6-10 travel log

Monday 6/10/02 Nice sunny day today, temps in the 70's when I left work at 5:30 and no humidity to speak of.

I decided to get some exercise on the Eastern RR. I had wanted to check back and see if the abutments at the former route 1 bridge that carried the railroad over the road were still there.

The bridge is gone but the abutments are still there. The machinery that removed the bridge is gone as well. What is left is best described as a mess. Maybe there is more that they are going to do, I don't know, right now the area is a mess. Hay has been put out the keep all the dirt that was dislodged, from getting into the road. .

I decided to first walk South down towards where the Amesbury branch broke off. I walked up the side of the embankment on the South side. Milepost P68 was still there. Iron was ripped up as were ties. The ties were all in a big pile and the area smelled like railroad ties. Looking South the right of way was overgrown on the Southbound side, iron was gone but ties were still in place as was the occasional tie plate and spikes. Looks like just the iron up to the bridge was removed quite a few years ago.

The Northbound side is clear and has been in use as a trail, evidence of four wheelers could be seen. There was no problem walking.

Bugs this time of year were a problem, as long as I kept my mouth closed and kept walking, I was ok, when I stopped to take pictures, the bugs congregated.

The right of way through this area is on a high embankment looking down 10 - 25 feet. A hundred or so feet North of where the Amesbury branch broke off, the line was no longer passable due to foliage and standing water.

On the North side of the former bridge the iron was still down. The North bound side of the right of way was clear and very washboardy due to the four wheelers digging it up. The embankment is very high here on the order of 25 to 30 feet in places. The iron on the South side was rusted but otherwise in ok shape. Trees and plants growing up in it of course. A short distance up from Route 1 you can see a concrete base for a block signal that had been tipped over and was part way down the embankment. No doubt due to erosion and a little human help.

I was able to walk up a third of a mile or so until the water and the foliage made going quite tough.

Next stop was Atlantic. This station was just over the border from Salisbury in Seabrook. I headed North on Route 1 and took a right onto 286 and then a left just before the bridge over the railroad tracks.

I went down to the end of that road and parked near the tracks. Down here the tracks were buried and hardly visible. I walked South and things improved. You could see the iron and ties plainly. The telltale just before the bridge was still there and in good shape.

There was no sign of the former station. Will need to take another look in the fall.

Here are some pictures of the trip......

Route 1, mess made by the company who removed the bridge, looking North.

What a mess, a skilled company could have removed the bridge and left everything else intact.

Milepost P 68 still there. This view is looking South. Surprised that the mileage isn't mileage to Boston in this direction.

Can't even pile up the ties neatly. The whole area smelled like ties.

The scene of the crime, looking North.

The mess they made coming up the embankment.

Right of way looking South. Washboardy, but in good shape.

Ties still in the ground. No iron though.

East West right of way that crosses the Eastern. This is the same right of way that you will see run parallel to the Amesbury branch. As far as I know it's just a power line right of way.

We're down to where the Amesbury Line branches off, just beyond this area here. Unfortunately not possible to get through. The bugs were starting to get really bad here.