Hike #95
Hike 95
At the ghetto bar in south Bethlehem...Tea Biscuit got served...
6/15/3
For the next new section hike, I wanted to walk the Central Railroad of New Jersey from
Phillipsburg into Pennsylvania, to Bethlehem; I had hiked the entire line from High Bridge
to Phillipsburg already. I believe Tea Biscuit must have been done with his community
service by this time, because it would have taken all day to do this hike as I recall!
Skyler also joined us for this hike, and we began in Union Square Phillipsburg where we
left the Camaro, planning to walk out via the CNJ, and back on the Lehigh Valley (LV)
Railroad.
Crossing former CNJ railroad bridge into Easton
Former CNJ tracks in Easton
Former CNJ trestle over the Lehigh, Easton PA
Former CNJ trestle over the Lehigh, Easton PA
Former CNJ tracks, Easton PA
Along former CNJ rail bed, Easton PA
Former CNJ right of way heading west of Easton
Abandoned house along the CNJ grade, Easton area
Former CNJ rail bed west of Easton
Former CNJ railroad bridge west of Easton
Fighting through weeds on the former CNJ rail bed.
Jumping over a waterway in Freemansburg
Along the Lehigh in Freemansburg PA
Along the Lehigh in Freemansburg PA
We walked across the abandoned LV bridge into PA after a brief walk down the Bel Del.
I gave Skyler a golf shirt that said “Bury My Balls Next to the Old Bag” on the bridge. On
the PA side, we passed a Norfold Southern frieght train, which was moving very fast and
carrying a great deal of cars.
The CNJ crossed over the Lehigh River almost immediately, on a long trestle which had
through tusses at some points. There was a significant fence over the entrance to the
bridge, which we were able to crawl through. It was really greasy, and I was afraid I
would get the mess all over my hawiian shirt, but it seemed as though any stains would
blend in well, and I to this day can’t see what’s a stain and what’s a pattern.
The trestle seemed to go on forever, passing the McDonalds in Easton, then travelling
along a shelf above the road and the Lehigh River. There was one point when a spur broke
off to the left, down a weird narrow slope. We soon passed under the South Easton
Trestle. The tracks were still in place, apparently used on occasion, but were badly
overgrown.
After a short distance there was a spur to the left, and the tracks ended. We were now on
a right of way, which was walkeable out to near Hugh Moore Park, where it was paved as
a trail. The trail took us quite a ways to a boat launch area, where another CNJ branch
gradually ascended to Easton, it too now used as a trail (Note: This trail connects with the
section of the LV line we used on the Easton hike previously).
The right of way ahead was getting more overgrown the further we went. We checked
out one abandoned house along the way, and at one point the undergrowth got so thick
that Tea Biscuit walked down and through someone’s yard! He just walked through, and
let himself out a gate in their yard. At a nearby road crossing, he climbed back up and
through the bottom of the bridge. There was a little ways that the railroad stayed away
from the river, going near some homes and through some fields, but it soon returned, also
paralleling the Lehigh Canal. The right of way became so thick at times that we had to
crawl on our hands and knees to get through. As we neared Freemansburg, we climbed
down from the right of way to a field and then a grassy area near someone’s house. We
were able to get back on the right of way for a ways after that, but were back to fighting
through weeds. At times, Tea Biscuit and Skyler tried to ascend the hillside to the north
while I took on the weeds alone.
When we reached the Freemansburg Locks on the Lehigh Canal, we climbed down from
the right of way since it was so closely parallel. We were unbelievable relieved after this
battle of foliage. We goofed off a bit, and jumped across part of the canal, which is kind of
impressive. We took a dip in the Lehigh River down the hill before moving on.
Old CNJ rail bridge in Freemansburg PA
Bethlehem Steel from the Minsi Trail Bridge
Bethlehem Steel from the Minsi Trail Bridge
Trusses in Bethlehem Steel from the Minsi Trail Bridge
The right of way through Freemansburg was a mess; it passed between homes and such,
but was posted with many ‘no trespassing’ signs throughout the way. We kept to the main
street, which was cool because we found another yard sale! I don’t remember what Skyler
bought, but I bought some Fubu Jeans for five bucks (because I thought it was funny), and
a nice Dragon Shirt made of Reayon. Tea Biscuit bought some Rocawear jeans.
When we reached the Freemansburg Bridge over the Lehigh, we could see the CNJ right
of way, but it was rather obviously a long way across someone’s yard, so we opted to take
a staircase down to the Lehigh Canal towpath and walked parallel to the right of way. The
plan had been to walk the CNJ to Stefko Boulevard and cross the Lehigh to the LV
railroad there, and we fortunitely had another staircase up to the top of the bridge. As we
crossed the bridge, we had fantastic views of Bethlehem Steel. The three furnaces were in
plain sight, as well as many trestles and tracks, looking much like little models.
Bethlehem Steel from the Minsi Trail bridge. This is my favorite picture I ever took of Bethlehem Steel.
Bethlehem Steel from the Minsi Trail bridge. This is my favorite picture I ever took of Bethlehem Steel.
Having some drinks in South Bethlehem
Passing a sewage treatment plant in South Bethlehem
Former LV Railroad on a bike Tea Biscuit found
Former LV Railroad heading east from Bethlehem
Model of the CNJ station and lines along the LV tracks, Steel City PA
Former LV tracks between Bethlehem and Easton
Lehigh River between Bethlehem and Easton
On the other side of the bridge, we could not see a way of getting to the LV railroad. We
wandered the streets through the south of Bethlehem, into what appeared to be a rough
neighborhood. There were a lot of elderly hispanic men sitting on porches, listening to
what sounded like crackly old mono recordings of Harry Belefonte in Spanish. We felt a
bit uncomfortable; many of the buildings were boarded shut, and we were being stared at
rather obviously. I don’t know what we were thinking, but we decided to go into a local
bar! No one esle was inside the bar we entered, except a female bartender who did not
speak English. I spoke enough to have a mediocre conversation, and she dug through
some cds, and found the only music she could that had English singers (one of them was
Ricky Martin). Skyler and I had a couple beers, and Tea Biscuit actually got served, so he
did as well. As the music played, the bartender began dancing for us, which we thought
was kind of odd, but we tried not to show it.
We left, slightly inebriated, enough so that the appearance of the neighborhood did’nt
bother us as it did before! We walked along some roads throughout the area, passed a
smelly sewage treatment plant, and came out to the Freemansburg Bridge, where we
found a place to climb down to the active LV line.
We began walking, and Tea Biscuit found an old bike, which he rode for the remainder of
the hike. Along the tracks in someone’s yard was a really nice layout of model railroads,
complete with the CNJ station at Liberty State Park, and several other interesting things.
Along the way back, four trains passed us, which was the most ever on one hike. Tea
Biscuit let Skyler use the bike for a bit to alleviate his pain. We soaked our feet in the
Lehigh again at one point before continueing on.
Former LHR railroad bridge, into Phillipsburg
Former LHR bridge
Former LHR Delaware bridge, Phillipsburg
When we got to Phillipsburg, we saw that we could cross either the LV or CNJ bridges,
or we could cross the L&HR bridge which would take us directly to Union Square. The
problem with this was that most of the L&HR bridge did not have a walk way, and if a
train had come we would have had a big problem. We decided not to think about it and
cross the bridge. For reasons unknown, Tea Biscuit carried the bike across, even though
he left it in Phillipsburg. Fortunitely, no train came and we got back to the Camaro,
though we were in a good deal of pain.
PICS: I used both my Minolta QTSI and a disposeable from Acme.
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