On
Saturday, May 13th I gave my first tour of the Sussex Branch.
The sections covered were Branchville Junction, the Lafayette
creamery and station site, the Newton Meadows and Cranberry
Lake.
Six
people joined me at the NYSW Warbasse parking area on Saturday
morning at a little after nine o'clock. Introductions were made
and we headed down the NYSW path to the diamond with the Branchville
line of the Sussex Railroad. I briefly described the history
of the railroads and then led our party further down the NYSW.
We
reached the crossing of the NYSW with the Franklin line of the
Sussex Railroad, marked with a small sign. I pointed out the
raised railbed which began paralleling the NYSW from this point
after crossing it.
We
stood on the NYSW bridge over the Paulinskill, with its cut
stone bridge abutments and looked over the hundred or so feet
to the concrete abutments of the Franklin line. I then led the
group back to the Branchville diamond and we turned to head
toward Branchville Junction.
We
encountered a small tree that had fallen across the ROW and
paused to pull it off the path. When we continued on, I pointed
out the concrete oil house, covered with poison ivy, and described
how this site had seen three consecutive stations, beginning
around 1870 and ending around 1930.
We
continued on toward Newton to see the concrete bases of the
water tower and the battery boxes located on opposite sides
of the ROW. I told our group how the trains from Branchville
sometimes had to wait at the Junction for the engines to go
to Newton and water up. This practice stopped when the old water
tank from Newton was relocated to Branchville Junction in late
1905.
For
the second part of the tour, we drove over to Olde Lafayette
Village and parked near the Rt. 94 bridge over the Paulinskill
River. As we walked the ROW, I pointed out where the sidings
broke off from the main for the coal bunker and the creameries.
The concrete foundation remains of the Alderney creamery next
to the station was pointed out amongst the undergrowth as was
the auto parts dealer which resides in the other creamery building.
At
this point in the tour, Warren LeMay, Chairman of the Sussex
Railroad Company, Inc., a fledgeling railroad heritage
society of which I am a member of the board, offered restored
Val maps of Warbasse and Lafayette in full-scale (56" x 24")
and half scale (28" x 12".)
We
then drove to the Newton Train yard and broke for lunch at the
Trainstation Cafe, after which we walked into the Newton Meadows.
At the missing
trestle, two of our party chose to wade barefoot across
the shallows while the others crossed via a small birch tree
laying across the stream. A short walk followed before returning
to the train yard where we located part of the 90 foot turntable
still in place.
The
final part of the tour was at Cranberry Lake, where we ventured
onto the suspension bridge trying to see any remains of the
enchanted bridge from the lake's resort days. A hike toward
Waterloo ensued after which the tour broke up and we went our
respective ways.
Despite
the modest turnout for my first ever tour, it went very well
and I intend on giving such a tour again in the future. The
sections I'm thinking of for future tours are the Waterloo Station
site (and in the Village,) Andover or Augusta to Branchville.
