My big trip today

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BarryC

Guest
Keith and I decided to go to North Jersey. Our trip turned out much more interesting than we ever anticipated! First we went to the abandoned quarry/sand pit that's in the woods across from our old house in my home town (Succasunna, Roxbury Township, Morris County). Unfortunately we weren't expecting any snow on the ground. We were hoping to pick up tiny quartz crystals and maybe some other cool rocks. But there was at least 5 inches of snow. So we walked around and then left for elswhere. Oh, and just as I remembered, there were Pitch Pines growing in the quarry/pit. I can't figure out why.
We then drove up and down on some narrow, winding roads I'm familiar with and then headed out to Oxford, Warren County. We found the remains of the iron furnace there (begun in 1742), a gristmill converted to a church in 1913, and the ironmaster's mansion, known as Shippen Manor. From there we decided to head out to the Water Gap. When we got near it I noticed (in my Dellorme atlas) that a stream called the Paulins Kill was near there and it reminded me of the Paulins Kill Viaduct, which was featured in Weird NJ once. It's an enormous masonry railroad viaduct over the Paulins Kill. So we went looking for it and found it. You can't imagine how big it is till you've seen it in person. We explored around it for a while and then headed back east on 46. We turned off to go into a tiny town called Delaware, where I wanted to photograph 2 old churches.
In Hackettstown I had Keith turn off 46 to see a really cool old house, which I just happened to know the location of (my picture of it shows the street sign). Then we stopped at the home of my best friend Ron's parents and visited with them for a while. Then we went to Chester, Morris County, where we ate Larison's Turkey Farm, and had a nice turkey dinner. I hadn't eaten there in probably more than 25 years. Then we headed home.
I took some great pictures. Maybe after I get my tax refund I'll send a bunch of film in for developing.
Barry
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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It sounds like an interesting and very eventful day! And the turkey dinner sounds like a great way to end a day.

Guy
 
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BarryC

Guest
Oh, and something I forgot: Along 46 in Warren County, I saw, near the side of the road, an old, rusting, rotting train car that appeared to be made at least partially out of wood. So I had Keith turn down a side road and look for it. We found it next to the restored Great Meadows railroad station. I think it was built in 1882 and is on the National Register. The railroad car was some kind of really old coach. We went inside and there was wood work on the walls. Of course it's in terrible shape, but it was still cool. Great Meadows is in Liberty Township.
It was an excellent day.
Barry
 

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
Barry,

I should've said something to you about the snow. I just didn't register for some reason. Perhaps it's because its been on the ground for so long that it never occurred to me. Sorry.

Larson's Turkey farm is really good. Do they still serve those hot rolls?

The Paulinskill Viaduct is definitely worth hiking. We are going in the Spring so if you or anyone else is interested in going, let me know.

Here's a link: http://www.midnightsociety.com/web/Abandoned/Viaduct/viaduct.html
 
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bach2yoga

Guest
njvike said:
Barry,

I should've said something to you about the snow. I just didn't register for some reason. Perhaps it's because its been on the ground for so long that it never occurred to me. Sorry.

Larson's Turkey farm is really good. Do they still serve those hot rolls?

The Paulinskill Viaduct is definitely worth hiking. We are going in the Spring so if you or anyone else is interested in going, let me know.

Here's a link: http://www.midnightsociety.com/web/Abandoned/Viaduct/viaduct.html

Definitely! It looks really cool!
Renee
 
B

BarryC

Guest
Ken,
I had read about the viaduct in Weird NJ and on the Midnight Society website, but never knew exactly where it was. Yesterday when I discovered that we would be near it I jumped at the chance to go find it. It is beyond belief. I'm still in awe over how big it is. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to photograph. You can't even see it till you are right near it. I would definitely like to go back whenever you plan on doing it. Even though the snow spoiled our chances of finding anything in the quarry/sandpit in Succasunna we had an excellent day!
And it was great to see the mountain scenery again after so many years of not being up there. I used to get up to Succasunna once a year, but haven't been there in around 2-4 years.
By the way, there were no rolls in our dinner at Larison's. But that's not surprising, since it's under new management. It closed a few years ago and re-opened about 2001 or 2002.
Barry
njvike said:
Barry,

I should've said something to you about the snow. I just didn't register for some reason. Perhaps it's because its been on the ground for so long that it never occurred to me. Sorry.

Larson's Turkey farm is really good. Do they still serve those hot rolls?

The Paulinskill Viaduct is definitely worth hiking. We are going in the Spring so if you or anyone else is interested in going, let me know.

Here's a link: http://www.midnightsociety.com/web/Abandoned/Viaduct/viaduct.html
 

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
This place is really something. I remember going for the first time several years ago and looking at it from the bottom and just thinking of how much time and materials went into a project like this.

As soon as the good weather comes, let's go!!!

How was the food at Larson's? I hope it's still good.

Ken
 

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
bach2yoga said:
njvike said:
Barry,

I should've said something to you about the snow. I just didn't register for some reason. Perhaps it's because its been on the ground for so long that it never occurred to me. Sorry.

Larson's Turkey farm is really good. Do they still serve those hot rolls?

The Paulinskill Viaduct is definitely worth hiking. We are going in the Spring so if you or anyone else is interested in going, let me know.

Here's a link: http://www.midnightsociety.com/web/Abandoned/Viaduct/viaduct.html

Definitely! It looks really cool!
Renee

It's quite a site and I'm ready for the hike.
 
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