I lived a 1/4 mile from that wooden bridge up until last year. Occasionally you would see NS repairing the bridge. Once it was turned over to local municipalities for the rail trail.. It was deemed unsafe and closed. Due to lack of funds it's closure was indefinite. What a pain in the ass it is to have that bridge closed! Then right after that they closed down the "green" bridge over the Saucon creek on high street. No easy way to run to the Crossroads for Cheese steaks anymore! The dream of walking to work at Saucon yard for Csx is long dead. I still can't believe they gave away our happy home in Lansdale. We gave it our all to please our consignees and to promote new business. Once the class 1 loses interest there's no saving it.
I found these articles from March 1986: http://articles.mcall.com/1986-03-06/ne ... abandoning
http://articles.mcall.com/1986-02-09/ne ... ht-service
http://articles.mcall.com/1986-03-28/ne ... -committee
http://articles.mcall.com/1986-02-02/ne ... ce-conrail
http://articles.mcall.com/1986-03-27/ne ... ment-track
http://articles.mcall.com/1986-01-29/ne ... ter-trains
This was right around the time my father passed away, March 8, 1986. We had the church service at a church in Center Valley, and we went over the now-closed Station Av. and stone bridge from 309 heading from Allentown and we passed right over the tracks. The crossing signals were still there, but "exempt" signs under them and also under the yellow RXR signs as well, and the crossing lights were covered with black material. I think the rails in the crossing weren't paved over yet. It seems the last freight rail movements over that portion of the line in Lehigh and Northampton Counties was in October, 1984 because somewhere it mentions that Conrail deactivated signals north of Lansdale at that time and abandoned service north of Quakertown. My father worked for Bethlehem Steel and we had to drive him to work sometimes from Allentown area where we lived (I still live in the same house with my mom, brother, and her man friend of 19 years) on 22, then 378, then 3rd St. and I saw lots of Conrail freights on the spur line through South Bethlehem, which was the ex-Reading Bethlehem Branch. One time in 1980 I think, I actually saw RDC's waiting at the sheltered station platform north of 3rd St. crossing as we drove past taking my father to work. Back then, 2nd St. had a ramp up to the Hill-to-Hill bridge which went between the abandoned LV/RDG Union Station and the sheltered platform for commuter trains.