[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

(erielack) DLW, Lafayette to Franklin, NJ - 06/07/05

DLW, Lafayette to Franklin, NJ - 06/07/05
  The weather is nice - clear and only 80F - so I decide to cycle the last
major abandoned railroad route in Sussex County, the Delaware, Lackawanna
& Western between Lafayette and Franklin, NJ.  Portions of the line are
impassible, such as the grade between the Sussex Branch and the New York,
Susquehanna & Western, continuing beyond for about a mile, and the last
mile into Franklin.  Here goes:
   11:40 - I pass an NYSW signal maintainer working on the grade crossing
protection at the end of the NJ 15 freeway north of Sparta.
   11:55 - Ready to roll at Warbasse Junction.  I'll ride the first 1.5
miles on the NYSW since the parallel DLW is impassible, with a bridge
missing and lots of overgrowth.  A short section is under a county road
also.
   12:07 - Switch from the NYSW to the DLW just before they finally
diverge.  the entry to the DLW is overgrown for a hundred yards or so,
then opens out into woods.  Five minutes later, a mound four feet high
obstructs the line but is I can ride over it.  Beyond, the roadbed is
flooded four to six inches deep for 300 feet.
   12:24 - Fallen tree makes me dismount to get under it, then I reach NJ
15.  This can be dangerous with heavy traffic, but a traffic light to the
north helps and visibility is good.  Beyond, more puddles splatter my legs
with mud.
   12:35 - Sussex County Vocational & Technical High School blocks the
route; tall chain-link fence.  The ATV users detour west along the fence,
so I go that way to NJ 94, then ride along it.  I lose the roadbed on the
other side, return and find it, but it's heavily overgrown.  I look around
but don't see a good way in.  I give up and ride along the highway for two
miles.
    1:05 - I turn left at the first chance and see a heavily overgrown
roadbed, looking like it hasn't been used in decades.  It's several feet
below the road grade.  I go back to NJ 94 and see the railbed on the left
just beyond the Old Monroe School and ride there.
    1:12 - The railbed goes 1/3 mile, then ends at NJ 94, 10 feet below
the road.  I climb up and see where it continues on the other side. 
Finally, it is a well used path the full width of the railbed.
    1:22 - The DLW runs next to the NYSW's ex-Lehigh & Hudson line and
becomes overgrown.  I walk along the NYSW clear of the track and reach a
grade crossing, so I go out to a parallel road.  This takes me to the rail
junction near Franklin, 9 rail miles from Warbasse and 11.2 on my
odometer.
  The DLW crossed the L&H and turned south to reach a station on the
NYSW's original route; the L&H turned north ultimately to reach the New
Haven at Maybrook.  Now the NYSW uses the former L&H to bypass its own
abandoned route.  I ride south to the first grade crossing, then come back
here on a road.
    1:48 - I have 12.20 miles as I start back on a county road.
    1:58 - I pause for a drink when I reach NJ 94 again and follow the
railbed through Monroe and beyond, an area I missed before.
    2:14 - I reach the road I tried on the way out; the overgrown area is
probably a borrow pit for building the railbed - 15 feet beyond where I
stopped and didn't see it!
    2:28 - The roadbed is suddenly blocked by heavy growth its full width.
I backtrack and follow the ATV trail, returning to the railbed after about
900 feet.
    2:38 - The ATV trail leaves the railbed at my mile 17.67 just short of
NJ 94, where I couldn't find it before.  It crosses a field, then NJ 94 at
the school fence line.
    2:48 - NJ 15 is clear when I get there and cross with barely a pause.
    3:03 - I follow the county road partially built on the railbed, but
can't see it.  It's faster but longer.
    3:10 - Back on the NYSW for the home stretch.  The car thermometer
says 91F even though I parked in the shade.
    3:13 - Return to Warbasse, 21.93 miles on the clock for the day.  At
home, I find myself five pounds lighter!

Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey

http://www.geocities.com/gkazin/index.html


		
__________________________________ 
Discover Yahoo! 
Use Yahoo! to plan a weekend, have fun online and more. Check it out! 
http://discover.yahoo.com/

	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	Sponsored by the ELH&TS
	http://www.elhts.org

------------------------------