Exploring old railroads and rail trails and whatever else we find along the way. Nothing professional here, just us looking for cool history and some attempts at train spotting. Let's see what's out there. These videos are not intended to promote trespassing of any kind. I am aware of the risks and legal ramifications I take and wish only to satisfy my curiosity and highlight the tremendous amount of work that often goes unseen. Hope you enjoy and thanks for watching and subscribing.
Hello again Shelia. This is such a cool structure. I've actually been on it twice prior to this video. It crosses the Ironton railtrail on the west side of the river. From that side I made it about halfway across before I chickened out lol. I've seen teenagers practically skip across this thing without a fear in the world. I'm really hoping to conquer that fear in the fall. We'll see.
Hey William. No this has a couple different styles. Deck truss on each end, Deck girder in the middle and a couple others that I don't even know lol. You can see some of it on Google Earth. Northampton is on the east side, Coplay on the west.
Just a quick Glimpse and already looks intriguing. Sneaky photography as the first looks like it's only 40 ft long then suddenly around the curve there's the crossing of the Lehigh River. This certainly is a lot of action crammed into a small area. Excellent catch
Hey Paul. This one's a monster. I think there are a total of four different span styles and I forgot to mention it crosses the Lehigh Canal as well. Won't be until the leaves come down but I promise it's worth the wait!
Hello Kevin!! Been a while since I've had time to sit and watch....by the way, you certainly don't/ did not need any apologies for info while filming. You told us more in these 3 or 4 minutes than anyone else could have!! Great to see you with the Grandson....I take mine out filming sometimes as well. "See ya soon Bud!"
Hey Russ. Great to hear from you. I really want to thank you again for sending Todd my way. He's the guy that asked you about the roads down this way. We've hung out a couple times and constantly text each other all kinds of historical stuff. Really appreciate it and I'm looking forward to some new videos from you. Until then take care.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 Cool!! Networking man!....it keeps us all connected in the Historical quest. Thanks, Kaitlin has quite the backlog of vids to edit! Haha!
Thank you kindly Dave. Hope you had a nice weekend. I've a sweet charter trip on Wed up to the Vosburg tunnel on one of the Reading and Northern RDCs. Can't wait!!
@@kevinsalsbury2118your welcome Kevin. Yep, the weekend was very nice, as we did some Amtrak & Trolley Railfanning! A charted trip to the Vosburg tunnel sounds great, especially by RDC! Have a fun time and I am looking forward to seeing the videos that you take! 👌
I listen to some newer music John but I always go back to the classics when I really want to rock! Late 60s early 70s just can't be beat. In my opinion of course.
My sister and I watched Mr. Belvidere all the time. I think Small Wonder was on around the same time as well. I can hear the theme songs for both in my head right now.
As an archeologist who has mapped and recorded 1000s of miles of historic railroad grades and forgotten ghost towns in wilderness Pennsylvania, I was so impressed with this video I subscribed to your channel. Keep up the excellent reporting. I will be watching
Thank you Eric this is a most flattering compliment! You must know as well as I that this is so much fun. The amount of work and effort that went into building these roads is fascinating to me. Without them this country wouldn't have had the growth and prosperity it had. Not just on an industrial scale but also the private sector. Being able to go from place to place on rails must have remarkable for the folks that experienced this when it was new. Granted it's history is not all rainbows and gumdrops but it's a fantastic history that disappears with each new housing development and strip mall that goes up. Hope I can keep your interest. Have a great day.
Kevin, Excellent video! A curious question wherein, I noticed there was no "guard rails" over the railroad bridge over Alexauken Creek and I wonder why that was? Also, and obvious as well, the bridge has seen its better days (i.e., railroad ties in very bad ship, etc.). As you mentioned in your narration, too bad the original stone work had been stuccoed/ concreted over in the bridge abutments, as I bet it was a beautiful piece of stone masonry.? Thanks. John
John, Always a pleasure to hear from you and as always a very good observation. If memory serves me correctly you caught this on another PRR bridge. The bridge at Carpentersville was also without guide rails or re-railers. Coincidentally both part of the Bel-Del family at one time, although both bridge girders would have been installed by the PRR. That being said I'm not sure if it's a PRR thing or a New Jersey thing. Would you believe that during hurricane Ida this bridge was under water. There is debris wedged on the underside of the steel and I mean a lot. Yet it still stood. Absolutely amazing!
Thank you very much Brian. Always been fascinated by the railroad. The work that went into them without the equipment of the modern age is astounding to me.
Yeah Brian. They would certainly steal business from the New Hope and Ivyland if the could get back into Lambertville. It will take ridiculous amount of money and time.
Well i live near Muddy Creek Forks which was a part of the original Ma&Pa railroad..I volunteer to its upkeep and historical learning to many wjo jusy found out about the Railroad!!
The Ma&Pa is one that I'm not familiar with yet. I know of it's existence just not the history. Checked out your video of you going for a ride. The ballast looks brand new. Is that your work? Looks really good.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 yes ballasts were replaced after a bad flood a few years back..They are trying to extend the track ride but need more heavy equipment and volunteers..
I saw that you guys were given this. So cool. Have you found a way to display it yet? I haven't been down that way since they removed the bridge. Is the replacement installed yet?
😆About a year and a half ago I stepped on a ground hive. Got me three times before I even knew what was going on. My legs were going so fast that my body couldn't keep up. Probably looked like a Tom & Jerry cartoon.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 Had the same a few year back just cutting grass in my back yard. Bad on their part. With in minutes I dumped gasoline in that hole after it sat for a minute I put a match to it!!! No more yellow jackets. Then a couple years after that. I was out there cooking on the grill with my dog and saw him chasing something on the ground and then jerking his head back and it miner bees. First encounter in my 60 years of life. He got nailed on the snout a couple of times until I saw what was going on and put him in the house. They had several holes and were black with very small greyish white bands. I read up on them and this particular species rarely comes out of the ground. It's like several year cycle or something like that, so I kept an eye on them and sure enough a couple days later the were back in the ground or just moved. The females have their own nests but the males will nest close by and can grow up to 10,000 bees. I have no clue how many are down there. I have never seen them again.
@monmixer There nasty little things. Worked on a ski mountain quite a few years back. In the summer we would come upon a hive once and a while. Gave them the gasoline and match treatment as well. Looks like they got their revenge on me after all lol. I constantly am looking down this time of year. Don't want another lesson in this department. Stay safe and have a great day.
Thank you very much. The box cars were kind of a mystery. Usually there may be one or two. I'm hoping to find out where they were headed to. Storage I'm guessing.
Great capture and what an amazing bridge! It is so cool when the face of the bridge is at a sharp angle like that to follow the waterway, road or railroad below! 👌👍
Good morning Dave. Absolutely right. This bridge is perfectly aligned with the canal beneath it. How cool it must have been to sit and watch the trains and mules working side by side. Have a wonderful day sir.
Yes Kevin, the L&NE had a short tunnel in Catasauqua. It has been closed in though. Also the CNJ bridge was built so it could handle four tracks, but never had more than two. Guess they thought they would keep up with the LV that had four tracks from Treichlers to Easton.
Good morning Keith. I would have never known this about the CNJ had you not mentioned it. It appears nothing could keep up with the LV on its home turf. Why did Conrail opt for the east side of the river. The guesses I have are it eliminated the grade crossings in Allentown and the need to access the Palmerton zinc plant. I've done some hiking through Treichlers and there are some wide stretches through there. Some of the ties are still in place. Hope all is well.
It makes me sad. That used to be a 4 track mainline with 2 dedicated east and 2 dedicated west tracks with daily passenger trains all day and night😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
Good morning Bill. I was looking at some old aerial photos of the Catasaqua area and it's unbelievable how it used to look. The canal and all the active lines crisscrossing each other. Diamonds and bridges that are gone now. I caught the local freight on it today with another gentleman and we were both excited because it had 30 plus cars on it. Then I got to thinking this line used to 30 plus trains on it a day. Wow how times have changed. Once a four track, now just one. Rumor has it that passenger service will be coming back to the Reading to Philly corridor but I'll believe it when I see it. They should have never turned the PRR Schuylkill division into a railtrail, in my opinion.
Good morning John. I spent a good amount of time just sitting and waiting for the train. It was interesting to see that there was zero fresh graffiti on it but if I looked carefully enough I could see some faded stuff from 1993. It was in some precarious spots to. Then I started thinking how many kids dared other kids over the years to climb up on top just for $hits and giggles. Indeed many a story that bridge could tell. Have a great day John.
Hey George. Great night for a cigar! Trying to get up towards Bloomsburg but just haven't found the time yet. I really want to check out those abutments you found! Have a great night my friend.
