Looking for Mystery Abandoned Grade in NJ/NY/PA/CT

[carajul]

Back in the 1980s my father used to take me on a road trip a several hours starting from the New Brunswick, NJ train station. We'd head north I don't know if we left NJ but we may have gone into NY state. We would eat at a roadside diner called "The After". Near this diner we would cross a set of tracks (in use) and then cross another set of tracks. There were grade xing flashers that were all smashed up/rusted and white highway signs hanging on the flasher poles that said "abandoned railroad grade". The rails were gone but ancient looking ties still in place. I really have no idea where this was but would love for someone to help solve this mystery from my memory.

[CarterB]

There is "After Char-Broil & Ice Cream Parlor" in Flanders, NJ (N 40.84689 W 74.70178) right past the old CNJ High Bridge line that went thru Flanders crossing Rte 206. However, that line was still in use, somewhat, to Toys R Us. Not sure if this is the one you want or not, but only one that I know of next to an "After" diner in the area.

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Bridge_Branch

[RussNelson]

That's going on 30 years ago! There's a lot of churn in the restaurant business. Chances are good that the diner is no longer in business anymore, and that the cited restaurant in Flanders is not the right one. Can you give us any more clues?? There were A LOT of abandoned grades in the US at that time, as Conrail was still killing branches left and right.

[carajul]

As I recall it was several hours drive away from New Bruns prob not in NJ but NY. I remember passing an in use line then the abandond line. What was so unique was the signs and the flashers were all smashed up. The poles were all rusted and the target glass broken. The rails were long gone and ties looked ancient. Id never seen "abandoned railroad grade" signs before and they were official highway signs!

[CarterB]

Assuming you didn't drive there on interstates/expressways, Rte 206 North, (mostly a two lane road) could be a likely route.
If so, there are several places cupla hours north of NB where there were abandoned / out of service rail lines that crossed Rte 206 in close proximity to each other. The area/s around Augusta/Halsey/Ross Corner NJ come to mind as well as Andover NJ. Any other 'landmarks' you might remember?

[carajul]

Sorry no landmarks I recall. I know it was surrounded by woodlands and some businesses along side the road. I remember there being a lot of traffic but I think it was just a 2 lane road (not a highway). I remember the abandoned grade ran parallel to the road in the woods and then turned sharp and crossed the road at grade.

[ccutler]

Maybe you were going to the Catskills to visit someone. The Middletown area is the capital of abandoned railroad grades, from the days the the LHR and LNE and Erie interchanged with the NYNH&H. Now most of those lines are gone, and it would be easy to see a multitude of sizable abandoned grades in close proximity to a diner in that area. You'd probably take I287 to Route 15 and then some other roads to get there, about 2 1/2 hours.

[R36 Combine Coach]

In response to the original poster:

If it was indeed the The After diner in Flanders and the road was 206, the abandoned set of tracks nearby would be the High Bridge Branch (assuming this was 1986 or prior). Morris County DOT and Morristown & Erie Railway took over the High Bridge Branch that year from NJDOT (which owned the line under a Conrail local subsidy agreement). From roughly ca. 1979-80 to 1986, the line was dormant. If the rails were gone, this could be the High Bridge south of Bartley Road (Toys R Us), where the rails were removed by 1981. There is a crossing near the diner on Hillside Avenue, where the Toys For Tots train stops. About the other "set" of tracks in use nearby, could be the Chester Branch (in service by CR to 1983, M&E 1983-).

Or it could be Andover Junction. There is a diner near the junction site and both the Sussex Branch and Lehigh & Hudson ROWs crossed 206. The former was torn up in 1977.

[carajul]

Yes that was it! It was "The After" restauarnt in Flanders, NJ. So the rail line in question must have been the high bridge branch. Anyone know what xing would have had those signs? I know the rails looked LONG GONE but the rotten and disfigured ties were all still there.

[R36 Combine Coach]

Your description of "grade xing flashers that were all smashed up/rusted" resembles much of the old signs at the High Bridge crossing on NJ Route 10 in Ledgewood that stood until about some years ago. That might have been the crossing and you passed the Chester Branch just to the east. Or it could have been Hillside Avenue or Main Street in Flanders near the diner. The Main Street crossing (at the Flanders firehouse) had rusted crossbucks (even as late as 2004).

If this occured between 1980 and 1986, it all seems plausible.