Lehigh Valley Trail #10 - Stowaway LbNA #22917

- Note to Reader -
The Lehigh Valley Trail, upon which this series is based, includes mile markers numbered from West to East. This series follows the mile markers (included in the titles) but in the opposite direction – from East to West. To follow the story properly, please read from the largest number (e.g., #12) to the smallest (e.g., #9).

Thursday August 31, 1911 – 10:02PM

The best spot for sleeping was underneath the kitchen portion of the dining car. It had a myriad of pipes and hoses that ran between the water tanks and several kitchen sinks, bathroom fixtures and the like. These ran in parallel rows away from a large water tank forming a kind of “rack” that a man could lay across – even sleep on – if he was so inclined. Albeit there wasn’t more than 20 inches of headroom. If you were heavy set in nature it’s not a spot you would seek out. Of course the down side was you had to smell good cooking for a majority of the ride.

Right now food was the least of Jake’s worry – his lungs felt like they were about to burst and his legs were starting to feel rubbery. He was sprinting along the west side of the Black Diamond Express as it headed into East Mendon. Normally, the train would slow and stop for a mail pickup on this run, but currently there was no indication that either was going to happen. In fact, from his perspective, the train was starting to inch away. He made a final desperate leap for a service handle at the back corner of the car. As he flew through the air his outstretched left hand caught the iron handle. But because of the desperate situation, he made no plan for his feet and they began to bump along the rail bed behind him.
A bead of sweat breaking at his brow, Jake strained to pull his chest to the handle. Without warning his feet cleared the rail bed and swung up and under the railcar. Bent at the waist now, he felt is left foot glance off the edge of the spinning wheel – drawing his leg further up under the car. He caught a toehold with his right foot on the underside of the carriage and drew his left in to the resting spot.

The train had just passed the Pittsford-Mendon road crossing and was approaching the East Mendon station. The door to the baggage car behind him rattled open and he pulled himself tight to the car – trying to avoid the conductor’s watchful eye. There was shouting both in the car and on the approaching platform. As the train rumbled past a man on the platform caught Jake’s eye just before the he heaved the mailbag into the open car door.

Now what? He was sure he had been seen! Did the man have time to signal the conductor? The train had just crossed Rush-Mendon road and was making a sweeping bend to the north. His arms ached as he held tight and he decided to straighten them – allowing his backside to swing several inches above the rail bed below.

To secure his intending hiding spot he would have to hang on like this until the train stopped at Rochester Junction – still several miles off. Could he do it? As he passed the West Bloomfield crossing (lifting his backside slightly) he noticed a gradual slowing to the train. The Junction was too far off to be slowing now… Had the Conductor notified the engineer of his presence? His mind raced. The train was now approaching Chamberlain - in fact the engine was just approaching a Whistle signal – A white wooden sign shaped like a canoe paddle with a black “W” painted on it. The sign was held upright by a large stone block the size of a steamer chest that had a beveled top edge and a groove running across its top to receive the end of the sign.

For some reason the Engineer ignored the signal (the characteristic “Whoooo-A-Whooo…” was missing). In fact, he hadn’t heard the whistle since just before he had made his run to catch the train. Too many things just weren’t going his way… for the first time Jake began to doubt his making buffalo this evening.

Fortunately, he knew this spot well. In fact he kept a small cache on the South side of the whistle sign. And, he was the one that had used the end of a charred stick from a campfire to decorate the base. The dark lines on the gray base did not stand out well. Even if you could make them out, you would probably think that they were the doodles of a young child. But to the trained wander’s eye – the Hobo eye – they read like the front page of the evening news. A crude wavy line spilled across the top of the stone page over the characters “oXo”. At the bottom was a circle with a simple arrow pointing south. Together they meant: Fresh Water. Safe Campsite. This way (South).

The fond memories of this favorite camping spot outweighed the approaching danger of the slowing train and he hoisted his body back tight to the car allowing his feet to swing free below him. Suddenly he sprang away from the car and began sprinting in mid air. Stumbling slightly as his feet hit the ground he veered away from the train, cleared the first West bound rail, but tripped on the second skidding face first outside of the rail bed. Laying there in the center of the dusty road (Chamberlain), he cracked one eye, watching the train move past him. Once the Black Diamond observation car had passed well out of sight he rose to his feet to assess the damage and dust himself off. He paced off the 170 steps east back to the whistle sign cache. He’d been saving those beans for a special occasion, and based on the way his evening had gone, this was going to be one of them.

- or scroll down for directions -















Directions: Park at the intersection of Chamberlain Road and the Lehigh Valley Trail (find a map at http://www.monroecounty.gov/documentView.asp?docID=3160 ). Start at the round post (prevents motor vehicle access to the trail) on the East Side of Chamberlain. Walk East towards West Bloomfield Road. At 63 steps you will find a white sign that tells you foot/bike traffic stays on the North side of the Trail and horse traffic stays on the South side. Here I define a step is a single stride for a 5’-6” man – not to be confused with a pace which is two strides. Continue East. Stop at 163 steps. Look to your right (South). Approximately 6 steps from the trail edge you will see a large square stone with a beveled top edge. It sticks out of the ground approximately 2 feet. The stone is moss covered and blends well with the surrounding fauna, so look closely. The letterbox resides within the stone cache behind the Large Square stone.

Please replace the box exactly as you find it – cover the box completely with stone.

Happy Hunting!

Letterbox GPS Location: N42Deg59.319’/W77Deg32.456’