Walking the Old Boonton Line Montclair to Jersey City - 2020 I love to walk on railroad tracks especially when they are out-of-service or abandoned. When I moved to Montclair in 2008 The Old Boonton Line became one of my frequent haunts. Whenever I needed a long stroll to clear my mind, I would inevitably find myself on the decommissioned tracks, sometimes walking as far as Belleville before turning around to walk the same amount of miles home. One day in the Fall of 2020, while walking the tracks between Montclair and Bloomfield, I pondered recent news reports claiming the Old Boonton Line was going to be developed into a bike path. Having walked much of this rail line already I was skeptical that the Essex-Hudson Greenway would ever come to fruition. The sheer cost of fixing the bridges makes the bike path a far-fetched idea, but it occurred to me that if I was going to walk the entirety of the Old Boonton Line I had better do it now, just in case. There were still a few sections of tracks I hadn't explored so I mapped out a plan and systematically completed the journey in six easy trips. The best way to make progress on the abandoned rails is to lose yourself in a pleasant daydream and let your boots fall lightly on the unevenly spaced wooden ties. My expedition from Montclair to Jersey City was accomplished in a very mellow fashion with frequent enjoyable diversions along the way. The crisp weather was perfect for long walks and the autumn leaves were turning beautifully. Although Covid was stalking the land, it was easy to remain socially distant for the entire trip. The following image selection wasn't intended as a photo essay, but like the journey itself, the pictures took on a life of their own. I hope you enjoy! -wheeler

The journey begins: Montclair to Bloomfield

 

Pine Street in Montclair
Where the live tracks meet the abandoned rails

 

Starting point of the Old Boonton Line on the left
NJ Transit live tracks on the right

 

Anyone on the tracks is automatically an outlaw

 

Coming up to the first overpass
Bay Street on the border of Glen Ridge and Montclair

 

Under Bay Street

 

 

 

 

Outdoor dining under Bay Street
A box from Urban Chicken

 

Trash beneath Bay Street

 

A split in the rails

 

Under the Highland Avenue Bridge

 

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Under Highland Ave

 

Coming up on Ridgewood Avenue in Glen Ridge

 

Looking back under the Ridgewood Avenue bridge

 

Easter Island vibes along the tracks

 

Coming up on the Benson Street Station

 

11 miles to Jersey City

 

Sheds behind the Benson Street Station

 

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Bloomfield to Belleville

 

Old warning light where the tracks intersect Benson Street

 

Power panel for warning lights and barrier arm gates

 

Approaching the bridge over Broad Street
Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

Looking NE on Broad Street in Bloomfield

 

Looking back on the bridge over Broad Street

 

Looking back on the decaying rail bridge
that spans JFK Drive in Bloomfield

 

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There are 4 similar bridges after the Broad Street overpass:
New St, Belleville Ave, Spruce St, and John F Kennedy Drive
The bridge in the photo is the one over JFK Drive

 

View of the Garden State Parkway from the Old Boonton Line

 

Looking back on the GSP overpass in Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

Approaching the Williamson Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield

 

Under the Williamson Avenue Bridge

 

Ongoing graffiti wars

 

Graffiti under the Williamson Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield

 

- ADVERTISEMENT - One hundred fifty years of railroad history abandoned and left to rot in place provides the backdrop for Wheeler Antabanez as he walks the Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. click to purchase the book from amazon.com

 

Halloween 2020 is in the air
This walk smelled like creosote and wood smoke

 

Graffiti under the Williamson Avenue Bridge

 

Graffiti on the footings of the Williamson Avenue Bridge

 

Wild turkey where the tracks intersect Orchard Street
Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

 

10 miles to Jersey City
I used this marker as a tripod to get the next two turkey shots

 

Urban turkey utilizing the abandoned tracks
This is the turkey's last available habitat in this area

 

This turkey can't vote, but I guarantee
she doesn't want her home turned into a bike path

 

Defaced Norfolk Southern sign at the Rowe Street Station
Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

Looking back on the Old Boonton Line at the Rowe Street Station

 

Railroad artifacts at the Rowe Street Station

 

An old loudspeaker at the Rowe Street Station
Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

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Stepping onto the rail bridge that spans Franklin Avenue
Belleville, New Jersey

 

Late afternoon sunlight on the bridge over Franklin Avenue in Belleville
Wheeler Antabanez silhouette

 

An urban buck has nowhere to run
and no clean water to drink
Belleville, New Jersey
9 Miles to JC

 

Belleville to Newark

 

Train bridge over Second River and Branch Brook Park Drive

 

Crossing Second River and Branch Brook Park Drive

 

Looking back on the bridge before entering Newark

 

5IVER on the tracks marks the path to a Newark chill spot

 

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Back on the Tracks heading deeper into North Newark

 

Dead End
Part way through Newark
the tracks have been taken over by local businesses
Here is where I leave the Old Boonton line
to walk along Second River
until I can rejoin the tracks
at the Passaic River crossing

 

Tiffany and Company's silver plate jewelry factory
Newark, New Jersey

 

The Mount Prospect Avenue Bridge over Second River in Newark

 

Bridge Street over Second River
Newark, New Jersey

 

I had to climb over this fence to get out of Second River

 

 

Crack vial on the wall of Second River
Newark, NJ

 

Pedestrian bridge over Second River

 

View of Second River from the pedestrian bridge

 

The bridge where Washington Ave in Belleville
becomes Broadway in Newark

 

Looking down into Second River from Broadway
Just out of view: a heroin addict nods on the retaining wall

 

Looking down into Second River from the sidewalk on Broadway

 

- ADVERTISEMENT - One hundred fifty years of railroad history abandoned and left to rot in place provides the backdrop for Wheeler Antabanez as he walks the Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. click to purchase the book from amazon.com

 

 

I hopped on this abandoned line in Belleville
it used to pass underneath the Old Boonton Line
It was a once a good access point to reach the Cut Bridge
It is now blocked off and has been consumed by a truck yard

 

The abandoned Newark Branch over Second River
Standing on the Belleville side looking into Newark

 

I couldn't use the Newark Branch
to hook up with the Old Boonton Line
So I doubled back and wandered
through Newark for a couple blocks

 

Seton Leather Brownfield Site
Verona Avenue Newark, New Jersey

 

This used to be abandoned
Now it's boarded up and in use
The storage tanks in back have been demolished
The mountains of tires have been cleared

 

Jack-o-lantern mask
on the side of McCarter Highway in North Newark

 

Abandoned rail bridge carrying the Old Boonton Line over the
McCarter Highway in North Newark

 

Back up on the rails
Looking down at the Maas & Waldstein Factory
from the bridge over McCarter Highway
Founded in 1876 this chemical factory
was the site of frequent explosions,
fires, and industrial accidents that killed
many of the people who worked here

 

Classic NARK

 

A view of the Maas & Waldstein Factory in Newark as it is demolished

 

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Decaying rail bridge over the McCarter Highway in Newark
One wrong step and you die

 

Partially demolished ruins of the Maas & Waldstein Factory
Route 21 along the Passaic River

 

The scariest part about walking across the Cut Bridge
is going around the security fence
Many will recognize this bridge
from The Sopranos opening sequence

 

Kearny Cut: Passaic River to Kearny Marsh

 

Looking through the security fence
from Newark to Kearny
WR Draw AKA the Cut Bridge

 

Looking back across the WR Draw Bridge
from Kearny into Newark
Maas & Waldstein stack on the right

 

Into the Kearny Cut where the rail bed was excavated from solid rock

 

Trains need gentle grades and level ground
The tracks coming out of the meadowlands were cut into the earth
so trains wouldn't have to climb the Kearny slope

 

Deep in the cut
An alien egg case dangles from the side of the cliff

 

This object was sitting on the rails and I'm still not sure what it is
For a moment I felt like I was in the movie Blue Velvet, but
I'm pretty sure this is not a human ear

 

Coyote print in the mud of the Kearny Cut
This section of track is the last available corridor for wildlife
If this line is developed into a bike path
the local animals will lose their only greenway

 

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Propping up Kearny so the street doesn't collapse into the cut
This structure supports the dead end of Hillcrest Road

 

Approaching the Kearny Avenue Bridge

 

Pachysandra Pachysandra Pachysandra
overtaking the abandoned rails

 

Kearny Ave spanning the cut

 

Under the Kearny Avenue Bridge

 

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Very few humans trespass here
There are no trails and the tracks are soggy

 

A menacing layer of green scum thrives in this swampy morass
I did my best to not get any on me

 

Beneath the Chestnut Street Bridge
Kearny, New Jersey
Where the tracks emerge from the cut

 

There was a crew doing street work here
and a cop directing traffic
When I emerged from the cut
they looked at me like I had three heads
I thought they might give me a problem
but nobody said a word

 

What used to be Arlington Station
Kearny, New Jersey

 

Someone went bananas on the tracks

 

Looking back on the entrance of the cut
Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey

 

Under Schuyler Avenue

 

Last pic of the day under Schuyler Avenue
For the next mission I head into the Kearny Marsh
and walk all the way to the Hackensack River

 

Kearny Marsh:
Schuyler Ave to the DB Draw bridge on the Hackensack River

 

6 miles to Jersey City on the Old Boonton Line

 

First view of the marsh

 

With so many spray paint penises out there
it's good to see some vagina

 

- ADVERTISEMENT - One hundred fifty years of railroad history abandoned and left to rot in place provides the backdrop for Wheeler Antabanez as he walks the Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. click to purchase the book from amazon.com

 

Zoomed out across the marsh
Buildings of downtown Newark
visible over the Keegan Landfill

 

Massive dust cloud blowing off the Keegan Landfill

 

Zoomed out on the buildings of Downtown Newark
Lights from the Gunnell Oval in the mid ground

 

Graffiti under Route 7 on the Old Boonton Line

 

She caught my eye under Route 7 in the Kearny Marsh

 

Adopt 6 is up out here

 

Sprayed on the side of a derelict trailer
Covid is no joke

 

Route 7 through the Kearny Marsh
Power towers and the Old Boonton Line

 

Train signals and the Empire State Building
As seen from Kearny Marsh

 

I 95 bridge over the Old Boonton Line

 

Under the New Jersey Turnpike Bridge
spanning the Old Boonton Line

 

 

 

 

Snake Hill looms over the New Jersey Meadowlands

 

Midtown has a new look these days

 

Kearny Marsh
I 95
Portal Bridge
World Trade Center
As seen from the Old Boonton Line

 

Dirty Jersey

 

Snake Hill from the Old Boonton Line

 

Harmon Cove Towers as seen from the tracks

 

The American Dream mega mall as seen from the tracks

 

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Manhattan skyline
Weehawken
Laurel Hill Park
Kearny Marsh
Old Boonton Line

 

The garbage incinerator in Newark's Ironbound
I 95 over the Passaic River
As seen from the Kearny Marsh

 

Oil boom washed up against the railroad fence

 

The bridge tenders shack at the Hackensack River
One time I found a homeless man living here
He begged me for a drink of water
Unfortunately I wasn't carrying any
We were surrounded by water
but there was not a drop to drink

 

The DB Draw
AKA the Hack Swing Bridge
decommissioned and kept in the open position
so as not to impede navigation on the Hackensack River

 

Final leg of the journey:
Snake Hill to Jersey City

 

Looking back on the Old Boonton Line's DB Draw
The bridge is fixed in the open position
so I am starting today's mission
on the East Side of the Hackensack River

 

My goal for the day is to climb Snake Hill
and then walk the Old Boonton Line into Jersey City

 

The Old Boonton Line under the New Jersey Turnpike
Secaucus, New Jersey

 

Looking down the tracks into Jersey City

 

At the base of Snake Hill under I 95

 

The ridge of Snake Hill with Laurel Hill park
and the new High Tech High School in the distance

 

View from the top of Snake Hill:
I 95 over the Hackensack River
DB Draw
Kearny Marsh
Old Boonton Line

 

The summit of Snake Hill

 

High atop Snake Hill

 

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View from the top of Snake Hill:
Downtown Manhattan
Jersey City
Demolished remains of the Hudson Generating Station

 

View from the top of Snake Hill:
The bridge deck on the new Wittpenn is finally in position

 

View from the top of Snake Hill:
The Empire State Building
Jersey City Heights in the foreground

 

View from the top of Snake Hill:
Kearny Point in the foreground
the Pulaski Skyway ramping up across the lower Passaic River
what's left of the old Western Electric Building
and in the background Port Newark with shipping container cranes

 

View from the top of Snake Hill:
A NJ Transit train crosses the Portal Bridge from Secaucus into Kearny
This is the bridge that snarls the commute
every time the swing portion gets stuck

 

Where I've been:
The Old Boonton Line through Kearny Marsh

 

Where I'm going:
The Old Boonton Line into Jersey City

 

Where the Salt Marsh meets the Jersey jungles
Border of Secaucus and Jersey City
As seen from the summit of Snake Hill

 

Back down on the tracks to complete my journey into Jersey City
Sucky Bat under the rail bridge leading up to the Portal

 

The Old Boonton Line under the live tracks
leading up to the Portal Bridge
Secaucus, New Jersey

 

The rails on this side of the Hackensack River
are far less abandoned than the rest of the Old Boonton Line
These tracks are actively used for storage of train equipment

 

There used to be a power plant here
This is all that remains of the Hudson Generating Station

 

 

Demolition continues on the Hudson Generating Station

 

Just over the border into Jersey City
the tracks are better maintained than the rest of the line
and are still very much in service
if only for storage

 

Live rails over the Old Boonton Line in Jersey City

 

A NJ Transit engine
originating from Hoboken Terminal
crosses the Old Boonton Line
after traveling through the Bergen Tunnels

 

arriba arriba
andale andale

 

Footings for a rail bridge that no longer exists

 

With the World Trade Center in view
the Old Boonton Line splits off in two different directions

 

Polished rails confirm this track is used fairly often

 

First I went left to see how far the tracks continued

 

The tracks kept going through this busy truck yard
but for me it was a dead end

 

I turned around and walked back to the split

 

It was getting late in the day, but I decided to take the right fork

 

The Old Boonton Line is already a greenway
Best to leave it alone
Let the animals have one last corridor

 

I never found mile marker zero
but around this point in Jersey City
the Old Boonton Line merges with the live tracks

 

I would say this is probably the terminus
where the Old Boonton Line
branches off into Jersey City proper

 

A zoomed out view of the live tracks heading into Jersey City

 

A NJ Transit train goes roaring past on the live tracks
letting me know that my journey is over
and that it's time to turn around
for the long walk back to my truck
at the base of Snake Hill.

# # #

Thank you for coming on this journey with me
send questions and comments to:
WAntabanez at gmail dot com

 

- ADVERTISEMENT - One hundred fifty years of railroad history abandoned and left to rot in place provides the backdrop for Wheeler Antabanez as he walks the Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. click to purchase the book from amazon.com