I learned yesterday about the loss of the Batsto rail trestle to fire earlier this year, and my heart breaks for the severed artery that is the Central Railroad.
As one of the few people who can say they've walked the Central Line from Winslow to Chatsworth in one trip, I strongly feel that the bridge needs to be rebuilt into a footbridge to keep the route intact. Here is an account of that trip.
One morning, I was dropped off on Fleming Pike in Winslow, and walked the road between turf fields to reach the rails and the state forest boundary. Relatively immediately, I reached Albertson Brook and the sizeable rail trestle that spans it.
The rails cross several small creeks, but in many cases the creeks pass under the cut-and-fill topography of the rail line, disappearing into the sand to reappear as a trickle on the other side. Occasionally, a branch is large enough that it pools (usually on the northern side of the rails) into a pond. The largest rivers and streams are spanned by trestles. Gun Branch appears on my map next, but I can't recall if there was a visible flow of water at the rails.
I crossed Chew Road and the Clark Branch (another one that may not have been visibly flowing iirc), and departed the Fleming Pike as I approached the abandoned rail stop of Parkdale. The remains of a cranberry bog operation are apparent here. There is the foundation of a long, thin building here, perhaps a packing house? The central field looks like a flooded blueberry field (something is growing neatly in rows in the satellite imagery), but it's encircled by what are clearly old cranberry bogs fed by the Sleeper Branch.
Speaking of the Sleeper Branch, the rails cross it at Parkdale on a very sketchy old trestle. I remember putting away my trekking poles and clinging to the wooden supports to crawl across a beam, because the slats that go across the trestle are all missing. I can't remember if the bridge appeared scorched or not.
After crossing a few more creeks that appear on the topo map but not in real life, I reached and crossed Rt. 206 just south of Atsion. Passing the old Atsion forge site, the next landmark is the Mullica River trestle, which is the highlight of the Central Line now that the Batsto trestle is gone.
The rails cross the Mullica River Trail and continue on, past Stokes Road and Springers Brook, to Deep Run, where the run took a chunk out of the sand beneath the rails, leaving the rails to float in mid-air. Luckily, someone put a log in the ditch that I was able to use to cross with dry feet.
Next comes the epicenter of recent damage, the Batsto trestle. I haven't seen it myself since it fell, but the photos I've seen on this site are absolutely gutting. The route is utterly severed at its most remote and deepest point.
There's a really nice stand of cedar downhill, across from the trestle on the southeast side of the rail crossing. A road comes up to the south that leads to Lower Forge Campground, making it easy to split the trip in half here for an overnight.
The tracks pass another railside pond before arriving at High Crossing, where the rails suddenly cut out and Tuckerton Road breaks through. Here, I passed a group on motorcycles riding the roads. As I climbed down from the elevated railbed to cross Tuckerton, I could sense their bewildered looks, but I paid them no mind. To each their own.
Around High Crossing, the topography of the rail becomes extremely exaggerated, sometimes sitting ten to fifteen feet above the surrounding landscape, with sand piled up on the sides to build up an artificial-looking ridge.
Next comes Carranza Road, which is paved right up until it hits the rails, turning to a sand road and leading to Friendship beyond.
Past Carranza, there are a few more ponds beside the rails, and the railroad crosses two branches of the Tulpehocken, along with Ore Spung and the Featherbed Branch. I don't recall any of these crossings being potential water sources, rather than simply ephemeral depressions in the ground that fill during high water.
Next comes the abandoned rail stop of Pine Crest. The remains of some type of rail gate or door were visible here, along with chunks of slag.
Here also marks the end of Wharton Forest property, meaning that from Fleming Pike to Pine Crest is a full traverse of the forest, in virtually a straight line.
The rails continue through Chatsworth Woods and enter the Franklin Parker Preserve. Apple Jack Road intersects at a point, and then you hit Bertha's Canal (anyone know the origin of the name?), which is typically impassable. At the particular time I attempted my traverse, however, a large tree had fallen over the canal, and I was able to climb through the canopy and down the trunk to cross the river with my pack strapped firmly to my back.
This took me into the area behind the Franklin Parker hiking trails, and I intersected the Red Trail before proceeding to another break in the rails, this one centered in the big bog on Green Trail near the maintenance building. The break was actually two small gaps in the rails, small enough to run and jump across, and I made it through.
Crossing the main driveway at Franklin Parker (Green Trail), the woods gets brushy before you cross Red Trail again and wind up at the last trestle of your journey, the Wading River trestle. I stopped to filter water at the Wading River, as this was the only easy access to good, flowing water that I encountered the entire trip. The Wading River trestle makes a great little stop by itself if you're at Franklin Parker, in fact.
The final mile or so was a bushwhack through brush, past abandoned homes, on questionably public land, until I emerged from the woods on Main Street, Chatsworth, near the Blue Comet sign. I turned around and hiked back to Franklin Parker, where I was picked back up at the parking lot.
The journey as I completed it is now no longer possible, not just because of Bertha's Canal, but because of the torched Batsto trestle. The Sleeper Branch trestle was also in need of some type of replacement.
I understand that it's somewhat of a pipe dream to expect the state of NJ to replace multiple bridges along an unmarked and somewhat treacherous route, but there's a lot of historic value to be found along the journey, and the rail line does appear on maps and receives use as a hiking trail, so the Batsto trestle can't be left as a hazard. I hope that whatever is done preserves the walkability of the rail trail.
As one of the few people who can say they've walked the Central Line from Winslow to Chatsworth in one trip, I strongly feel that the bridge needs to be rebuilt into a footbridge to keep the route intact. Here is an account of that trip.
One morning, I was dropped off on Fleming Pike in Winslow, and walked the road between turf fields to reach the rails and the state forest boundary. Relatively immediately, I reached Albertson Brook and the sizeable rail trestle that spans it.
The rails cross several small creeks, but in many cases the creeks pass under the cut-and-fill topography of the rail line, disappearing into the sand to reappear as a trickle on the other side. Occasionally, a branch is large enough that it pools (usually on the northern side of the rails) into a pond. The largest rivers and streams are spanned by trestles. Gun Branch appears on my map next, but I can't recall if there was a visible flow of water at the rails.
I crossed Chew Road and the Clark Branch (another one that may not have been visibly flowing iirc), and departed the Fleming Pike as I approached the abandoned rail stop of Parkdale. The remains of a cranberry bog operation are apparent here. There is the foundation of a long, thin building here, perhaps a packing house? The central field looks like a flooded blueberry field (something is growing neatly in rows in the satellite imagery), but it's encircled by what are clearly old cranberry bogs fed by the Sleeper Branch.
Speaking of the Sleeper Branch, the rails cross it at Parkdale on a very sketchy old trestle. I remember putting away my trekking poles and clinging to the wooden supports to crawl across a beam, because the slats that go across the trestle are all missing. I can't remember if the bridge appeared scorched or not.
After crossing a few more creeks that appear on the topo map but not in real life, I reached and crossed Rt. 206 just south of Atsion. Passing the old Atsion forge site, the next landmark is the Mullica River trestle, which is the highlight of the Central Line now that the Batsto trestle is gone.
The rails cross the Mullica River Trail and continue on, past Stokes Road and Springers Brook, to Deep Run, where the run took a chunk out of the sand beneath the rails, leaving the rails to float in mid-air. Luckily, someone put a log in the ditch that I was able to use to cross with dry feet.
Next comes the epicenter of recent damage, the Batsto trestle. I haven't seen it myself since it fell, but the photos I've seen on this site are absolutely gutting. The route is utterly severed at its most remote and deepest point.
There's a really nice stand of cedar downhill, across from the trestle on the southeast side of the rail crossing. A road comes up to the south that leads to Lower Forge Campground, making it easy to split the trip in half here for an overnight.
The tracks pass another railside pond before arriving at High Crossing, where the rails suddenly cut out and Tuckerton Road breaks through. Here, I passed a group on motorcycles riding the roads. As I climbed down from the elevated railbed to cross Tuckerton, I could sense their bewildered looks, but I paid them no mind. To each their own.
Around High Crossing, the topography of the rail becomes extremely exaggerated, sometimes sitting ten to fifteen feet above the surrounding landscape, with sand piled up on the sides to build up an artificial-looking ridge.
Next comes Carranza Road, which is paved right up until it hits the rails, turning to a sand road and leading to Friendship beyond.
Past Carranza, there are a few more ponds beside the rails, and the railroad crosses two branches of the Tulpehocken, along with Ore Spung and the Featherbed Branch. I don't recall any of these crossings being potential water sources, rather than simply ephemeral depressions in the ground that fill during high water.
Next comes the abandoned rail stop of Pine Crest. The remains of some type of rail gate or door were visible here, along with chunks of slag.
Here also marks the end of Wharton Forest property, meaning that from Fleming Pike to Pine Crest is a full traverse of the forest, in virtually a straight line.
The rails continue through Chatsworth Woods and enter the Franklin Parker Preserve. Apple Jack Road intersects at a point, and then you hit Bertha's Canal (anyone know the origin of the name?), which is typically impassable. At the particular time I attempted my traverse, however, a large tree had fallen over the canal, and I was able to climb through the canopy and down the trunk to cross the river with my pack strapped firmly to my back.
This took me into the area behind the Franklin Parker hiking trails, and I intersected the Red Trail before proceeding to another break in the rails, this one centered in the big bog on Green Trail near the maintenance building. The break was actually two small gaps in the rails, small enough to run and jump across, and I made it through.
Crossing the main driveway at Franklin Parker (Green Trail), the woods gets brushy before you cross Red Trail again and wind up at the last trestle of your journey, the Wading River trestle. I stopped to filter water at the Wading River, as this was the only easy access to good, flowing water that I encountered the entire trip. The Wading River trestle makes a great little stop by itself if you're at Franklin Parker, in fact.
The final mile or so was a bushwhack through brush, past abandoned homes, on questionably public land, until I emerged from the woods on Main Street, Chatsworth, near the Blue Comet sign. I turned around and hiked back to Franklin Parker, where I was picked back up at the parking lot.
The journey as I completed it is now no longer possible, not just because of Bertha's Canal, but because of the torched Batsto trestle. The Sleeper Branch trestle was also in need of some type of replacement.
I understand that it's somewhat of a pipe dream to expect the state of NJ to replace multiple bridges along an unmarked and somewhat treacherous route, but there's a lot of historic value to be found along the journey, and the rail line does appear on maps and receives use as a hiking trail, so the Batsto trestle can't be left as a hazard. I hope that whatever is done preserves the walkability of the rail trail.
