Looking for Switchback maps and info

Can anyone point me to a good detailed map of the switchback railroad row that went form Jim Thrope to Summit Hill? Also can someone show me on live maps where the pax station was in Summit Hill and the engine barn ontop of the hill? I can't find it on google maps as its all woodlands. I want to see the crossover stone pillar bridge too. I can't find anything on the online maps and don't really know where to look.

Has the row been built over by houses or driveways on Lentz Trail? Must have been. Is the row property still owned by someone?

I don' t think it has been built on (except in town) but the downhill track trail does cross Lentz trail about a mile west of the park entrance. It also does a small detour around the dam in the park. I think the "5 mile" crossover of up and down tracks is at N 40.83924 W 75.82186 . I got that from this map:
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=40.83923,-75 ... oning%20PA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This map was good to get oriented: http://www.bikekinetix.com/t_pa/pa_rail ... k_map.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm pretty sure those lines on the map do follow the original switchback RR , at least outside of town.
Have fun, Jim S
THis might help you find the Summit Hill station and car barn. http://www.switchbackgravityrr.org/sbtrail.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1893 topo map http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=PA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauch_Chun ... ck_Railway" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I found a map with the station and car barn in Summit Hill indicted. Railroad St. is now Ludlow and the west end of McMurtrie is now Park. I am not sure why they label it "MCSW Railway": Mauch Chunk Switchback ______????
[attachment=0]MCSW station. Summit Hill.jpg[/attachment
JS

Also http://rutlandtrail.org/mapview.cgi?the ... g=-75.8605" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which will let you switch between the historic map and the modern topo map or aerial photo.

It was partially in OpenStreetMap, but I've improved it and turned it into a single relation: http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/relation/3275095" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can (once my edit gets published) download the route using OSMAnd, and using the GPS, locate the routing in the field. As far as I can tell, East McMurtrie Street is where the tracks came into town (although it could have been East Ludlow Street). Almost certainly East Holland Street was where the tracks left town.

I'm guessing that you can still find remnants of the upgrade east of Summit Hill. It sure looks like there's a line in the trees.

RussNelson wrote:It was partially in OpenStreetMap, but I've improved it and turned it into a single relation: http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/relation/3275095" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can (once my edit gets published) download the route using OSMAnd, and using the GPS, locate the routing in the field. As far as I can tell, East McMurtrie Street is where the tracks came into town (although it could have been East Ludlow Street). Almost certainly East Holland Street was where the tracks left town.

I'm guessing that you can still find remnants of the upgrade east of Summit Hill. It sure looks like there's a line in the trees.

Thanks for the O.S.M. - I looked earlier yesterday but didn't see the whole route - now I do.
From the map I posted above, the downtrack left Summit Hill following Holland St, and then veered off to the SE a block or two east of Pine St. THe modern Holland St follows this route for a while, and then the trail starts when the modern street ends (as on Russ's O.S.M or on the first link I posted above). But from a block or so east of Pine was the original RoW which was not a street.
Following the backtrack in the reverse direction from Railroad Ave (now Ludlow) in Summit Hill from the station on the map above, it followed Ludlow to the middle of what is now the cemetery where it veered SE for a few hundred feet to the top of the Mt. Jefferson plane for the backtrack. The bottom of the plane was to the SE, right up near what is now the intersection of Lentz trail (E. White Pine Dr) and Laurel Dr (Route 902). The plane ran over (under?) the down track, then the backtrack stayed just to the north of the modern Lentz trail for a while running east (this is going in the reverse direction of traffic) . The two tracks crossed again at the 5 mile tree point, marked in my earlier post.
Here is one last link. It has a lot of modern (and old) pictures showing remnants of all kinds and exactly where to find things. http://www.rgusrail.com/pamcsr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
JS
PS. Why do they call it a "switchback" railway? The maps I have seen of it all show the line running straight downhill (except for the 2 planes on the uptrack) - where were the switchbacks? THe last link I give just above seems to mention one (or maybe really a "wye" at the 5 mile crossover, perhaps so some tourist rides from Mauch CHunk would not have to go all the way to Summit Hill, but that's all I can make out

Actually you can still see the station track. It made a semi-circle loop. The loop is now a paved driveway/parking area. Look at the intersection of W Holland St & Ginder St. It's just at the top of Holland St, cuts across Park St, and connect to Ludlow St. There seems to be a large brown building in the middle of the row. Where the car barn track was to the right of the main track is trees.

Doing some reading on the switchback and interesting tidbits... the switchback was originally built by the LC&N Co, who then sold it to the CNJ in the mid-1800s. When the Hauto tunnel was built on the Nesqehoning branch of the CNJ the switchback became obsolete. However, Asa Packer and his brother in law convinced the CNJ to sell it to them instead of scrapping it, so they could operate a tourist run on it. The CNJ agreed and sold it to the Packers. But the Packers didn't pay cash, the CNJ carried a note. When the great depression hit the tourist numbers dwindled and the Packers started stiffing the CNJ for the monthly mortgage payments. The CNJ then foreclosed. The CNJ then sold it to a guy named Weiner who sold the rails for scap metal.

The row isn't built upon but there are 3 houses on Lentz Train at the far east of Summit Hill whose driveways go over the row. The row is now a bike trail.

Also I was surprised to see the size of Summit Hill proper. You can see the municipal boundaries on google maps. Wow it's huge encompassing the mauch chunk lake and all the way south to Mahoning, then it goes north over the mountain to Lansford.

pumpers wrote:It has a lot of modern (and old) pictures showing remnants of all kinds and exactly where to find things. http://www.rgusrail.com/pamcsr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow, that page is awesome. Definitely worth reading.

RussNelson wrote:

pumpers wrote:It has a lot of modern (and old) pictures showing remnants of all kinds and exactly where to find things. http://www.rgusrail.com/pamcsr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow, that page is awesome. Definitely worth reading.

That's for sure. Could imagine a whole day on a bike looking for it all .

I just looked at the parent site http://www.rgusrail.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Amazing-- click on the "sitemap" button and RG (or whoever it is) has something like the Mauch CHunk Switchback RR page for about 100 other places. And more. Any idea who it is?

JS

pumpers wrote:

RussNelson wrote:

pumpers wrote:It has a lot of modern (and old) pictures showing remnants of all kinds and exactly where to find things. http://www.rgusrail.com/pamcsr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow, that page is awesome. Definitely worth reading.

That's for sure. Could imagine a whole day on a bike looking for it all .

I just looked at the parent site http://www.rgusrail.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Amazing-- click on the "sitemap" button and RG (or whoever it is) has something like the Mauch CHunk Switchback RR page for about 100 other places. And more. Any idea who it is?

JS

Domain Name: RGUSRAIL.COM
Creation Date: 2008-09-30 03:05:00Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2014-09-30 03:05:12Z
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Registrant Name: ROBERT GRANT
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: APT 16
Registrant Street: 98 CHANDOS STREET
Registrant City: ASHFIELD
Registrant State/Province: NSW
Registrant Postal Code: 2131
Registrant Country: AU
Admin Name: ROBERT GRANT
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: APT 16
Admin Street: 98 CHANDOS STREET
Admin City: ASHFIELD
Admin State/Province: NSW
Admin Postal Code: 2131
Admin Country: AU
Admin Phone: +61.415578305
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [email protected]
Tech Name: ADAM FARRAR
Tech Organization: HOSTGATOR
Tech Street: 11251 NORTHWEST FWY SUITE 400
Tech City: HOUSTON
Tech State/Province: TX
Tech Postal Code: 77092
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.7135745287
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.2814767800
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: [email protected]
Name Server: NS2445.HOSTGATOR.COM
Name Server: NS2446.HOSTGATOR.COM

So there is an R.G. Where can one look this kind of stuff up? JS

That information comes from the 'whois' database. There are a bunch of web interfaces to it -- just google for it and use one of them. Unfortunately, some people have taken to hiding their identity in whois. Bad people.

Pretty amazing website period, but even more remarkable considering RG is about as far away from the US as he could be and still be on planet earth. JS