Lackawanna Cut-Off - Part 1: Paulinskill Viaduct

In the first video of this series, we visit the Paulinskill Viaduct on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Hainesburg/Knowlton, New Jersey, the largest reinforced concrete structure when it was completed in 1910. Optional subtitles added Dec 29, 2017. Videographer and film editing: Larissa Walsh

[@mikestacknick8251]

I w explore this bridge thoroughly. Very cool

[@jimdiskin3760]

so glad to discover this series! the paulinskill viaduct, a lost lonely, lumbering giant, abandoned in the woods. there's something so strange and sad about that.

[@dknowles60]

It's not lost or lonely it has a lot of police next to it

[@RHJ3]

Chuck I just found your videos on the Cut-Off yesterday. A am planning on watching every single video, there is so much to learn. If anyone ever wanted to know anything about this subject you have covered it so well its amazing. Thank you for all the details. Greetings from Rochester NY.

[@bldostal1085]

This is fantastic! I grew up in northern NJ, and remember watching the Erie Lackawana trains as a kid run through Boonton and Towaco where I lived. I have always been fascinated about the Lackawana cutoff and it's history, but found it difficult to find information on it. You are covering all of the bases here, and then some. I really appreciate what you are doing with this, and hope that some day the Lackawana cutoff is fully functional again to the Gap.

[@andrewbagnole301]

Chuck thank you! I’m 33 and love trains and this history. The day this comes back I’ll be in the seat right behind you on the first ride to and from Scranton just to ride. The last update was so inspiring. Thank you for what you do!

[@billwanko2359]

I wish express my sincere appreciation of your excellent series on the cutoff. In the late 80's I took my ATV on the western 10 miles of the cutoff and was in awe of this engineering wonder!

[@Chancelund]

Thanks for these. I love them

[@tonejames9272]

What a beautiful piece of engineering. Still standing strong after 117 years.

[@joshroller9449]

Very informative and looking forward to series !

[@kevinlynch1227]

Hi Chuck. I'm really enjoying all of your videos and the history. Yesterday we took a bicycle ride along the paulinskill rail trail, and ended up exactly where you are speaking from under the Paulinskill Viaduct. I walked up the embankment to the top on the Eastern end above the roadway (it was so easy, I was up there in 5 minutes and the tree roots acted as banisters...lol)... At one time they had tried to block it completely off with huge cement blocks, but someone moved about four of them away. So we were able to get right through. I walked across the Viaduct and looked down the manholes and took pictures.... it was so beautiful and so sad!!! After I walked/climbed back down, I picked a clean section of the cement piling, and gave it a kiss goodbye. But I'll be back!! Thanks again for these videos and sharing your knowledge and the history. I'm very into this.!! This summer I have been riding my bike on many Rail Trails, but this one is not a rail trail. Do you think they might make it one eventually??

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Kevin Lynch, if you’re referring to the Cut-Off, it will never become a rail-trail. It has been designated as an historic rail corridor. So, although the right of way west of Andover is abandoned presently, long term its use would be as a rail line.

[@kevinlynch1227]

@@LackawannaCutOff Thank you very much for your response. I know you have said this (about being historic and the reopening) in your videos and I do know it in the back of my mind. I so, so much rather it become an active rail line then a rail trail, and I'm very happy they are going to extended it to the Roseville Road station in the next few years!!! With WISHFUL thinking, I was just hoping they could possibly make get a temporary rail trail so people could enjoy it, because I don't know if it will ever be reopened to rail traffic in our lifetime???? In the next week or so my friend and I are planning on walking through the Roseville Tunnel. My Vibes tell me that it may be many many many years before the Lackawanna cutoff is reopened again, west of the Roseville station, and that saddens me. Do you have any brighter new about that section?? THANKS CHUCK!!

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Kevin Lynch, no there’s no new news at this point. If anything significant were to come up I will do one of my “updates” to convey that information. As for the rail-trail issue, there’s no chance that there would any temporary conversion. Based on the experience in some other places, I think that it was a very good decision to prohibit any interim trail use at least in terms of creating a paved surface for that purpose. The inconvenience it caused me during my videos was minor.

[@kevinlynch1227]

@@LackawannaCutOff THANK YOU MR. CHUCK WALSH, MY FRIEND...YOU ARE TERIFFIC!! Your videos are excellent and really interest me even though some are long. I'm not a binge watcher so I have picked and have chosen several that seemed most interesting and exciting to me. HOWEVER, I really want to go back and watch them all in order. :) Keep up the great work!

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Kevin Lynch, yeah, I know some are long. But I appreciate you sticking with it. Going in order may help you since, believe it or not, there was a method to my madness for the order in which the different topics were covered.

[@bofustjohnson]

So glad to discover your EXCELLENT series...I"ve learned so much from you and your guests, and renewed my desire to get out more and poke around with my camera. Thank you!

[@mdlanor5414]

Your videos are very interesting and informative. I never realized just how large the Erie Lackawanna Railroad was. I am from a Pennsylvania Railroad Family, Penn Central,Conrail,Amtrak and NJTRO.I am a forth generation Railroader and only the second to become a Locomotive Engineer. My Great Grandfather was the first and only Locomotive Engineer until I hired on the Penn Central in March of 1974. My Sons are now the fifth generation Railroaders and are both Locomotive Engineers. Do you have any information on the Railroad Tracks that ran Parallel to NJ route 46? What Railroad operated on these tracks when they were there? I had deer hunted at Hope NJ, right off of NJ route 46 and had noticed that there was and old Railroad Road Bed around 100 feet or more above Route 46. I would think that there had to be a lot of Bridges because of the steep grades.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

M dlanor, that’s the Lackawanna Old Road, which I cover in Part 6, Why the Cut-Off Was Built.

[@mdlanor5414]

Chuck Walsh I haven’t made it too episode 6 yet. I will watch you compete series.

[@williambennett4444]

Hi Chuck very cool. Bills step brother Bill 😊. Really good.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Thanks, Bill!

[@williambennett4444]

Happy new year.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Same to you

[@UTubeGlennAR]

>^. .^< Yes Mr. Walsh, Paulinskill River is similar to saying Susquehanna River. The symilarities are actually saying "Paulins River River or Susque River River" since both suffix (kill - hanna) equal the word river. Kill is Dutch for river and hanna is American Indian for river, (Lenape or AKA to the white colonest of the 13 colonies, Delaware Indian).

[@paradoox02459]

@Chuck Walsh et. al. I have a somewhat related question that started from my looking at the Wikipedia entry for Tobyhanna Station (which is vaguely related to this). Anyway if anyone can help, here goes: Various places in WIkipedia say "via Secaucus Junction", for example en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raritan_Valley_Line and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobyhanna_station. I believe most of these should actually say "via Kearny Connection" as Secaucus Junction isn't really a rail junction but is just a transfer station. ???

[@mikestacknick8251]

We used to bungee jump over the stream in the 90s. A lot. I have old video of us doing it

[@LackawannaCutOff]

That was during the Turco ownership years.

[@B-and-O-Operator-Fairmont]

I was on that bridge on a beautiful late summer evening in 1999. Great bridge, but I'll have to admit the manholes in the deck and the deteriorating parapets gave me the creeps.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Still pretty safe.

[@anthonysaggio5582]

I love these videos is their a book I could buy

[@LackawannaCutOff]

No, I'm resisting any book-writing.

[@fiddlerpin]

How did they get stuck? I’ve been thru several sections of the bridge. Graffiti up there is really cool. I hope someone clears the weep holes to get water draining out of it to prevent freezing and breaking of the concrete.

[@timsnook7924]

Love ur videos bud... i use the climb that sucker bad in my day lol

[@1940limited]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is it taking NJ Transit more time to lay 6 miles of track to Andover than it took DL&W to build the entire cut-off from scratch? What the hell?

[@ap70621]

Yes, you are correct.

[@1940limited]

The cut-off was an engineering marvel second to none. We'll never see its glory day again, but something up there would be nice. Andover's a start.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Different era. Nevertheless, to your point, DEP has been nothing but obstructionist.

[@CharlotteFairchild]

Is it the money?

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Charlotte, no the money is there to rebuild the segment to Andover ($60+ million). There have been environmental delays, which many of us believe are nonsensical attempts to delay the project. Rebuilding the segment west of Andover will take time...and, yes, money.

[@gregmilliken5538]

Are the viaducts, and bridges still in decent condition, or would prepping them for use again be financially beyond reason?

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Both via Secaucus Jct. and the Kearny Connection (MidTown Direct) are technically correct. Secaucus Transfer is obviously not a connection per se, and would apply if trains went via the Boonton Line from Andover as opposed to through the Kearny Connection (one seat ride) via the Morristown Line.

[@ec1duffy]

Great work Chuck. Really enjoyable. Question: Thier is a culvert type underpass to the west of Jburg Station, prior to the Armstrong Cut. What would the purpose of this be? Thx

[@ec1duffy]

Truck access to creamery?

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Chris Duffy, yes. The road ducked under the Cut-Off, but dead-ended; it only served the buildings (including an ice house) on the eastbound side of the tracks.

[@timsnook7924]

The one on pa is huuuugggge to

[@scott.wrightnj]

I have recently done a drone video on my page. Take a look great video Chuck one day I hope to see Amtrak trains over the viaduct!

[@LackawannaCutOff]

I will check it out.

[@rontroy3843]

One might get the idea that NJT doesn't really want to extend westward, or if it does, it must be kicking and screaming.