Railfanning via kayak

Has anyone else tried railfanning via kayak or canoe? As mentioned I'm planning a trip up the Pompton River to check out the Boonton Line railroad bridge. Also, I've already kayaked the D&R Canal an explored the swing bridges in Sound Boundbrook and Princeton along with the remaining bridges over the D&R Feeder Canal in the Lamberville area.

Last year I did the Musconetcong River from the Saxon Falls dam up to Waterloo Village and caught some rail activity on the old DL&W line that runs next to the river. A couple of years ago I canoed the Delaware River around Slateford Junction and saw some action there as well.

This is a great way to combine the best of both hobbies.

Incidentally, I was going to do the Pompton River by kayak today, but decided to fly it instead. Bad idea; it's too close to the jet traffic from Morrisotwn and Caldwell. We had a close encounter with a Citation at 2.9K.

No, I haven't. But I definitely would like to sometime in my life go boating on the Raritan and get shots of trains on the NEC viaduct as well as on the Perth Amboy River Draw.

But, that's not gonna happen any time soon.

Have fun though!

CGRLCDR wrote:
Incidentally, I was going to do the Pompton River by kayak today, but decided to fly it instead. Bad idea; it's too close to the jet traffic from Morrisotwn and Caldwell. We had a close encounter with a Citation at 2.9K.

The airspace around NJ23/US46 is very crowded. There are two active runways at Caldwell, and one at Lincoln Park which complete for space between 2,000 and 700 feet. Newark's airspace overhangs the area, and Teterboro has an jet approach which slices thru the middle of the area and over the Cedar Grove res at 1500-2000.

There was a head on collision last year with a Lincoln Park outbound and Caldwell inbound, and another nightime crash in 2003 which dropped a Cessna into a parking lot in Fairflied

I have done that using a canoe on the Delaware and positioning myself about midstream have gotten good shots of whole bridges with trains crossing them. I go fishing at the same time. Valhalla is attainable in this life. One suggestion though. I use a Nikonos water proof camera and tie it to the canoe's thwarts in case I tip over. You don't want to feed the fish with a few hundred dollars worth of equipment.

Upstream from Port Jervis is good canoeing. This summer I'll be scanning shots I got as a kid from a canoe through the Delaware Water Gap of the Phoebie Snow. Lots of neat memories there.

Although I haven't done it myself, I imagine if the water was right you could paddle the Pequannock River from West Milford all the way down to where it joins the Wanaque and Ramapo in Pompton Lakes to become the Pompton River. The Pequannock runs parallel to the NYS&W a great deal of the way. Lots of bridges & scenery. The only problems are avoiding Newark Watershed property, and rapids/strainers up in the northern section. I think there are a couple of nasty wiers in Butler and right before the inflow of the Ramapo. I think if you put in beyond the Macopin Reservoir you'd be ok. Double check to be sure... I forgot to mention that if you do the Pompton River upstream trip, if you keep going beyond the feeder canal, you'll also come to the abandoned New York & Greenwood Lake line/bridge.

Jim

If you put in at Bordentown Beach you are already near the Riverline light rail Bordentown Station. If you go up the Crosswicks Creek to Watson's Creek there are two points where you are right up against the Riverline. I have taken some pictures with a disposable camera and will work up the nerve to take a good camera on such a trip.
I wonder in NJT Police will start a marine unit to suppress this kind of activity?

Can’t speak for New Jersey, but I’ve circumnavigated Manhattan in a canoe twice, and both trips offered lots of unique RR sightings. We paralleled the Hudson Line on the Harlem River, with lots of MN activity; passed MTA’s 207th Street yards; and approached the Spuyten Duyvil swing bridge as an Empire train passed overhead.

I’m sure we could’ve gotten some great views of Hoboken and Jersey Central terminals if we had crossed to the Jersey side of the Hudson. But after battling currents and waterborne traffic on the East and Harlem Rivers, we were only interested in the straightest possible shot back to Brooklyn. Next time, maybe.

I can’t say enough good things about paddling. It’s a lot of fun, and some of the best exercise you can get. The last summer I did it extensively, I found myself in better shape that I was when I got out of boot camp. With a good tan to boot.

I have never done this in a kayak, but I have from my fathers boat. The NJCL has a few bridges across a few of the small rivers along the coast, such as The Shark River and The Manasquan River, I have taken more than a few pictures from those rivers of the trains (we sometimes even go under the bridges as the train goes over, just don't look up with our something covering your eyes, you can get dirt and such knocked down on them from the vibrations). It is rather fun but I regret that I only really have pictures of them on my other computer (not living here at the moment) but I will try to put some up some time. It is rather fun (and there are a few resturants near the bridges as well, get a nice view of the trains there too.)

This post's inspired me to look for a good price on a used kayak.

I've canoed the South Branch from Clinton to Flemington. Lehigh Line and the BR&W are the two rail related sites. Nice river when deep enough.

Ken, I've been scouting the South Branch myself over the few couple of weekends and have seen some nice action on the Lehigh just driving around the back roads in Hunterdon County. You are right about water depth - I'll bet you have to walk portions of the river in the summer.

Chuck

You have to carry the weir at the pumping station where the water is drawn to fill Round Valley. If they are pumping, only a minimum flow will exist downriver even if above there is OK. Good idea to check in case before going.

>>>We had a close encounter with a Citation at 2.9K.<<<

Ouch! Were you outside the 20 NM edge of the 3000 foot floor of the Class B airspace? I think the conventional wisdom is to stay 500 feet below the Class B floor inside since there can be traffic just above the 3000. And for that matter, not too much higher at least out to the 30 NM veil. I was on a Continental flight from Houston about a month ago and it looked to me that the 777 wasn't more than about 3000 over Central Jersey Regional. That's about 3 NM outside the 20 NM edge.

JFB, If you've done that in a canoe, you are a better man than I! I have both kayaks and canoes, and would never even consider such trips in a canoe any more. Of course, my age and condition could be a factor there.

Camelback, Go for it! You will have no regrets. Just do a little research before you buy. as there several classes of kayaks and countless models within them. Not all are well suited to this particular use. If you aren't sure what you want, I'd advise going to a reputable dealer, like the Jersey Paddler in Brick, who carries used models and will steer you in the right direction.

While not an expert paddler, the park I work for runs clinics and trips and I can offer some basic advise if you are new to this. Good luck in any case!

of the Raritan can be excellent.

You are paralleling the tracks for some of the way. The location someone mentioned just south of the weir dam at Landsdown/Hamden is great: you go right under a bridge - I have a couple shots of a NS freight there, which was blowing for the Landsdown crossing, taken from my kayak. Pretty exciting being under the bridge when a train goes overhead too! Of course it's a bit of challenge holding the camera while you try to hold position in the stream! Best to pull off - there is a pretty spot there that gives you a good view of the bridge.

A little further south you go under another bridge, where there is a little sort of canal that parallels the ROW. You can pull off and wait for trains there, though it's a little mosquito-y in the summer!

About a 1/2 mile north of the usual takeout point (between the Rte 31 bridge and the old Lipton Tea plant) you go through the area where the LV built a little island that was used as an excursion destination/picnic area (this was before they built Bellewood Park in Pattenberg...) I've often seen railfans lurking there. They get in from the bit of wetlands park accessible from the little stretch of River Road between 523 and 31 (kind of a secret road...!)

In this same vicinity you can see the remains of the reservoir that fed the troughs used by westbound freights to scoop up water at speed. Cool!

Have not yet kayaked south of Dart's Mill (big dam/waterfall to portage around there!) but there should be a good view of the RR from the river around Flemington Jct. You might even catch the BR&W interchanging cars across the bridge!