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(erielack) A (Bike) Ride on the Old Erie Main



A (Bike) Ride on the Old Erie Main - 08/11-05
  Once again I have my bike out to explore.  I leave home shortly after
8am and drive to Monroe, New York.  The former Erie Railroad main line is
now a paved recreation trail.  Sounds like fun!
  I park near Mill Pond park and am underway west at 9:22.  I realize I've
left some things behind and return to the car, 1.25 miles out and back,
then try again.  The path is fairly level and easy going.
  Soon I reach two park-and-ride lots for commuters, now served by Coach
USA and car pools.  The second one has Erie milepost 50 along the trail,
though I suspect it has been restored - I see no other mileposts today. 
On the left (south) side, a small building stands that has a 'station'
look to it.
  A bit beyond, on the right, tall fine-mesh fencing encloses a building
that looks like it could have once been a station.  Signs nearby say
'CAMP' but I think it's a youth detention center.
  Twenty minutes out from Monroe, about 3 miles, rails appear on the left,
then an overhead bridge: Greycourt.  It doesn't look like it has been used
in ages, with trees between the rails.  A 'conveyor belt' type apparatus
stands near one track and it DOES look like it has been used, though how
rail cars could reach it is beyond me.
  Goshen is about an hour (with stops for photos, etc) and 10 miles from
Monroe and I have difficulty finding the rail bed; signs on the trail say
it ends here.  I ask at the police station.  They say it goes farther
west, but give me get bad directions.  I head west on Main Street and find
old rails in a grade crossing, then some reused as supports for guard wire
alongside the road, but I doubt it's the Erie Main.  Main Street does take
me to NY 17/US 6 and I head toward Middletown.  One road mentioned at the
police station was '6 1/2 Station Road' and I see it.  I guess to turn
right and soon see more trail, though it is not paved.  It's now 10:45. 
The path is clear and I appreciate the Erie BROAD GAUGE.
  The clear section of the rail bed soon ends; it's HEAVILY overgrown and
not used even by ATV's.  McVeigh Road runs along in the correct direction,
so I take it.  All the bridges are in, with ties on them - would be a
tough ride.  I see another section used by ATV's, but it's much too rough
and vegetation with thorns is too close, so I go back to the road.  This
ends at a T intersection and I guess to turn left.  It's Dolsonville Road;
a few miles puts me at an intersection with Dolson Ave so I go north.  I
cross the Middletown & New Jersey and head for its station, then the New
York, Ontario & Western station and shop area.  Mileage: 21.26, 11:48.
  The O&W station had a fire last winter but it still stands - boarded up.
 The freight house is just north and a gem, used by a sheet metal
fabricator.  The shop buildings still stand, many apparently used, as does
the tower!  Mileage: 21.78, noon.  The Middletown fire department has a
building here; one company is named 'Ontario'.  Wonder where that came
from?  I have a granola bar for lunch and eat two more later.
  I pass the M&NJ again and find the office door open.  A woman whose car
has California plates says she has just been for a ride!  I chat with her,
then go in and introduce myself to Harold Rasmussen.  I'd not met him
before.  He says the O&W station will be redeveloped; possibilities
include housing, senior citizen housing, and business.  He adds that the
M&NJ could be for sale to the 'right' party.  I had reset the odometer at
Wisner Ave and have 1.36 miles here, then reset it again.
  I intend to follow the Erie out of town, first along the M&NJ and then
on streets.  A dead-end road leads to the right-of-way just east of where
it crosses under the M&NJ, but the ballast is humpy-bumpy like it has seen
many ATV's.  The ATV trail moves over to a power line right-of-way and I
go with it.  The cutover trail is steep and I hit a rock, which throws me.
 No apparent damage to anything, but my left side is black from coal dust
and I have a few scrapes on my hands and left knee.
  The power line hits Dolsonville Road just north of McVeigh Road, where
I'd gone the other way.  I take it and rejoin my outbound path, but miss
the point where I'd been ON the railroad coming out.  This road becomes
Fletcher Ave and has a T intersection with 6 1/2 Station Road, but I don't
take it since it seems to be going the wrong way (should have).  Fletcher
comes to an interchange with NY 17 and the road ahead is marked with a
dead end sign; I cross over and find Fletcher continuing on the other
side.  It goes into Goshen and I find the police station to get my
bearings, then pick up the trail.  Unfortunately, I've lost the chance to
find out where the trail goes out of town to the west.
  I go east and stop at an 'ices' stand just off the trail between Goshen
and Chester; it's necessary as I've drunk the three ice bottles I brought
from home (nearly half a gallon).  I get ices and a bottle of water, which
get me back to the car at 2:15 with 19.64 miles from the M&NJ.  Total:
44.05 miles, probably 4 1/4 hours of riding.
  The drive home is 39 miles, an hour by back roads.  I take a shower to
get the coal dust off.  Both palms and the knee have scratches.  I call my
doctor and schedule a tetanus shot for tomorrow morning; I haven't had one
in at least 15 years.
  

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

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


		
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