Dunderberg Spiral Railway LbNA #15458
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Add Location| Owner: | Cahillys of Dumont  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | May 30, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Bear Mountain |
| County: | Rockland |
| State: | New York |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | Clueless |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Mar 21, 2010 |
| Status: | aFFFa |
| Last edited: | May 30, 2005 |
For a comprehensive overview of the Spiral Railway before you go for this box, visit:
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/dunderberg/index.html
Use nynjtc map #4: Northern Harriman & Bear Mt. trails, which shows not only the maintained trails, but also the whole 9-mile route of the never-completed Spiral Railway (a.k.a. roller coaster)
Use the parking lot on Rt. 9W, west side, north of the anchor monument. The trailhead is on 9W, a short walk south of parking lot, blazed for both the blue Timp-Torne and the red Ramapo-Dunderburg trail (actually red circles on white)
Take the trail away from the road and begin your climb up the mountain. On your left you will pass the tunnel where the lower incline was to pass over the tracks returning to the station. It's worth a short detour. As you continue on the trail climbing directly away from the tunnel, you are following the steep route of the lower incline, where the cars were to be pulled uphill by a stationary traction engine and cables.
Where the trails split, take the red trail to the right. It stays on the incline, going over fills and through rock cuts. Where it turns to the right, there is a wall which was to hold the incline over the downhill grade. In it you can see the holes where the masons used scissor-type lifting devices. Here you leave the incline and the trail follows one of the gentle hillside grades where the cars would have been coasting downhill.
The trail leaves the grade to the right where some huge boulders fell on it just short of the end of an unfinished cut. If you go off the trail a few feet here you can find the drill holes for the blasting that never happened.
Continue on the red trail, detouring to the right on the white spur trail for the view and returning, if you choose.
The climb then becomes steeper, and you will cross the grade one more time before approaching the summit.
As you walk along the ridge, you will see a very large uprooted tree on your left. From the center of the flat white rock in the trail there, continue 41 paces. There will be a very large boulder off to your right, with a smaller rock at 332 degrees. From this second rock you can find the Perkins Tower at 320 degrees, the western tower of the bridge at 348, and the letterbox beneath you.
After stamping in and carefully rehiding the box, continue across the mountain on the red trail. Although there was little work completed on the railroad in this area, off to your left you can see some signs of the end of the upper incline, which was to bring the cars to the summit. Here they would be released to coast down the hillside grade through two spirals and three switchbacks back to the station, completing the 9-mile ride.
The trail goes up and down along the mountaintop,and then bends right and heads very steeply downhill. Where the blazes indicate a right bend followed quickly by one to the left, turn left BETWEEN them, at about 240 degrees, to leave the trail and follow the railroad grade again.
After passing through a rock cut, with another cut visible ahead, turn right on the woods road. It will become steeper and rockier as it takes you downhill to a stream. Cross the stream and you will soon come to the blue trail with blazes on a large oak to the right and a beech on the left.
Go left on the blue trail across the stream. It soon rejoins the hillside grade where it leaves a cut to the left leading to an unfinished tunnel. Where the trail is shifted to the left to the upper grade, take a quick detour to see the other end of the tunnel. (It is often filled with water)
Continue on the blue trail to the end. (It gets steep and rocky where it leaves the railroad grade.)
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/dunderberg/index.html
Use nynjtc map #4: Northern Harriman & Bear Mt. trails, which shows not only the maintained trails, but also the whole 9-mile route of the never-completed Spiral Railway (a.k.a. roller coaster)
Use the parking lot on Rt. 9W, west side, north of the anchor monument. The trailhead is on 9W, a short walk south of parking lot, blazed for both the blue Timp-Torne and the red Ramapo-Dunderburg trail (actually red circles on white)
Take the trail away from the road and begin your climb up the mountain. On your left you will pass the tunnel where the lower incline was to pass over the tracks returning to the station. It's worth a short detour. As you continue on the trail climbing directly away from the tunnel, you are following the steep route of the lower incline, where the cars were to be pulled uphill by a stationary traction engine and cables.
Where the trails split, take the red trail to the right. It stays on the incline, going over fills and through rock cuts. Where it turns to the right, there is a wall which was to hold the incline over the downhill grade. In it you can see the holes where the masons used scissor-type lifting devices. Here you leave the incline and the trail follows one of the gentle hillside grades where the cars would have been coasting downhill.
The trail leaves the grade to the right where some huge boulders fell on it just short of the end of an unfinished cut. If you go off the trail a few feet here you can find the drill holes for the blasting that never happened.
Continue on the red trail, detouring to the right on the white spur trail for the view and returning, if you choose.
The climb then becomes steeper, and you will cross the grade one more time before approaching the summit.
As you walk along the ridge, you will see a very large uprooted tree on your left. From the center of the flat white rock in the trail there, continue 41 paces. There will be a very large boulder off to your right, with a smaller rock at 332 degrees. From this second rock you can find the Perkins Tower at 320 degrees, the western tower of the bridge at 348, and the letterbox beneath you.
After stamping in and carefully rehiding the box, continue across the mountain on the red trail. Although there was little work completed on the railroad in this area, off to your left you can see some signs of the end of the upper incline, which was to bring the cars to the summit. Here they would be released to coast down the hillside grade through two spirals and three switchbacks back to the station, completing the 9-mile ride.
The trail goes up and down along the mountaintop,and then bends right and heads very steeply downhill. Where the blazes indicate a right bend followed quickly by one to the left, turn left BETWEEN them, at about 240 degrees, to leave the trail and follow the railroad grade again.
After passing through a rock cut, with another cut visible ahead, turn right on the woods road. It will become steeper and rockier as it takes you downhill to a stream. Cross the stream and you will soon come to the blue trail with blazes on a large oak to the right and a beech on the left.
Go left on the blue trail across the stream. It soon rejoins the hillside grade where it leaves a cut to the left leading to an unfinished tunnel. Where the trail is shifted to the left to the upper grade, take a quick detour to see the other end of the tunnel. (It is often filled with water)
Continue on the blue trail to the end. (It gets steep and rocky where it leaves the railroad grade.)