Another Railroad Hike Under Sunny, But Cold, November Skies.

Another Railroad Hike Under Sunny, But Cold, November Skies.

Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (9 of 47)
Previous Post
Next Post

It was a sunny, but cold, November morning this past Sunday here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. IRailroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (12 of 47) saw the first ice of the season on the local ponds.

I decided to again hike along some local railroad tracks. This time I decided to walk a stretch of tracks I haven’t been before, on the south western side of the city of Hazleton. I parked nears the active railroad line that crosses Buttonwood street and headed south and west. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (1 of 47)

This was the old Lehigh Valley railroad line that ran into McAdoo and points south. I walked by the businesses located in the “Heights” section of Hazleton. Looking back east into Hazleton I could see the steeples of St. Gabriel’s church, the first Catholic Church in Hazleton. I imagined how many a miner walked these very tracks,  after a long day underground in the surrounding mines, or on the way to attend church on a Sunday, and had this same view. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (3 of 47)

Heading west, I came to the ruins of a  long abandoned bridge of the old THE DELAWARE, SUSQUEHANNA – SCHUYLKILL R. R.This was part of the belt railroad that was built in 1890 by Coxe Bros. & Co., and was near what was then known as Roan Junction.  (You can click on the red highlighted words to link to more info on these topics) This railroad connected the many coal mines of the Coxe brother from Sheppton, to Tomhicken and Drifton. One railroad once passed near my home and I walked it’s old right of way many times as it ran along the south side of the Black Creek below Stony Mountain. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (46 of 47)

This is a view of the famous Jeansville culm bank taken from atop the ruins of the old D,S and S railroad bridge. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (7 of 47)

I walked along a stream besides the rails and many finches juncos and sparrows were bathing and drinking in the cold waters. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton heights house finch (1 of 1)

The rails proceeded west and split, one heading more west, crossing route 309 and eventually heading to Oneida and Sheppton. The other headed south and crossed the site of the old village of Yorktown.Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (16 of 47)

This town is now gone, having been moved when vast stip mining began at the beginning of the last century. both my grandfathers worked in the underground mines in Yorktown. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (41 of 47)

As I headed south I also walked  by  the very old village of Beaver Brook. My grandfather on my mom’s side was born here.  This was one of the first towns in the area and I  walked into the patch town to visit the old Civil War cemetery. U was disappointed to find it was now enclosed by a fence and the gates were locked.  Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (38 of 47)

I again hiked south on the railroad tracks passing the vast strip mines on both sides of the tracks. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (36 of 47)

Some of the strip mines were narrow strewn with large boulders and now overgrown with large trees.  These were some of the first strip mines in the area. They were dug with real “steam” shovels operated with steam from coal fired engines. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (28 of 47)

Later, huge electric steam shovels leveled entire mountain sides and altered the landscapes in search of the seams of “black diamond”  Some folks got rich and others got black lung. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (30 of 47)

I walked almost to the town of McAdoo, the town my mom was born and raised and where I spent my first two years on this planet.  I could hear the bells from the churches in town. And some of my first memories where the whistles of the trains that traveled these very tracks. Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (33 of 47)

It was getting late, I wanted to get back and watch some football so I turned around and took the long walk back to Hazleton.  It was another great day to be outside in Northeastern PA. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/railroad-hike-hazleton-heights-november-15-2015Railroad tracks hike Hazleton Heights  (5 of 47)

“The restlessness and the longing, like the longing that is in the whistle of a faraway train. Except that the longing isn’t really in the whistle—it is in you.”
Meindert DeJong