHR rail bed north of Tranquility
LHR rail bed north of Tranquility
LHR rail bed north of Tranquility
LHR rail bed north of Tranquility
LHR rail bed north of Tranquility
Along former LHR railroad north of Tranquility
Fields along LHR rail bed
Road walking near the rail bed at Trinca Airport
Signal towers along former LHR railroad at Trinca Airport
Fields along the rail bed
LHR rail bed near Trinca Airport
Old rail underpass
Former LHR railroad bed
Looking towards the Lackawanna Cutoff underpass on LHR rail bed
Me
Lackawanna Cutoff LHR culvert
In a small building along the Lackawanna Cutoff just south of Brighton NJ
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff near Andover
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff. This photo shows we go out in anything.
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Lackawanna Cutoff in Greendell
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Tower
Greendell Station
Greendell Station
Greendell Station
Greendell Station
Greendell Station
Deli in Greendell
Lackawanna Cutoff west of Greendell
Former site of Johnsonburg Station, which had recently been torn down
At Johnsonburg Station site
Joining me this time were "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler (Paul only joined for the first few miles), Fred Hafale, DJ Ray Cordts, Christina Manley, Craig Nunn, Bernie Lieberman, Chris Herbig (who was out with us on the Sandy Hook hike previous Summer), David Noble, Ron Phelps, and Russ Moyer. We began walking around the Post Office and soon picked up the former Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad, which on our last visit was badly overgrown. It was now cleared and being used as a trail! Some new side trails broke off to the left, so I would have to come back to explore them. We continued on the rail bed north bound. It remained clear for quite some time, and a deer stand we climbed into on my previous trip was still there on the left. The rail bed soon did become overgrown so we went up to a parallel field to the left. This was easy enough to follow, and we continued passing the Trinca Airport through fields, across a road, and then out to the Lackawanna Cutoff. Just before the cutoff, the entire area had been cleared since my previous visit. There were a lot of boats in the past being stored here, and they were all now gone. It was totally clear, and the rail bed was obliterated to give way to access road and parking for a large building. The culvert under the cutoff was still fenced off as it had been for many years now (only I'd approachd it from the north only since that happened.). We had to bushwhack steeply up hill to reach the Lackawanna Cutoff on part of the largest railroad fill in the world, called the Pequest Fill. We regrouped on that rail bed before continueing to the west. Once we were all up, we began heading west. The Cutoff had a lot of ballast rock until we reached sections that were moreso in cuts. We continued on and checked out an old concrete building on the right which was full of all sorts of interesting non creative profane graffiti. Ron commented they used no more than forty words, most of them the same thing over and over. We continued and reached the Greendell tower, which we had to take a break at. I climbed up though the stairs were missing, to get into the top of it. Wyatt also climbed up but everyone else stayed down. This was a good test for my shoulder. I did alright. We continued a short distance to the Greendell Station, which was also just as it was the last time I was there, only now a fence had been erected around the area. We went in here briefly, and then continued to the little Deli and liquor store on the corner.
Inside Greendel Station
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Along Lackawanna Cutoff
Along Lackawanna Cutoff
View along Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff...it's okay Herbig...just drink more and you'll be fine!
Recently constructed bridge for Rt 521 near Blairstown
Under Rt 521 bridge, Lackawanna Cutoff
521 bridges on Lackawanna Cutoff
Blairstown Station, Lackawanna Cutoff
Waterfall view from Lackawanna Cutoff
Ruin along Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff
View along Lackawanna Cutoff
View from Paulins Kill Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
Viaduct
As the group climbed out the manhole, I scared them to death by blasting them with silly string
Viaduct
Wyatt
Herbig totally puked at the end of this hike...all over DJ Ray's car!
We talked to the owners a bit, who were from Jersey City, and Christina had just moved there so had something to talk to them about. I picked up a large bottle of COrona and a bottle of wine and we moved on. It seemed like forever we were moving without incident, but it was disappointing to find that the old Johnsonburg Station and the ruins of the adjacent buildings had all be destroyed. Only the foundation of the station and one small wall from what I believe was a creamery remained. And so, we continued on heading west toward Blairstown. Most of the group got far ahead of me, and I hung back a bit. Wyatt and I ended up separated from some of the group after a bit after Blairstown Station, and we waited for them, but as it turned out Amish Paul came and picked Christina, DJ Ray, and Chris all up. DJ Ray and Christina backtracked to meet up with us at the Paulins Kill Viaduct. Ron and David had waited for me at the Viaduct, and Ron took off to meet up with Rich Pace for a trip the next day, so only David, DJ Ray, Christina, Wyatt, and I went through the viaduct. We climbed in through the arch close to the edge and then made our way through the first three arches as usual. It was very dark, and we tried to only use lights in the piers. We doused them whenever a car would go by. We had to climb up through a man hole in the top. We continued down to the bottom and then shuttled cars back to Tranquility. Amish Paul, Wyatt, David, and I had a few burgers at Burger King and talked to Jess Danner before heading home.
Inside Paulins Kill Viaduct
Photography by Mike Helbing and Fred Hafale (FH)0.) Getting ready to go (FH)0a.) Heading north on the LHR grade (FH)1.) The group on former Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad in Tranquility2.) More of the group leaving Tranquility2a.) Old battery box and stuff along the LHR (FH)2b.) Cleared section of the rail bed (FH)3.) Former LHR line where it had been cleared north of Tranquility4.) Amish Paul in the fields to the west of the rail bed 5.) In the fields parallel with the rail bed5a.) Some of the group followed parallel roads (FH)6.) Wyatt on some old signal towers near Trinca Airport7.) DJ Ray in the fields along the LHR grade8.) Wyatt on the rail bed near Trinca Airport8a.) Fred took this one from the road at an old farm underpass (FH)9.) DJ Ray on the rail bed north of Trinca Airport10.) Looking north on the rail bed toward the Lackawanna Cutoff underpass which was cleared since my previous visit11.) That's me11a.) Approaching the former LHR underpass below the Lackawanna Cutoff (FH)12.) Wyatt in an abandoned building along the Lackawanna Cutoff13.) The Lackawanna Cutoff looking west13a-13e.) On the Cutoff (FH)14.) Inside the Greendell railroad tower15.) Looking out of the Greendell Tower16.) The group as seen from the top floor of the tower17.) Wyatt up in the tower18.) Christina, Chris, David, and DJ Ray in the tower19.) Wyatt in the tower20.) Wyatt up in the tower20a.) Outside of the tower (FH)20b.) In Greendell (FH)20c.) At the tower (FH)20d.) Me climbing up inside the tower (FH)21.) Greendell Tower22.) Greendell Station23-24.) The group taking a break in the station24a.) Wyatt with some of the interesting graffitti24b.) More of Wyatt with interesting graffitti25.) David and Wyatt in the little deli and liquor store in Greendell26.) On the tracks heading west27.) Site of Johnsonburg Station28.) Near the Johnsonburg Station site28a-28g.) Shots along the cutoff heading west (FH)29h.) Nice view from the cutoff (FH)29.) Chris and DJ Ray taking a break on the Cutoff29a.) New underpass for Rt 521 (FH)29b.) Ron and David I think (FH)30.) New underpasses on Rt 521 in Blairstown vicinity31.) Blairstown Station32.) Blurry waterfall picture from the cutoff33.) Old structure along the cutoff34.) Heading west toward Hainesburg35.) Wyatt on the cutoff36.) A view from the Cutoff36a.) View from the top of the Paulins Kill Viaduct (FH)36b-36g.) Fred's shots on and around the viaduct as I guess they were waiting for us to show up (FH)37-38.) Inside the Paulins Kill Viaduct39.) Christina climbing into the viaduct pier where we had to balance our way across40.) DJ Ray in one of the viaduct piers41.) Wyatt in the Viaduct42-43.) Group shots in the viaduct44.) Another group shot (by Christina Manley)45.) Wyatt and Ray46.) Weird flashlight picture47.) Christina coming up the man hole48.) DJ Ray looking out of the top of the viaduct49-50.) Wyatt coming out of the viaduct51.) On top of the viaduct52.) On top of the viaduct53.) Amish Paul and I on the viaduct54.) Wyatt55.) Chris after he yacked in DJ Ray's car!
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