Im a retired federal officer that was based in Newark; I thoroughly appreciated this video as I constantly traversed theses area over a 30 year period. Now retired in Florida it made me a little melancholy with so many memories. None the less it is excellent work thank you.
2 жыл бұрын
worked on, and walked every inch of this line back in the 80's for njtro
@flashcar60 Жыл бұрын
The peace and isolation of following abandoned tracks, towpaths and roads, can be restorative for the soul. I think I understand where you're at, brother.
@XBKLYN10 ай бұрын
Amazing how the Passaic river was treated as nothing more than a liquid garbage dump through Newark and Arlington....now its beyond repair with the level of dioxins known to persist for about 7 miles along that stretch. Great vid, been through the area myself for work. Be careful along the river, don't get exposed.
@terrysummers63822 жыл бұрын
I'm in massachusetts but was born in jersey and still.have family there...all these areas you explore are familiar...cool stuff..
@rickmacnamara47542 жыл бұрын
Just watched the movie and halfway through the book, Wheeler. I can’t thank you enough for documenting these abandoned tracks. I grew up in Secaucus and spent my childhood exploring abandoned buildings, garbage dumps where we were sometimes trapped by the rising tide on the Hacky (the Hackensack River), the dams that some folks in the 1800s built to hopefully turn the salt marshes into farmland, hunter’s trails through the tall weeds, finding tent pegs and other abandoned artifacts where soldiers once camped next to the rail lines waiting to be shipped to war in Europe, the foundry on Sauer Island, Snake Hill when the poor house was still there, seeing streams polluted with unnatural greens and blues from industrial waste, the constant slightly acrid smells on a good day and the pervasive smoky miasma from underground fires in East Rutherford and Jersey City on bad days, and garbage and decay everywhere I went. It was wonderful and your film and book brought back so many memories of those times. I also found it interesting that your walk took you within a few hundred yards of the Coeyman Family Burial Ground, a tiny square plot of grass surrounded by industrial buildings in the area of Verona & Riverside Avenues in North Newark. The Coeyman Family Burial Ground was an obsession of mine a few years ago when I spent a considerable amount of time researching lost North Jersey graveyards. Anyway, thank you again, Wheeler! Best of luck with the book!
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
glad you liked it. would love to hear more about the burial ground!
@joeshulman6752 жыл бұрын
I think your knowledge of this area is amazing . I'm from Newark and always found that area of North Newark fascinating !!!!
@larroyo19732 жыл бұрын
34:35 The Erie originally continued straight the concrete underpass underneath the Lackawanna main (where you now see the NJT trains) and that straight road now occupies the Erie ROW. When Erie merged with DL&W to form Erie Lackawanna, the parallel lines were eliminated & the Newark Branch was cut back & this former interchange became the new end of the Newark-paterson branch.
2 жыл бұрын
i was on the b&b gang that fenced the row along rt 7 back in the early 80's
@urbraveheart482 жыл бұрын
Im from kearny and we played there 50 yrs ago it is def toxic pollution BUTT try going down after a snowstorm its most beautiful place u could imagine silent as it gets
@haroldb226 Жыл бұрын
Excellent video, Wheeler! I am the next to last Agent on the Newark Branch at Franklin Avenue . A.A. (Al) DeVito was the very last. It breaks my heart to see. Many great memories working on the railroad.
@jameskelly61529 ай бұрын
The movie 🍿 is a complete home run for the likes of an urban decay explorer such as myself ! SMASHING like buttons everywhere on this one !! Gotta get the book !!! GREAT JOB 👏
@AbandonedNorthJersey2 жыл бұрын
Excellent! Cabbage night treat
@stewartebersole550711 ай бұрын
Very cool. Always wondered about that little radio station building, but also about the abandoned tracks running beneath I-95. Thanks for doing the leg work.
@drewrobinson51532 жыл бұрын
Walter Kidde was a Hoboken native who opened Walter Kidde & Company which helped build shipyards at Port Newark and Kearny. He later joined the New Jersey State Highway Commission. During his time there, he oversaw the first traffic circle in Camden, the first clover-leaf intersection and most importantly the Pulaski Skyway in 1932. Even though he had no railroad experience, Walter Kidde was the court appointed trustee of the bankrupt New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway from July 24, 1937 until his death in 1943. He was probably best known for developing fire suppression equipment (fire extinguishers!) Sad to see his monument in Belleville is now totally forgotten.
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
also it’s now totally gone. the property is being developed
@johns9571 Жыл бұрын
Thank you Wheeler. Where was the "End of Track" sign? I've viewed photos of NS on this line about 7 years ago by the abandoned Cleveland St. Station in Belleville.
@WheelerAntabanez Жыл бұрын
secaucus
@patrickcalabro8718 Жыл бұрын
Wheeler! Hello. I know that you remember my comment on the Boonton Line. I believe that Walter J. Kidde (the flag-pole monument) was the owner and founder of the Kidde Fire Extinguisher Company. The abandoned lines are a time machine where one enters and the present-day world temporarily diffuses into time and space as we return back to a place where it is still 1870! At Deadman's Tunnel we are in the1850's. Nothing much has changed there since then. The past years dwell here in the air and in the atmosphere. I understand what you mean when you say that you can’t reach out and they can’t reach you. I have been there many times. We exit the time machine through the Bergen Arches, even though I have walked through Long Dock many times. Follow the tracks past Harsimus Cemetery, and now non-existant Waldo Tower, back to the streets of downtown Jersey City. The journey ends at 2023! Thank you and I appreciate the time, effort, & dedication you have put in the making of the Newark and Boonton videos & researching the history for your books. I never thought that I would see or visit the old railroads again. I am too old now (70) to walk through the time machine anymore. Thanks Again
@flipc60815 ай бұрын
Brings back memories. Grew up in Kearny and spent much of my youth in the Meadowlands. Dirt biking, beers on the tracks. Although it's a cess pool, I always loved it cause it was home. Adventured the Annie Bridge with my cousin but lacked the balls to climb it. My cousin did. He was always a psycho but unfortunately didn't survive as long as me. ENJOYED your vid, keep it up!
@njbusguy7792 жыл бұрын
This was amazing. Who else is looking back at wheeler’s older content because of this? Who can forget the classic video that is “Wheeler on the Passaic”
@josephshulman6666 Жыл бұрын
I seen that it's good
@alexmolina2312 жыл бұрын
Everywhere you go the Passaic River is with you, because you are the Passaic River whisperer
@elihusmails7401 Жыл бұрын
Just bought both of your books. Thank you for your documentaries.
@WheelerAntabanez Жыл бұрын
thanks for the support! enjoy
@WA2SVM2 жыл бұрын
The "Smells" of NJ!
@MonnyYell9 ай бұрын
Grew up doing this in Union County, Roselle, Linden, Rahway, Cranford, Elizabeth and Roselle Park. Walking the Creeks, Rivers and Tracks.
@erie9102 жыл бұрын
If you had followed the Newark Branch r-o-w straight under the Boonton Line trestle you would have followed th original Newark Branch r-o-w to Hazel St. The Erie sold that mile or so to Passaic to make Kuller Rd. You could also go to the Erie Market St. Station and explore the "lower level," the three or four tracks west of the Main Line where most Newark Branch trains originated in the 1950's.
@thomasturrin8984 Жыл бұрын
Yes, interesting - I'm from Clifton and Wayne - old timers used to talk about the spot where the Boonton Line tracks went over the Newark Branch tracks. I know that spot - in the 70's when I lived in Clifton I used to take Kuller Road sometimes - you could see where the Newark Branch came in underneath the "Main Line". The DLW also had a sizable freight yard along the Boonton Line in Clifton serving industrial users - I think they even had a turntable. You could see the ghost of the old yard in winter when passing through that area on a commuter train.
@rickmacnamara47542 жыл бұрын
Another amazing travelogue! Just bought the book from Amazon and can’t wait for the movie. Nightshade on the Passaic is one of my favorites and is right here next to me on my bookshelf. Thank you, Wheeler, for your dedication to NJ’s hidden history.
@phwayne Жыл бұрын
I grew up in North Jersey, but now live in Colorado. I enjoy natural as well as urban landscapes. Your videos show an amazing view of what makes Jersey. The abandon trails you walk is a living museum of old industry, junk we produce, but still an artistic treasure of graffiti and other human expression. One of the cities I grew up in was Clifton, just outside of Nutley. I remember that old railroad bridge and the park below. My dad commuted to Hoboken from the Delawanna train station. Just down the street was elementary School #8, right across the street from the Minwax plant, that produced stains and varnishes. Can you image all the crap air we were breathing?
@drewrobinson51532 жыл бұрын
The station you stumbled upon at 33:20 into the video may have been the old Allwood Station, since it is located just off Station Road.
@kevinmonroe11 ай бұрын
Another Great Video
@drewrobinson51532 жыл бұрын
And the station at 33:33 appears to be the old Clifton Station (currently On-Track Chiropractor on Clifton Road). I had no idea there were ANY stations left on this line!
@haroldb226 Жыл бұрын
Athena Station. Was a Bank back in the early '70s.
@Quadrille763 Жыл бұрын
Very cool I grew up along these tracks in Clifton and I remember trains on them
@FrankHablawi2 жыл бұрын
This was an impressive film and the book looks amazing. Thanks so much for sharing!
@technoshawn2 жыл бұрын
Great video ❤
@flymike12610 ай бұрын
Dystopian! I love it. (grew up in North Newark)
@jlenn0x2 жыл бұрын
When the whole world goes mad What do you do? I'm going to go walk the tracks man Why not? Trying to find some direction Makes perfect sense
@wayneantoniazzi27062 жыл бұрын
Sad, isn't it? All along those abandoned tracks are the ruins of what made the United States an industrial superpower, strong enough to save Europe in World War One and then the rest of the world in World War Two. Even the railroad's not needed anymore. Maybe the reasons for those derelict factories are good, maybe not so good. Or maybe they were like the dinosaurs, they couldn't adapt and died out. Tragic. Nothing left but mystery and history. Great film Wheeler! A very enjoyable 40 minutes! Better than most of the crap on TV now!
@philadelphiawalksptsd2 жыл бұрын
A writer from Delware who lives in Philly now. Hope you stop on by for a visit. Newark Delaware. Sycamore Gardens then later Fox Run Apartments and finally, here, in downtown Philly 🙏
@floydbingo8 ай бұрын
36:49 shop rite used to be pathmark; but before that, it was Westinghouse. Memories of breaking in, destruction, and running from the cops... TY for the memories! Peace
@floydbingo8 ай бұрын
28:44 Jimmy Cox used to live down in that hole; if it's the one I think it is by high street in nutley. Went in once, and it was a good sized room!
@Transit_Biker2 жыл бұрын
This is exactly what I want to do - document the present with a look at the past & future. Really well done!
@TheManwhorailfansrarely2 жыл бұрын
Damn this is sad that a old Erie Lackawanna line got abandoned just like that like the old boonton keep up the good work.
@rem-so1ly2 жыл бұрын
I don't think the line is totally abandoned. There is a factory, Van Ness, on Brighton Rd in Clifton that still gets cars delivered fairly regularly. There was a string of hoppers there just a couple weeks ago
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
yes that is true
@rem-so1ly2 жыл бұрын
I was glad to see that. I grew up in Clifton and spent a lot of time exploring and playing around those tracks, but never walked them further than Roche in Nutley. Very cool project Wheeler, and very well done. Would have been sad to see them totally dead
@rem-so1ly2 жыл бұрын
Down behind the old Astro Bowl near the rt. 3 bridge was an algae covered pond and we used to take discarded bowling pins and other things throw them in and watch them get engulfed by the slime and disappear. That whole area is so different now.
@rkoustas Жыл бұрын
My mother was working near that bridge when they filmed Annie. She said it was a male midget in the bridge scene. She also said her boss charged the film crew for use of the bridge, even though he didn't own it
@alexmolina2313 жыл бұрын
I can’t wait, this is going to be epic! Definitely gonna watch it when it premieres! And it’s a perfect time! Love your books 📚
@WheelerAntabanez3 жыл бұрын
I think it will be a little bit epic! Thanks for your support! see you at the premiere!!!
@lewisjohnson4065 Жыл бұрын
Jersey transit is looking into service between Paterson and Newark on that branch maybe light rail hope it happens.
@johnpublic55722 жыл бұрын
If you look on the sides of the rails you can see the date that rail was manufactured.
@xg6hpyk2 жыл бұрын
Spent the entire video going "I know where that is, I know where that is, I know where that is"
@floydbingo8 ай бұрын
30:20 Used to buy cigarettes at the Nutley Pub there for 75 cents from their machine back in the day!
@drewrobinson51532 жыл бұрын
I didn't realize until I watched your video that the Belleville Station (at Essex Street) has survived! I think it is now Me & Tony's Restaurant and Bar - it appears around 19:36 into the video. This line should have been restored and turned into an extension of Newark's light rail system north to Paterson via Belleville and Nutley.
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
they might still turn it into a light rail from newark to paterson amp.northjersey.com/amp/7830088002
@nuggetchicky42202 жыл бұрын
Great!
@TheManwhorailfansrarely2 жыл бұрын
We’re almost at the starting point
@floydbingo8 ай бұрын
My thumbs up was # 420. how appropriate! Love this! Such memories! I sent you an email today about walter kidde site in belleville... Peace
@jopiaspieder11846 ай бұрын
I love abandoned railroad history. I used to work in an interlocking tower, would had retired there if they had not closed it down. Sadly the railroad has abandoned the ways of old and alot of infrastructure has been left to waste away.
@jeffg.8964 Жыл бұрын
Came here after watching the Boonton Line video. Good stuff.
@grimey2012 жыл бұрын
I'm actually planning to do the same thing with my buddies.
@jakemosca65872 жыл бұрын
Lookin forward to this one... I love any kind of jersey lore. Reading 13 from the swamp rn. I've been taking trips on the hawg into the "worst parts of Newark" (according to google) after I get out of work around 9~10pm only to return home with some wacky stories. This is right down my alley!
@adzplus12 жыл бұрын
You know where LA Fitness is in Kearny - Passaic Ave. That used to be Pathmark before. I remember there were abandoned rail tracks by the loading dock. Also where BJs and those new stores are now, they were old factory buildings before. There were also abandoned rail tracks there. Was that part of the Newark branch? Maybe on the time when it was converted from passenger line to freight train line
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
yes those tracks are the newark branch. i walked right by there...
@BeCoShooter2 жыл бұрын
Very cool video. Props to you. I've been fascinated by old RR tracks forever. Have you heard of the Lackawanna Cutoff near Hopactcong? It was a marvel of engineering when built. You should check it out.
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
I will check it out!
@wayneantoniazzi27062 жыл бұрын
@@WheelerAntabanez Just stay off the Paulinskill Viaduct portion of the Cutoff. It's a "No Tresspassing" zone and to my understanding it's being enforced with a vengeance. Also, parts of the Cutoff are being revitalized by NJ Transit, a good thing, so be careful out there!
@luisarroyo13689 ай бұрын
3:00 Remnants of an old AM radio station.
@FS-mt5qu9 ай бұрын
Nice Job brings back old memories. One thing you should know is that not far from the old Erie line is where the Blow Job was invented. Not many people know that but it is to be expected of New Jersey. It's why Washington crossed the Deleware.
@jamesrileyjr2 жыл бұрын
I'm glad someone's shining a light on this abandoned rail branch. I'd put a proposal out to NJ Transit a while back to restore service as an extension of the Newark light rail system, which could possibly tie into the Hudson Bergen Light Rail in Jersey City too, and give North Jersey a true alternative to automotive traffic!
@urbraveheart482 жыл бұрын
My nephew is Coe he tagged them buildings few yrs ago
@nay53232 жыл бұрын
Idk when I was in high school I used to like hanging out at the abandoned train tracks until they started being more vigilant and put fences up by Kearny 🤷♀️
@bobmac21312 жыл бұрын
In the 60s the Kearny marsh waa our woods. Used to i.agime wild boar out there. Rode a minibike on the turnpike before it opened Make this into a bike path park. Clean it up.
@icepicjoey2 жыл бұрын
I've driven along those tracks in my Bronco. Its s fun drive.
@dougowens61802 жыл бұрын
Great video I have read a lot about the Newark branch during Erie Lackawanna times,what is the name of your book and we're can I get it I now live in pa.grew up on the greenwood lake branch in pompton plains you should do a video on the old line
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
thank you! the book is called walking the newark branch. www.amazon.com/dp/0578952300/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=walking+the+newark+branch&qid=1633114524&sr=8-2
@KenReidLeesburgVA Жыл бұрын
theres such big demand for housing in the NY metro area. Why can't thse abandoned sites in Newark become a riverside development with housing, stores, offices? Can those tracks be used for light rail or any commuter rail?
@urbraveheart482 жыл бұрын
My ancestors built the clark buildings and the OLD smokestack was once the tallest structure in america the original one is gone now
@midnightnwk75968 ай бұрын
Think you could cover the Newark PPG spot? It's also been a spot on my radar for a while, but I hear its been covered/fenced up?
@veggieSxDBD9 ай бұрын
Peace ✌🏻 nj732 That looks like a awsome travel , dope video . Thanks Ps wasnt there bodies from mental asylum by that bridge in seacacus (?)
@psychedelicsaviorrants38682 жыл бұрын
17:49 Smokin’ your lucky cigarette 🚬
@boundbrookrailfan31772 жыл бұрын
I’m Near The Newark Branch And I Saw A Highrail On The Line
2 жыл бұрын
33;21 that is the old erie athenia depot
@michael029138 Жыл бұрын
The radio station use to be "WMCA"
@BigAntTVMedia2 жыл бұрын
Can u do the old central jersey rail road tracks down ironbound newark by east side hs stadium
@WheelerAntabanez2 жыл бұрын
working on an Old Boonton Line book and movie now. should be out in october
@johniacono372510 ай бұрын
Graffiti is very disconcerting!
@anthonysaggio6551 Жыл бұрын
Where can I purchase the book I already have the magazine but would love the book also
@WheelerAntabanez Жыл бұрын
thanks! here is a link www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGNC7T2W
@goback3spaces2 жыл бұрын
I don't know what's worse, the urban blight or those cookie cutter "new constructions"
@mainman1272 жыл бұрын
Hoffa is buried under the Pulaski Skyway
2 жыл бұрын
why is this guy on the belleville line? btw ..mill st was the site of a huge station once
@onthemound Жыл бұрын
Ever go to the Devils Hole in North Jersey?
@WheelerAntabanez Жыл бұрын
yes. this vid shows it kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJzXf36Fl8yAq8U
@onthemound Жыл бұрын
@@WheelerAntabanez Nice, you gotta dive that thing figure out the depth.
@WheelerAntabanez Жыл бұрын
@@onthemound mark Moran from weird nj dove it with a professional diver. issue 31 I think...
@allgainsnograins1014Ай бұрын
Dirty Jerz
@WheelerAntabanez3 жыл бұрын
kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ-Um3-dgpWkaZI
@MorpheusOne3 жыл бұрын
Is this an "event"? There doesn't appear to be any point in scheduling something 50+ days away unless it is a pretty big deal.
@WheelerAntabanez3 жыл бұрын
October 30th at 9:00 PM - Book and Video release at AbandonedBooks.org
@horny9984511 ай бұрын
I’m a retired NYCT motorman I like the video I try walking the abandoned rockaway branch of LIRR a part of the line is now a parking lot
@sonicmagnus5312 Жыл бұрын
Antabanez, been about that North Jersey life 😃 ask anybody in South Jersey
@xXXBongToker420xXx2 жыл бұрын
There's something about you that is very authentically Jersey... I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content after reading some of your Weird NJ articles!
@oldpantsnewjersey2 жыл бұрын
Great work on the video. Walter Kidde was the founder of the company that produced fire extinguishers and eventually smoke alarms.
@wayneantoniazzi27062 жыл бұрын
Looking at the ruins of the Kidde empire all I could think of was a line from the Shelley poem: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings! Look at my works ye mighty, and despair!" Another phrase crossed my mind, "Sic transit gloria mundi," or "So passes worldly glory."