Greenwood Lake Div north of Pompton Jct

Are there any visible remains of the Greenwood Lake Div north of Pompton Junction? I would especially be interested in the ROW north of Wanaque. I know much of this ROW was obliterated by new buildings (around Wanaque) and the resevoirs, and the ROW cannot be accessed. However, are there any spots that today can be explored legally? What about the branch to Ringwood? Thanks.

granton junction wrote:Are there any visible remains of the Greenwood Lake Div north of Pompton Junction? I would especially be interested in the ROW north of Wanaque. I know much of this ROW was obliterated by new buildings (around Wanaque) and the resevoirs, and the ROW cannot be accessed. However, are there any spots that today can be explored legally? What about the branch to Ringwood? Thanks.

Legally, not much? Boardville Station is under the Wanaque Reservoir. There are rumors Awosting still stands, but for a train station that hasn't seen a train since 1935, I doubt it. No stations north of Pompton-Riverdale stand.

There are pretty good right-of-way between Pompton Jct and Wanaque Elementary, which is about where the Wanaque-Midvale Station was. North of Wanaque, to some degree there are spots.

This should help you: http://history.gsmrrclub.org/history7b.html & http://history.gsmrrclub.org/history7.html

Awosting Road north of the Greenwood Lake Turnpike is actually built atop the ROW. In Wanaque, north of the school that occupies the site of the passenger yard, there is still a trail and many ties still in place, at least a few years ago. Bring a mountain bike.

Awosting Road north of the Greenwood Lake Turnpike is actually built atop the ROW. In Wanaque, north of the school that occupies the site of the passenger yard, there is still a trail and many ties still in place, at least a few years ago. Bring a mountain bike.

If you look to the south of Greenwood Lake Tpk you can see the ROW go up a slight incline to the original grade. You used to be able to hike or bike south along the ROW from the Turnpike all the way into the undeveloped Stonetown section of Ringwood State Park. Since the Monksville Reservoir was flooded in the mid 1980's I don't know how far back you can go now. There is a gate across the ROW but it is easy to get around. Keep in mind there are 4 different agencies that regularly patrol the area. They are the West Milford and Ringwood municipal PD's, the NJ State Park PD, and the NJDWSC (Wanaque & Monksville Reservoir) PD.

As for Awosting Station still standing I'd say no. I wonder if East Shore Road was built exactly over the building foundation. I've never seen any structures, or ruins, in the woods on either side of the road that would indicate where the station was. With the trees clear of leaves this is the best time of year to do some exploration. Unfortunately I don't live in that area anymore.

There is a picture somewhere online of a horse-drawn wagon on the turnpike underneath a bridge carrying the ROW, which explains why the ROW is at a higher grade than the turnpike is.

Last time I was in the area, a few years ago, the tipple of the Peters Mine, at the end of the Ringwood Branch was still accessible.
It was a walk of a few hundred feet from the road.

ebtmikado wrote:Last time I was in the area, a few years ago, the tipple of the Peters Mine, at the end of the Ringwood Branch was still accessible.
It was a walk of a few hundred feet from the road.

I would be careful about hiking in around the Peter's Mine. There are vent shafts that may be unmarked, or unprotected. It is (was) a federal Superfund clean-up site so I don't know how much it has been secured to keep the public out.

http://www.northjersey.com/specialrepor ... ?scpromo=1 is a link to the story of how the Ringwood mine area, and it's residents, were the victims of negligence by industry.

http://www.abandonedmines.net/ has a link to Peter's Mine, with photos. It also has links to 2 other Ringwood mines, the Blue Mine and the Hope Mine.

http://www.netstrider.com/documents/whites/ is a link to the history of the people who live in the Ringwood mine area. Very interesting reading.

http://www.longpondironworks.org/ is a link to the story of the extensive iron mining that occured in the Ringwood area.

I grew up in Wanaque, just south of Ringwood, and it wasn't until I got a computer back in 2000 that I realized just how much this area played in the history of our country and how extensive the railroads were in this area. I've spent a lot of enjoyable hours reading the various websites about this area.

Idiot Railfan wrote:In Wanaque, north of the school that occupies the site of the passenger yard, there is still a trail and many ties still in place, at least a few years ago. Bring a mountain bike.

I lived in Wanaque...right up against the old ROW. We used to use it all the time as kids (I always had an interest in it....grew up a few blocks from the Corridor before moving up there). And I can attest there are still ties out there...with spikes. A HS friend of mine found that out the hard way when he landed on one....