One lane tunnel near Donaldsons
The other day I saw a freight train sitting right before the tracks over the tunnel. I have never seen a train there before. Anyone know if tracks are still used or was this a fluke?
Hackettstown Wife 
htownguy 
Sher Trains run daily to and from the Borialis complex on Thomas Road. Have been for years.
Kid The 
Drew First its not a one way tunnel. Its called a culvert. Traffic travels in both directions.
Freight trains run all the way West to Phillipsburg. Been doing it for many many years. They are talking about passenger trains doing the same in the future.
Botheredbyuu2 
Josh Believe it or not, I was told these are "viaducts." Now, really a viaduct is a long bridge carrying a train over water, valleys, and roads. But I was told, by the oldtimers, that the short ones, in NJ, are called "the viaduct" too.
We always called it a tunnel. Then again, we called any bridge we went under "tunnel." Matter of fact, the entire family screamed it, high pitched and extended, on EVERY one, on every road trip, ever...…. Right up there with the license plate game. :>) Ah, the memories......
strangerdanger Cool down, HLifers ... What's the difference whether it is a tunnel or a viaduct? the person was innocently asking a simple question- geez! I am 100 percent sure they did not appreciate the correction- just wanted some sage advice..
AJMS Freight train is there everyday. About 930-10am rolls in and comes back around 130-2. If you’re on 57 going into Washington, you’ll see the freight rain sitting there too!
SmileyI’m almost positive that freight train goes all the way out to Phillipsburg not just borealis. It might go further too I’m not sure
Michael This site reminds me of the concern over the military tanks parked on Rt. 57. Some one complained to the police that they feared traveling the road because the tanks could "go off". They were decommissioned and couldn't go off if they were armed.
USAfirst Yep, those tanks would "go off" just sitting there. But then again maybe they remember this from 1995:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUoUKEIGoo
Actually excursion trains could run that line out to Phillipsburg to the Railway Museum area on the weekends. Since the commuter lot isn't used on weekends since no trains are running Eastbound, it would be a good place for a Park and Ride to that area.
Phil D. At least as of a few years ago, one weekday freight ran a round trip Dover-Washington (NJ)-Dover, and another ran Allentown-Washington-Allentown. They each worked customers enroute, and in Washington they passed freight cars to each other as needed.
In Allentown there is a major rail yard along the river.
jd2 
eapos Oh eapos....heh heh.
Viaduct? Let me State: Idaho. Alaska and see what she says.
Josh
A guy actually did that in 2017 I believe. Stole an APC and took it for a joyride.
Caged Animal That overpass, underpass, tunnel can not be called a viaduct as per the definition which follows: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carries Expressways, highways, streets, railways
Span range Short (multiple)
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley, dry or wetland, or forming an overpass or flyover.
The term is conventional for a rail flyover as opposed to a flying junction or a rail bridge which crosses one feature.
The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere, to lead. The ancient Romans did not use the term; it is a nineteenth-century derivation from an analogy with aqueduct.[4]
Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal length.
Cliff R 
Reggie Voter @Botheredbyuu2: indeed that underpass (tunnel, viaduct, culvert) is ONE LANE! You are correct that it isn’t one way. However, in your haste to correct the author’s title you misunderstood the verbiage! It is a ONE LANE passage.
Robin Robin
In their defense, I believe the title of the post was changed from what it originally was. I'm pretty sure that I also saw "one way tunnel" when this thread started and it was later corrected. Of course I could be wrong, but that's what I remember.
Unlike online newspaper journalism, you don't have addendum at the bottom that tells you what points of the title or story have been modified from the original.
@ Phil: Ohhhhhhh!!!!
Regardless, the thread devolved into pedantic “word/etymology p*ssing match”. I found it ironic that the true sense of the initial question was lost by posters who seemed more interested in proving correct their stance on the use of some arcane word... The initial question was then lost in this vortex of one-up-manship. So... Was the freight train a fluke or was the initial poster simply taken aback by the unexpected presence of the freight train?!
@ Robin
Not seeing any posts from you until last December, I'm guessing you may not realize how this forum works. We're like one big dysfunctional family and go off-track and humorous at the oddest times perhaps. The tension sometimes gets high, but you get used to the unusual freedom of expression that often goes on. There are threads that I don't even bother with because I have neither the patience, time, nor energy to extend on what is essentially a fruitless task. I even left for a while a few years back because I thought it was getting too contentious. I came back because it was too valuable an asset to give up completely.
You'll notice though, that amongst the disagreements of proper terminology, answers to the actual initial question have been posted. Several freight trains a week do run a limited schedule on this line from the West into the Hackettstown area and have to coordinate with the regular passenger train schedule. No passenger lines run West from Hackettstown as of this date however.
Just an FYI... I'm in my 70's and have lived my entire life right here in Hackettstown area. That "one way tunnel" was always referred to as the culvert on Rockport Road. If someone mentioned "culvert" in a discussion, we all knew where that was. Guess we weren't concerned about the actual definition of a culvert. That's just what it was called.
Lonesome Dove Thanks, Lonesome Dove...Was just about to say the same thing myself. (almost word for word!)..
joyful 
A "tunnel" is something that is excavated, either through a mountain or under a body of water (or a Wall).
A "culvert" is something that allows for the flow of something else (a stream, automobiles, whatever) that would have otherwise been choked off due to the construction of a railroad or roadway above it in the perpendicular direction. Attached is a picture of a railroad culvert in Pohatcong Township. It may look like a tunnel that was bored through a mountain, but it was actually constructed at grade and then the railroad brought in tens of thousands of cubic yards of fill to place above it to get their railroad tracks at the necessary elevation.
The structure at Rockport Road can be considered a culvert, but is actually more of a small "bridge" because there isn't any significant amount of fill placed above it. If your frame of reference is the railroad tracks, then it's also an "overpass", while it would be an "underpass" if your point of view is the roadway.
ianimal I’m with LD and J. It’s just, for my local version of the similar, but where the train goes under, the cars above — viaduct was I corrected to 30 years ago
Iman is right to, but don’t matter.
Culvert it is! Grande Avenue Culvert. The GAC. Or is it Rockport Road Culvert? And the one on Allen Road (not one lane, but one train) — whyaduck. The ARV. So it will be as it has been for all time to come, henceforth, forever, whatever, mic drop!
Phil D., I really like your description of the workings of HL... It IS like a group of people that are kinda stuck together in that you cannot avoid interacting with everyone - like a great big dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving - so many roles taken here.....the know-it-all grandma, weird uncle, naive cousin, grumpy great aunt, helpful brother, critical youth, warm and open parent, mischievous child, etc. etc.. LOL, your description actually makes me more accepting and "light" about the scrappy tones that these threads often take... it's really kind of funny in that light!
rleaf A Norfolk Southern freight train runs through Hackettstown.not very good video but authentic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTo02RL-j5w
Commenting is no longer available.