Hike #74
Charlie, Bruce, and I in Colombia NJ ready to hike.
Another interesting time to look back on. The age group and interest when it came to participants in my hike was taking a shift, but it was curious that when it came to how much fun we could have, it really did'nt matter what age you were.
Hike 74
11/23/2
Old LNE Portland station
Former LNE railroad bed just west of Portland
Former LNE railroad bed spur at a probably former quarry site
Former LNE railroad somewhere near Lake Poco
This time, I led the Upper Mount Bethel PA railroad loop again, with the former Bangor
and Portland DL&W branch with the Lehigh and New England again. Joining me were
Bruce Rhinesmith, who I’d originally contacted after reading about him and his hikes in
Skylands Visitor Magazine; he was also the guy who hooked me up with Bob “Bode”
Bodenstein. Bruce and his friend Charlie both joined for this one.
Former LNE railroad bed at Lake Poco
Lake Poco
We met at the Colombia side of the Portland footbridge, and then took off into PA. I had
a great deal in common with these guys, being such big rail hiking fans as I am.
Former LNE railroad bridge over a creek just east of Minsi Lake
Minsi Lake
Former LNE railroad bed in North Bangor
Former LNE railroad bed in a field in North Bangor
Former LNE connector railroad in Roseto PA
Old coal chutes along the former connector railroad in Bangor PA
Along former Lackawanna line in East Bangor along the lake
Along the way, we searched for the junction with another line, called the LNE East
Bangor Branch, but could’nt find where it broke off. We found an abandoned industrial
spur, which we thought was the branch, but soon found that not to be so. It was cool that
both Bruce and Charlie were up for the same kind of crazy bushwacking that I do. We
fought our way along as close to the right of way as possible.
When we reached Bangor, we found that a local bank had a rail right of way on the
property, as well as coal chutes! We were all very interested in the Lehigh and New
England, so we stopped in the Bangor Library to do a little research on the way. Luckily,
we found an odd overview map drawing of the area, which showed the East Bangor
Branch and other lines, answering a lot of our questions about railroad locations. One
thing I was fascinated by was the existance of a tunnel on the East Bangor Branch (I later
learned the tunnel was blasted away).
We continued back to Portland without incident, Bruce and Charlie both called their
girlfriends/wives, and Bruce let me use my cell phone to call Cathy. This was a great hike
as I certainly felt I had found kindred spirits with my same sentiment towards railroad
hikes.
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