Old video of riding

[mikeexplorer]

I took this video back in 2007. Recently the trail (old railroad grade) I was riding was converted into a walking trail (obviously no more ATV riding on it) 👎 I dug up this old video and put it together since it shows the entire section and what it used to look like. The quality of the video is lacking, but this was from 18 years ago. Image stabilization didn't exist back then so I wore the camera on my helmet. (mounted to the quad was useless with all the shaking) so there is some annoying frames of me looking around. I noted any historical items from the railroad in the video. There is a section where the railroad grade is wiped out due to erosion so I had to jump off it and ride an abandoned road for a section to get around it. 

 

[jen]

Impressive video!  The trail looks well used.  Who maintains it?   Was it a spur for coal trains?

[mikeexplorer]

6 hours ago, jen said:

Impressive video!  The trail looks well used.  Who maintains it?   Was it a spur for coal trains?

It was well used by quads, nobody maintained it since it wasn't "officially" an ATV trail. 

It was a division of the Erie railroad that connected Plains to Hawley PA mainly hauling coal. It replaced the gravity raiload in 1885. This section was abandoned in 1972.

Lets see if this works on this website, old vs new pictures

[jen]

Great A/B comparison pics.   Somebody  spent some money on the trail...  Asphalt is not cheap.  $150/Yd in the truck...lay down equipment and trucking into a remote location OMG$

[mikeexplorer]

11 hours ago, jen said:

Great A/B comparison pics.   Somebody  spent some money on the trail...  Asphalt is not cheap.  $150/Yd in the truck...lay down equipment and trucking into a remote location OMG$

Surface is crushed stone. 

 

[jen]

looks good

[jen]

Yes I am sure the RR bed was stable and stoned heavily already.  Probably 3/4 in clean stone top coat would pack.  Still trucking and spreading is $$$.   Low overhanging trees the truckers would not like that .  Probably had to use single axle dump trucks.  The wooden fence also !  $$$.

[mikeexplorer]

9 hours ago, jen said:

Yes I am sure the RR bed was stable and stoned heavily already.  Probably 3/4 in clean stone top coat would pack.  Still trucking and spreading is $$$.   Low overhanging trees the truckers would not like that .  Probably had to use single axle dump trucks.  The wooden fence also !  $$$.

Oh that is only a small portion of the fence they installed, There are sections with fence as far as you can see, they spent big $$$ doing this trail. Now they are re-habbing the old railroad bridge. BIG bucks going into this ... for another 1 mile of trail! I took this picture today.

We walked another section of the old railroad grade, part of it still has rail. We think next year they are going to convert a section to a walking trail. Wanted to get newer photos of what it is today. There is a massive washout that destroyed part of the grade, We can still get around it, but I think this is where the trail will stop. 

Might be able to sneak the quads in for one more ride before they convert this. 

 

[jen]

Psycologists say taat bridges and Tunnels are strong images.   I love old train bridges and tunnels. just walking in them is a thrill.   I remember Alfred Hitchcock's movie North by Northwest. Cary Grant saves Eva Saint Marie from death.  He gets her onto the train. He  lifts her up into his upper birth on the train as it enters the tunnel and everything goes dark as the movie ends...OOMG that was sooo good.

[mikeexplorer]

21 hours ago, jen said:

Psycologists say taat bridges and Tunnels are strong images.   I love old train bridges and tunnels. just walking in them is a thrill.   I remember Alfred Hitchcock's movie North by Northwest. Cary Grant saves Eva Saint Marie from death.  He gets her onto the train. He  lifts her up into his upper birth on the train as it enters the tunnel and everything goes dark as the movie ends...OOMG that was sooo good.

Here is one for ya, on the same walk. This one was put OOS in 1983. I have walked across this one.

[mikeexplorer]

Peale Tunnel, Beech Creek Railroad, Milepoint 57.6. Now Snow Shoe Rails To Trails.

Took this video last month. (technology improved a lot in 18 years compared to my older video  )

 

[jen]

Wow strong and impressive..LOL  I have a Tunnel picture I walked through...It is abandoned and dark in the middle of nowhere in southren Ohio.    Its called the Moonville Tunel (No kidding that's the name on it )🤩

[jen]

Oooooh Dark and wet...

[WeeBee]

Enter at your own risk !

[jen]

Whoa!!! the Pearle Tunnel gives me the tremors!   Wet and Dark...

[Gwbarm]

Very nice tunnel, perfect name for it, looks like a night time teenager hangout.

[jen]

Yes drinking beer by the light of the moon,,,,,BTDT  and I don't care much for beer!    Now it is a Halloween hayride venue also.

[mikeexplorer]

Its now a rail-trail

 

[jen]

That is a Bucket List item!

[mikeexplorer]

This is the other tunnel along the same abandoned railroad. However, this is not part of the rails to trails. What is cool about this one is it is curved so when you go into it, it is completely dark until you turn the corner. 

 

[jen]

The blue ridge tunnel 4,256 ft long built in 1856 ...189 men died in the construction.   

[mikeexplorer]

This video is the same railroad grade but on the opposite side of the bridge that is now being converted into a trail. I hear plans that some of this will be converted to trail so I wanted to document it as it is now before it happens. The video is better quality as the camera is newer then what I posted above.

Another difference is part of this railroad grade is not formally abandoned. It is still considered OOS (Out of service) so how far they can make this into a trail is unknown. 

 

 

[jen]

Very good.  How fAST DO YOU RIDE ?   I found the video to be very ...motivating.. can just imagine the soft warm leaves on a warm fall day   Injun summer day

[mikeexplorer]

4 hours ago, jen said:

Very good.  How fAST DO YOU RIDE ?   I found the video to be very ...motivating.. can just imagine the soft warm leaves on a warm fall day   Injun summer day

I don't ride fast anymore, at my age, things take longer to heal. I was probably riding 10-15 mph to do the video. On the way back I went a bit quicker and at one point I got the rear tire hung on the rail and the quad did a bit of a side skid. That was interesting.

 

[jen]

Was that 130 lb track or old light track?  It looked dangerous.   

[mikeexplorer]

13 hours ago, jen said:

Was that 130 lb track or old light track?  It looked dangerous.   

Not light track. It is at least 120lb rail as this was a major junction at one time. Trains hauled mainly coal from several breakers and delivered it to Hawley which was the end of the line. Originally the Jessup branch serviced several breakers, but after coal died out, that area became an industrial park so trains still operated to service the industrial park. This is why the line was cut back in 1972 (transitions from where there is no rail, to where rail is still in place) This section stayed in operation until 1985 when a hurricane caused some major washouts and it was not worth it to repair them so the line has sat unused since then. 

The reference in the video of the "PCC Gravity Railroad" was what existed before conventional locomotive rails. In this case the rails were light track (Originally strap rail in the 1850's) and there were no locomotives. Instead there were stationary steam engines on top of an incline (called a plane) and up to five cars would be hooked to a rope at the bottom and the steam engine would haul them uphill. Once at the top, the rope was disconnected and the cars would coast down via gravity to the next lifting plane. This is how they originally hauled coal from the mountains to Hawley to be put on boats and shipped around the country. Later they opened it up for passenger service and that is how roller coasters were invented. 

[jen]

I have never heard of that...very interesting...Can ATV ride the trail when it becomes a hiking trail?

[mikeexplorer]

1 minute ago, jen said:

I have never heard of that...very interesting...Can ATV ride the trail when it becomes a hiking trail?

I guess you could say Gravity Railroads was a "Pennsylvania thing" because the northeast part of PA is one of very few areas that has anthracite coal. (hard coal) Everywhere else where coal is mined is bituminous coal (soft coal)  There was a huge market for hard coal since it burns hotter and with no smoke. Warships in World War 2 burned hard coal because they don't give off smoke where the enemy can detect the ships at distance. 

Back to the ATV part  unfortunately when these trails are converted, no ATV usage allowed. 🤬 so soon we won't be able to ride this anymore so I wanted to do it before that happens. The side effect of riding these old railroads is the coal dust and culm. It does a number on bushings and bearings cause it can act like a lapping compound when it  gets wet. 

This old railroad in the video is what replaced the gravity system in 1895. 

 

[jen]

Mike's rides are exciting,  The Tunnels  are capivating to me as well as bridges that are stong and firm.  However, he didnot mention old grave yards.  When out on country roads I feel compelled to stop and read the old grave markers. Some have revealing epitaphs engraved on the tombstones.

[Gwbarm]

Interesting, i like to do that also, especially if you find one out in the woods abandoned  just to see how old the markers are. I found one next to a creek bank once all the stones were early 1800s lot of history there.