And while you guys were doing all that, Arnold Restivo and I walked the line from Highmount to Phoenicia, 99% of the way on the tracks themselves. We skirted the washouts, although Arnold did get past one by walking on the rails, as they hadn't slipped completely into the water.
I gotta say, this part of the line is a mess. The five washouts are hopeless. You would have to do SUBSTANTIAL riverbank remediation. And one of the washouts was actually a landslide. The fence on the side of the ROW is now lined up with the tracks, and the tracks are in the river. The soil very much looks like clay to me. Get it wet, and under the right conditions, it slides right down into the river. Found bunches of little washouts, and washovers, most of the latter where people built roads over the tracks.
We found a few interesting things. Above Pine Hill we found the Pine Hill Crystal Springs Water Company ruins. From what I can gather, they bottled the water at the bottom of the hill, and had a conveyor system to bring the water up to a warehouse next to the railroad. There was an explosion and fire in 1933 which destroyed the plant, leaving many melted bottles on the floor of the warehouse. Easy to find -- it's the *only* foundation close to the tracks.
Also found two sidings in Allaben. One still has a switch (although someone swiped the switch stand), and the other, on the south side of Station Road, is only visible by its switch ties left behind.
Found several mile markers: K39, K38, K37, K35, but that's it. Unfortunately, they put the mile markers on the river side, and, well, we all know how well THAT worked out. They're the most beautiful mile markers I have ever seen anywhere.
A couple of places the rails were lifted, once at a road near a bridge, and another where a low bridge was removed (cut up, actually, but left on site).
