Urban Exploration: Abandoned Rails & Hidden Trails in Linden, NJ

[@ralphheiss4718]

Wow dude, do your research before you g off splinting facts about the railroad.

[@OutDehExplorer]

hi, i appreciate you watching, would you mind telling me what i got wrong , Im trying to learn as well

[@BamBamBigelow..]

Epic beard, much respect!

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thank you kindly!

[@AJay-ip1mp]

This man is very well educated, cautious, and he always knows where his feet are, I admire that.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thank you!

[@msmith9049]

I used to walk those tracks to get from the 8th ward, to the 4th ward, almost every day, in the '60's, early '70's, Walked across all of the spans. You had to watch your step, for sure! Sometimes, I would hope the train, if it was coming through at the time, it was usually rolling slowly.

[@OutDehExplorer]

That sounds like it must have been an adrenaline rush to walk those spans and hop the trains. Glad you survived those adventures . I wonder sometimes how I did 🤣. Thanks for the cool comment

[@wafflesnfalafel1]

Super cool - thanks for the vid sir. So much of that kind of stuff gets torn up quick out west here, gotta make room for more condos, etc....

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Waffles, they are wrecking ball a lot of historical places here as well to make room for apartments . They took down a historical factory where Marconi worked in Roselle park. Put up a string of apartments . Thank you for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it

[@norbkowa]

I worked on rehabilitating SIRT and RVRR between 2003-2006. I practically worked on every inch of that line all the way till the first trail rode on it in 2006 and it was one of the smoothest freight lines i rode with new ties and ballast. Contract between M&E and Union County expired in 2012 and M&E didnt renew it and trains couldn't go past the bridge. Bridge was never fixed and from what i remember something was cracked on one side and traffic was limited only to empty hoppers for storage all the way to Cranford and there was no agreement between NJT to enter their tracks on Cranford side so the line was only used for storage.

[@OutDehExplorer]

oh wow, that is interesting, thats why we are only seeing those hoppers ? Thank you for the history, love this stuff

[@norbkowa]

@@OutDehExplorer right now they are only allowed to store them up to the bridge since 2012 when M&E didnt renew contract to use the line but i dont think they even operate in Bayway anymore since i saw different company trains there. I dont work for M&E since 2006 and all the people in charge i used to talk to all retired so i dont know anybody there anymore and am a stranger there now.

[@kenharbin3440]

Cheeques! A right of passage for all young men growing up in central NJ. That small dam protected the railroad bridge piers from undermining during flooding. Those railcars are covered hoppers that carry plastic pellets. Refineries produce more plastic than gasoline anymore, its a plastic world. They are stored there until needed. The rail line you walked at the end would have connected to the one that crossed the bridge. It also serviced the previous industry that was there before new buildings went up. There's always talk of reactivating the SI line but its always just talk. Fun trip, thanks.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Ken, I love the history you’re sharing . I noticed the trailers looked like they had like a big food dispenser for maybe livestock. Didn’t realize it’s plastic ! Thanks for the details, I love this stuff!

[@kennymcgowan2880]

Amen to that 1 my friend amen 😊😊😊

[@TheGooseIsLoose9000]

I grew up in Morris and Somerset County, so it's always interesting to see stuff like this from North Eastern NJ. Very different feel! My job takes me up there sometimes and I went to college in Hoboken, so I'm not as unfamiliar as I used to be.

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@TheGooseIsLoose9000 hi, i appreciate your comment. There is so much history packed in this area of NJ

[@larrygallagher5143]

I worked in Woodbrige while working at Pathmark's Hq and living at Conshohocken PA. Its nice to see where the back paths go,

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Larry, was that over near Omar ave? there is an awesome wildlife preserve "Ernie Oros"" that i love to visit thanks for checking out the channel

[@salsero2005]

Have you explored the abandoned Central railroad line in Elizabeth...starting in Broad St and goes all the way towards Port Elizabeth..abandoned Overpasses dating back to the 1930's

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi there, I have gone from the Elizabeth train station all the way to Cranford, but not east toward the port. Great idea!!

[@salsero2005]

@@OutDehExplorer cool did you film that trip ?

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@salsero2005 yes, you think I should post it?

[@OutDehExplorer]

Here is a video i did from Cranford through roselle park/Roselle kzbin.info/www/bejne/moK0h2Npab5qqcksi=U9n20I3Rw9qnQ_So

[@kennymcgowan2880]

I know I have explored that rail line many times, used it during the summer months to go swimming, & taking short cuts just to get somewhere back then good times indeed

[@cesarlulito]

By chance KZbin brought me to your video and I recognized that brook/bridge/and drainage channels. I am a surveyor and did a property survey on 1410 E Linden Ave (the property adjacent to Cheeques) you can actually see the orange paint mark I sprayed for one of our control points at minute 11:18. Small world.... take care of yourself!

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@cesarlulito hi Cesar, that’s wild that the video found you. I always thought surveying was a cool job! Let me know if there other cool spots like this. Thanks for watching and sharing the comment

[@PSthefirst1]

Great video! I pass this area all the time. Always saw that train parked there. Very cool exploration.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi PS, thank you for the kind words. Looking to get a bunch more of these explorations . Have a great one

[@ogLimitedEdiition]

Enjoyed this video! Keep posting!

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thank you, im getting ready to capture more urban explorations soon.

[@MidnightAspec]

I grew up for a bit in Roselle and ride the NJT NEC regularly, great exploration vid. Thank you.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hey Midnight, glad you liked the video, i seem to end up near the NEC alot. i actually paddled underneath it in Rahway and linden. Thanks for watching☀

[@Ostermond]

These are the tracks of the old Staten Island Railroad (when it was owned + operated by the Baltimore & Ohio), leading across Arthur Kill and connecting up to the CNJ Mainline just west of Aldene Junction near Cranford. They’re still used, actually - mostly for taking trash off Staten Island iirc

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thanks for those history facts, love this stuff. I have another video where I walk the SIRT. The SIRT from aldene junction to perhaps st georges ave is being considered to become a rail to trail. The Rahway Valley railroad is in the process of becoming a rail trail from the Aldene junction in roselle park all the way over rt 22 to summit!

[@Imageloading...]

Atabout 15:39, that blue plastic/trash piece across from you is probably how high the water gets in heavy rainfall. If you look around, there are pieces of same material about the same height in different areas

[@OutDehExplorer]

hi, oh yes, i'm sure you're right. when the high waters flow through here, its violent, everything gets swept. I want to get over here after a big rain and catch it. maybe get the kayak on it for a bit ....thanks for the great observation

[@robertbrodowski1379]

Love that old International Harvester snow plow at 23:30.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Had to go back and look, it is cool!

[@edwardwalinski1375]

Enjoyed this hike , I worked a half a block away for 10 years and had no clue ,but that was 40 years ago

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Edward, glad you enjoyed it, im looking to have more once i put the kayak away. enjoy the fall!

[@Cinemasterxiros]

That’s awesome I do the same thing too since I always like to know those places

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi , glad you like it. hope you're getting out to explore this summer . thanks!

[@littlescavengercoyote173]

If youre crazy then so am I. That tree has a history, and so does that spillway and the train tressel. Like you said, someone built that, there's craftsmanship involved. These are the things archeologists go wild for haha My friends and I explored a bunch of these little places along the rahway river and streams around Union County when we were teens. I was surprised to learn a lot of those places were the sites of olf farms, mills, and Revolutionary battle sites. Made me appreciate them more.

[@OutDehExplorer]

I appreciate you insight , there really are special places all around us here . Rivers and rails have always fascinated me. Thank you for your thoughts . Comments like yours inspire me to get out more

[@TERRYMCG]

They found dinosaur bones when NJT excavated when building the LR Station in Union City/North Bergen Station on 48th st

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@TERRYMCG that’s wild, thanks for the info I’m going to check that out

[@TERRYMCG]

@@OutDehExplorer take the elevator at the Hudson Bergen-LR Station @48th st in Union City, down to the platform , a 20 second decent and see the dinosaur breaking through the walls it's really cool. Best train station platform in all of NJ.

[@scottw5791]

haha Cheeques! I never went but some friends of mine have

[@OutDehExplorer]

hey Scott, it looks like they have been around since about 1975 at least. I found this article, back in 1984 Cheeques and a few other gogos caused a bit of ruckus! www.nytimes.com/1984/01/22/nyregion/go-go-licensing-sought-in-linden.html

[@scottw5791]

Haha that’s funny

[@lazmotron]

Great Exploration

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Lazaro, thank you kindly!

[@keenangorringe4302]

I'm a retired cop. Back in the late 2000s 2005 I'll say. I was going west on St George ave lights and siren. On that track coming around the curve there was a train crossing the road. Just an engine Going west.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Keenan, that must have been wild to see a train live up there! I bet you have a lot cool stories from your time as police , thanks for stopping by

[@keenangorringe4302]

@OutDehFamily I retired in 2012 from the Union County police officer. You must have run into them.

[@paulking8275]

What is your point. I see you said you’re a retired cop.. what about it ? What does that have to do with anything?

[@matthew3823]

⁠@@paulking8275just a lil story … read it and move along lol

[@AWSmith1955]

Those are called "covered hoppers" , I've been to Cheques in the eighties. The abandoned big building with the skid steer in the parking lot was BakALum, A wholesale siding supplier I bought my first aluminum trim brake from in the late seventies. The bike may be from a day laborer working in a nearby warehouse, Or stolen from same.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi there, I love these historical details , and the day laborer using the bike makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the great comment

[@jeffg9806]

Hey Mike, another good vid!

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hey Jeff, thank you! Glad you liked it

[@kennymcgowan2880]

As far as when I was a little kid the outside was my internet and when it was time to go home I went no questions asked 😊😊

[@OutDehExplorer]

Same here, i used to love being out exploring, climbing fences, rooves, trees 🤣

[@jennifersalvamoser250]

I love trees too.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Lots to love about them! taking a deep breath in the forest is magical. thanks for the comment :)

[@flashcar60]

GPLX railcars are plastic-pellet hoppers. The "X" means that the car does not belong to a common carrier. bit some other entity, such as an industrial corporation or farm cooperative.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Flash, thanks for the info, I appreciate you willingness to teach what you know about our Railroads.

[@shoretrader1]

I may not be the first to say this, but you remind me of KZbinr Steve Wallis with your easy going manner, love of the history of the small, sometimes forgotten places and your engaging personality.. Not sure you are ready to get into stealth camping like Steve Wallis, like in the middle of the Bayway Circle. That would be a challenge. Ha. But seriously, your kayaking the forgotten waterways, hiking trails both marked and unmarked in Union County and your love of a good ramble around the neighborhoods make this channel relaxiing and fun to warch.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi there Don! you are the first person to compare me to Camping with Steve! I have watched many of his videos, along with crazy neighbor RIP. I loved his homemade pontoon boat ride on the river a few years ago. I have thought about stealth camping in places , but Bayway circle!!, that would be Wild! Thank you for the kind words , Me and the outdeh family appreciate you watching any of these videos :) the sun just came out, enjoy this weekend!!

[@shoretrader1]

@@OutDehExplorer I referenced the Bayway circle as in one episode of Camping with Steve, Steve Wallis actually camped in the middle of a "wooded" roundabout which was one of his more craziest stealth camping episodes. Yeah, the Bayway circle was a joke :) There were "campers" at the Elizabethport waterfront. Maybe you can start there. Then a homemade pontoon boat on the Rahway river????? Looking forward to many more videos from NJ's own Steve Wallis!

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@shoretrader1 I totally knew where you were going. , loved those episodes with Steve. That look of fear he had when it thought folks may be on to him was priceless!

[@robertbrodowski1379]

I'm a big fan of Steve Wallis and have been watching his channels for years. Definitely a very similar vibe.

[@Chicagofellow15]

Just found the channel! keep up the videos. You should visit Richard W. Dekorte park in Lyndhurst.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hey Chicago fellow, i just checked out DeKorte park on google maps. this is a GREAT suggestion, lots of little off shoots to explore. Thank you !

[@Chicagofellow15]

@@OutDehExplorer No Problem! as someone from illinois i hope to visit NJ at some point

[@ocsrc]

25:26 That's a " Bump " car If you hit it, you went too far We had a bunch of cars parked at the end of the line that they had cut the lower section off It was behind our business One day in the fall, after years of there being no trains, we heard this incredibly loud bang We went out the back door and saw that the train had been servicing the businesses on the line north of us that was still used and they must have miscalculated how long the train was and they backed up expecting their to be space and there wasn't space and they slammed into the bump cars that were four or five of them that had been sitting for years on the tracks with the sole purpose to prevent the train from going where there were no more tracks The train push the bump cars down the line to where the tracks actually still were but the land had been sold and the developer simply put dirt and covered the rails and built a house and the lawn was where the tracks once ran The wheels of the bump cars dug up the grass which was only a couple inches deep and the rails had run across the road and the town had just blacktopped over them and the wheels that were locked down with the brake wheel slides through the intersection ripping up the asphalt as it went and the train stopped After that happened they ripped out the tracks behind the business and removed those bump cars and removed the crossing on the Main Street that had the gates and they put a metal stop at the end of the track and parked to locomotives there They haven't had any incidents since then but that was a scary day

[@OutDehExplorer]

@@ocsrc hi! Thats an amazing story . “Bump” cars! I can imagine how loud that impact must have sounded . Was there damage to the train that bumped , or the bump car?

[@RichardNickels-ot6iq]

Cool Nice Job 😀😂💯

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thanks Richard, have a great weekend!

[@theshedMTB]

Those trees must have just been cut recently with all that sawdust there. I'm glad you didn't go into the Go-Go Bar!

[@OutDehExplorer]

That one tree looked like it may have been 75 years old +

[@johnzarszynski7347]

The trees were cut down for access to replace the power lines along the rr rightof way

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi John, makes sense! I noticed the new Power poles further west, but forgot about it at this area.

[@ICEDCOFFEEPRINCESSS]

those power lines are insane seeing them go through roselle and linden always amazes me

[@DJinNJ08830]

That bridge is the old B&O Railroad bridge to Staten island before conraiĺ they provided trains to

[@OutDehExplorer]

love the history!

[@TERRYMCG]

My bike!!!

[@ArgosySpecOps]

They should have left the old Goethals bridge standing, so SIR R211S train cars could take the trip over to Newark Airport without sharing the Arthur Kill bridge with freight trains. Of course that's predicated on the north & south shore lines of SIR being reconnected.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thats an incredible idea! never thought of that

[@tomy.1846]

Is that the strip club from The Wrestler (2008) with Micky Rourke and Masisa Tomei? There is a scene where Rourke's character makes a phone call and it looks like the shot at 0:08 Is that it?

[@OutDehExplorer]

Hi Tomy, yes indeed, the exterior was cheeques. they also shot a scene at the bar "Frenchys" in Roselle Park. Great call out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGabf6aXq7Cmj7csi=1Pb5PwGkKNysQl0w

[@ocsrc]

4:54 that looks like an RFID antenna What is that doing there ?

[@OutDehExplorer]

PSE&G asset tagging? no idea

[@ocsrc]

@@OutDehExplorer not sure of the first 2 letters, but e&g is Electric and Gas This is the power company and that is an RFID antenna and it is transmitting or receiving A RFID of a specific piece of equipment Rail cars all have a arafaiD tag on the side of the cars It is for inventory control and tracking Usually at the end of the yard you will see one and it Hooks to the MCPs and back to the central dispatch computer It reads each car as it rolls past So they have an online portal for the customers You enter your car number and it tells you the last rfid reader it went by and when. It is neat

[@kevindevine5102]

very cool. would do the same if I could walk.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thanks Kevin , hope you have a great day today

[@tomterrell1761]

They cut down those big trees for a rail line that's obviously not even active?

[@OutDehExplorer]

That’s a great point . I’m not sure. The railroad is responsible for the upkeep. Wonder if those trees were healthy and or leaning over the building . Seeing those stumps is kind of sad though

[@Freedom4Ever420]

I like your beard.

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thank you!

[@mullahviking]

Mr. Anderson... What a dump, that looks really bad. Sort of interesting though hehe

[@OutDehExplorer]

Love the comment!

[@ernestg.harveyjr7087]

betcha the bridge is between 60 &100

[@OutDehExplorer]

You got me curious, The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad spanned over the arthur kill shortly after 1880!! yeah , that bridge is at least 100 year old i would bet

[@catsupchutney]

Chēēques Go Go, huh.

[@ivanPipiskin]

thanks for vid, bro! subscribed!

[@OutDehExplorer]

Thanks Ivan, back at you

[@Audioobscure]

So boring, rambling on nonsense