Historic Ruins Along the Ironton Rail Trail - Coplay Pa 

Thanks for taking a ride with us. Do you enjoy riding/walking on rail trails?

What a fun day ... gorgeous weather , beautiful scenery and tons of railroading history .. .on scooters ! Perfect way to travel on a rail trail .Thanks for takiing us along : }

Great idea with the scooter! The D & H rail trail is wonderful, that starts in Carbondale and goes to the New York boarder. Could probably get a few videos out of that. Around 45 miles one direction.

Fascinating. I love casual industrial archeology. I was following your route on google maps. There's so much history that goes unnoticed. These sites were not the locations of huge historical events, but they were super important to the world we live in today. In my everyday life I often wonder what locations and machines may be part of some future "rail trail".

Wow what a beautiful ride. Thoroughly enjoyed hearing the history of everything along the trail. I'm pretty much stuck at home so enjoy videos like this. I think this one is my favorite. RJ is definitely a character😄😄. Great seeing him with you!

Great job, I used to ride my bike there almost every day. There was a round house in Hokendauqa near the legion, there are still ruins from it around, you guys should also check out the D&L Rail trail that starts in Cementon, thanks for all your great work 👍

Thanks for sharing.....enjoy it.

What an interesting rail trail! So much to see and history to learn! Beautiful landscape and scenery too. The fire engine house is such a wonderful building, the stone construction is amazing, especially the arches! Great scooter adventure, looking forward to more of them! Awesome video JP! Thank you!

That has to be one of the best rail trails in the country! Perfect for the scooters and packed with so much history and cool things to see! Awesome video! Awesome adventure! Thanks for bringing us along with ya'll!

Thanks for bringing us along

Absolutely loved the ride JP and RJ! Fun facts and history! Thank you! 🥰

I was there a few weeks ago ! I went into one of abandoned buildings , and going into one of the rooms you can feel coldness like you walked into a freezer . People kept passing telling me that there’s demons in there. But other than that This place is really cool to go to! A lot of beautiful scenery

I'm surprised you didn't get kicked off the trail. Motorized vehicles, including scooters are prohibited

Great video! I have to get back to the trail this year. Many photos added I didn't see before. This is my childhood playground!! I REALLY wish I had pictures of how it originally was. The buildings were amazing to explore. There used to be mining tools and helmets and everything still hanging in a lot of them. We used to fight our way through overgrowth and sticker bushes just to keep exploring. I grew up in Ironton and as soon as we were old enough to go on our own we headed over to Ormrod and began exploring. Honestly seeing all the wall they put up makes me a little sick because there are some AMAZING views of the quarry and related structures that is now blocked and not able to be enjoyed like we did. They are OLD memories but I still have a few...

I used to ride a 1970 Honda CB350 down that trail before it was a Trail and still had the Rails and Ties basically from Allentown to Northampton to avoid the traffic. around that time a few friends and myself explored that Tunnel that runs under the Cement Kilns, back then a big pipe was coming out of it with a elbow going into the Lehigh river. and you could still get out the other end. the Lane department store and Laneco was still in business. there was also a bunch of towers for a old cement company near by it's all Homes now we could hunt pigeons with 12 Guage shotguns (my friend are then I wasn't into squab) back there and explore the Stone Quarries in the area also. nothing is the same anymore 😔

Great video jb I really enjoyed it.

Cool video so much history

I used to live in Coplay from 2004 to 2014. Lot of memories on this trail. I am always did love this trail and still go to visit it every now and then. Very historical trail and all the ruins in it. I explored a couple of the ruins myself. Good video guys.

The beach ball is for the beavers to play with during their breaks from workng on the dam.

My dad shot sporting clays. He was a member. He would go all over to go practice..

The concrete structure at 22:00 looks to be a Sluice to divert the creek for some use. Maybe a water powered mill

Yes I remember the Steel Covered Bridge .....so cool !! I love those old bridges . Wow a wooden box car !! I remember those kilns they were massive and so cool and such a part of history !! Yes please come back and see what left up there this fall it would be so cool to see !! This was really cool to see and A LOT of history there as well and those scooters are a wonderful thing to be able to cover all this ground !! I really enjoyed this video I just love history 👍👍 !!

Hya JP, I would have bet cash 2 gentlemen riding scooters would have never made a video I would fine interesting, but you know what? YOU DID IT!!!!!!!!! This was so interesting I was captivated by you and your kind friend. I am subscribed but am not interested much about outdoors where I live. You bring a kindness and decency that I happen to like very much!!! Thank you for everything you do sharing the videos you make. You do make me a tad nervous for you in water and snakes & some creatures. Much appreciation. Some of the abandon homes are a bit boring but: Even several of them are interesting as well like mansions but houses not so much. Ray C in FL

Those are cement silos we have them in a town aways up river that has a set but the it is the town of Concrete, WA

Love this tour, would never get to go myself, thanks

This was certainly a great video to watch. FYI, the other trail with the telegraph poles was the mainline of the Lehigh Valley RR.

thank you for the interesting video's as always

👍😎 Great job on RU-vid video amazing ✌️

Yes I enjoyed watching yes do it again 😊

This video is so cool. Love all the history.

Sup JP

My backyard wish I knew you were there would have met you. Those Brick Kilns used for Concrete are the Oldest Kilns in all of the United States. The side your on with the Girder Bridge is the old Lehigh Valley Line cross the Lehigh River is the old CNJ line. You can walk cross both bridges as they are both strong. 6:08 telegraph poles are of the Original Lehigh Valley Railroad Line, the Irionton Railroad crosses the Lehigh River south of your location across a bridge that's still there into Catasauqua. 13:59 the Locomotive near the Egypt Rail Bridge isn't the original bridge as it was cracked and fall apart in the 70's a water washout knocked outside of the footer that made it crumble. All the little holes in the tiny roof of the building are from Airsoft Gun metal Pellets. Note if you should go walking back off the main trail watch your footing as there are still open mine holes back to the Limestone Quarry. 21:04 Bridge in the water was used by Trucks as there was a Narrow-Gauge railroad that followed the Coplay Creek for some time into and out of the Limestone Quarry. 23:56 are Concrete Holding Tank Towers as behind you on the other side of the Bridge tracks would have switched and a spare track ran up to the sides of the Holding Tanks to Load Covered Hoppers as there is a huge open area of stones to cross over before touching the Bridge itself. On the other Side of the Street at Portland is Rangers Lake a Private Fishing Club in one of the many Quarries with Shooting Ranges as you hear. 40:42 the Original Line heads out to a Switch that took you to Todd Lake which is only 2 Miles up North with a Larger Yard and Locomotive shops that once stood near Grouse Hall Pond and the other side of the switch took you to connect on to the Fogelsville Yard which is 6 miles west-south of said area which Mainline in Fogelsville runs into Reading.

It is overwhelming the amount of rail trails you have (nicely groomed). In my area (lower Michigan) we do have an abandoned rail line and a lot of people wanted to make it into trails, but the idea got shot down my landowners abutting the trail area. So sad it did not come to be.

Next time you are in the area, take a left right around 15:14. There are some abandoned structures and a pond at the top. It's a lot of uphill and gravel riding. Cool to explore those roads.

As aways great video and pictures of the journey. Thanks again for sharing and have a great week ✌️

Great video JP, thoes pictures where amazing to see. Beautiful trails, and I love rail road history. 👍👍👍

Thank-you!!!

Cool Video !!!!

Hello from San Antonio, Texas.:). I found Your Channel by chance and I’m grateful I did. My family is from Philadelphia (Bucks County) and I’m happy to see the State💚Something You would find interesting is a channel by a brilliant researcher and historian named Michelle Gibson. Look for the flower of life symbol. I believe it would answer many of Your questions. Great Success and Happy Travels to Ye Mò Chridhe 💚 Love from Texas

Very cool J.

You handle the scooter well but I do.love a good ramble x

OMG 😊🥰 What an absolutely beautiful day and gorgeous scenery to go with the beautiful day 😍💕 Thanks for sharing all the rich history of this rail trail and all the interesting little tidbits of information 😀👍 Another wonderful video and an amazing exploration into the past 😁😊👍👍 Good to see you and RJ together...looks like y'all had a great day and a great experience 😀👍😊 As always Blessed be and stay safe ❤🙏

Jay, I hope you can get access to the mill to document it for the future. Don't wait , all they can say is no. It doesn't seem that it would be unreasonable....go for it, I loved to see that!. Perhaps the would allow drone footage when it isn't being used... who know? Cheers, Rik Spector

Could the small concrete pit by the shotgun range be a small coal bin for the buildings and the blacksmith shop?

Awesome little ride Great Adventure very cool stuff big thumbs up

Happy 4th to you and yr family. Are you planning on going live that day as you did several years ago? Very much enjoyed it.

the kilm you showed at the beginning i remember you showing them in another video . i said they would make a cute tiny house . i also remember the fire house too . those scooters look like so much fun....fun video...

This is a really cool video and cool history about the different places that went with the rail line

Hi Jay & R.J, such a neat trail packed with all types of historic buildings etc. A very interesting video, thank you for sharing, much love. xx 💖

Them scooters look like fun. How long do the batteries last?

Hi JP love your videos the blue shirt and hat looks really good on you I'm glad to see you are doing good and happy . stay happy my friend

See now think of all of the jobs.& help from the life long train rider that could help out with the illegal train ridding. I think that the railroad should offer some of the longtime ones A job as A helper for free rides from state to state.

will save video n seelater am sleepy or show again man i once cycled 165ks from cork city to west kerry those were d Days

glad to see you 2 together again. Was hoping for some "blooper" clips at the end lol

That building near the car has no trespassing signs all over so you can't really go in

I have to get back up there and explore that area more. I brought up old aerial photographs of the area. There were lots of rail yards and sidings along the old line and pretty much all those railroads up there was one big loop around.

Great video, JP! This was a lot of fun! Thank you so much.

Thanks for sharing your ride and the historic sites along the way 😊

Great video a beautiful place

Love the scooter tours!! Just can’t hike it anymore!! 😂😂 The kilns are my favorite!!

How do find these places

maybe a go-pro on the handle bars?

Jay, I love the scooter trips and seeing you both exploring. Your videos and pictures are very well composed. Walking is fun but for overviews, scooters are better. Thanks Yoy, Fred

Thanks for taking us along for the ride, awesome explore. Think we know what your next T-shirt will be, the insulator Christmas tree 😁. Just wondering when the JP VS RJ scooter race will be.

Thanks for the video JP, wish we could use scooters in the UK but there banned as I have dodgy knees. This trip was very interesting, and learnt more about your railways around your area. This sure is a big site, must have looked awesome in its time. Say hi to AJ for me!!😎🚂🚂🦋🦋🇬🇧🇺🇦

What a killer day for this! We, unfortunately, don’t have train rails here. Not much RR history here. We were the last area of Georgia settled. I’m jealous JP. Looks like aloud of fun. The trail is very interesting J!

Come see our Montour “Rails to Trails” in Pittsburgh…it’s very similar to this one…paved paths to ride bikes, scooters, walk, etc., and photos along the way with some salvaged boxcars and service stations, old car & truck relics, gas station signs & train trestles over waterways. It won’t disappoint!

Great job jp 👏 👍

Good video JP. That trail is awesome! It’s amazing how much history is packed into that trail. The bridge over the river is ify. I crossed it a couple years ago, not sure if I’d cross it now. It looks a little worse than a few years ago. In that area there is another factory back in the woods. It’s posted in a lot of the area but I found a way around that and went back to explore it. There was even a mangled car in one of the building ruins. The scooters worked great in the video. It gave the opportunity to show a lot more of the trail. The IRT is just a little over 9 miles I believe so walking the whole trail would’ve taken a long time and you probably couldn’t show all that you did. I’m looking forward to more of the rail trail videos with the scooters. BTW, did the guy who lives along the trail at the caboose still have stuff hanging on the trees or fence? I remember he had a Halloween skull on a tree looking at the trail. It was cool the stuff he had.

was at A old rail yard today were some of the tracks are being remove got me worning if the yard will stay

Thanks for doing this video Jp! Would love to see a video on the rails to trails from White Haven to Jim Thorpe!

nice tour of the rail trail, the trail looks to be very well maintained, i do walk and sometimes ride along a local rail trail but it's not as well maintained, and it's a crushed stone trail which is either dusty or kinda muddy when it rains... enjoyed the video

that abandoned train was cool inside and those pictures near the end were stunning, i think those scooters are very good coz you get to see a bit more rather than walking, all the best jp

so cool, 😊😊

Hi Jay. awesome video. it looks like a great place.

Love this video!

6:25, 2022.

Always amusing to see you and RJ hanging out together🛴🛴

Totally awesome and such nice weather! What a perfect day for a ride! Glad that RJ was with you. (I don't like when you go places by yourself!) What a great place and I hope you can get into the gun club! Thank you for sharing this amazing video and those gorgeous shots!

Great video Jay, couldn't ask for better weather. With the scooters seems like you can cover more distance and get more content. It's two; two treats in one! Thanks for bringing me along 👍

I loved this video!!🛴🛴 The Ironton Rail Trail has always been one of my favorites. In fact it's where I took my first ride on my new scooter a few week ago.🛴 It's a great trail for scooters and for enjoying railroad memorabilia and history. I know you didn't do the full loop, but at the southern end of the loop was the Biery Yard. You can still see where the tracks would have been for the rail yard. I believe the parallel dirt trail you pointed out near the old CNJ bridge was the former Lehigh Valley Railroad. The CNJ would have paralleled it on the other side of the river (thus the need to cross via that bridge) and is currently NS. The LNE Railroad was in there somewhere too, though I'm not sure which side. Anyway it was fun to see your take on a trail I know and love. Perhaps I'll see you out there in the fall. That's the best time to explore some of the ruins.