Actually, it isn’t the rail trail that’s new; it has been here since about 1850, but it’s new to me. I’ve wanted to follow it because for years I’ve been hearing about a deep cut through ledges on this rail trail leading from Swanzey south to Massachusetts, so one day I finally decided to follow it.
There was plenty to see out here, including this box culvert. Box culverts are simple things, usually with two upright side walls and massive stone slabs on top, and then huge amounts of gravel on top of that. But this one was different; it was built of granite blocks, probably cut right on sight out of boulders or ledge. It was still letting a small stream pass unimpeded under the railbed after nearly 170 years.
But there were problems. Some of the stones on the sidewalls had shifted and this let the cap stones overhead begin to sag a bit. This was most likely caused by the freezing and thawing of the soil and pressure from tree roots. In any event it should be repaired because if it goes so does the rail bed above it. The question is, now that there is no railroad, who is responsible for making repairs?
The stone for the culvert might have come from this big boulder. It still shows drill marks from when the rail line was put in. There was a lot of drilling and blasting of stone going on in these woods in those days.
There were signs of the railroad everywhere, including this old signal box. I’ve been told that these often had asbestos in them, so they’re best left alone.
There were some nice birches out here too.
But some had fallen. Birch polypores (Piptoporus betulina) are parasitic on dead or weakened birch trees and cause brown rot. Both the fungus and the decayed wood have a sort of green apple smell. Birch polypores are annual fungi that grow only on birch trees and live for only one season.
Further down the trail a huge old oak had fallen and had taken several other trees with it. I don’t think four grown men could have linked hands around this monster when it was standing. What a shame to let all that firewood go to waste.
This was a day to see fallen things, apparently. A granite mile marker had fallen across a drainage ditch.
It’s hard to read but I think the message on the fallen mile marker said B (for Boston) 88. According to Google maps Boston is just about 88 miles from Swanzey if you follow route 119.
Cushions of what was probably a species of Dicranum moss glowed a beautiful bright green in what little sunlight there was. I was surprised to read that people are now buying this moss to create moss gardens. They call it “mood moss,” though I’m not sure why. I have to say that seeing it made me smile, so maybe that’s where the name comes from.
As I said in the last lichen post I did, pixie cup lichens (Cladonia pyxidata) are squamulose lichens, and squamules are the small leafy, lobed growths that are at the base of the tiny golf tee like podetia in this photo. The podetia support the lichen’s fruiting bodies called apothecia, which is where the lichen’s spores are produced. It’s all about continuation of the species.
I was a little dismayed but not surprised to find invasive burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) out here. There weren’t many; I only saw two or three, but all but a few of their berries were gone and that means the birds ate them. And that means more bushes in the future. Burning bushes don’t have a problem with making sure new generations will follow.
In some places the rail trail passed very close to private property. I thought I grew up close to the tracks at a few yards but this trail was just a few feet away from this building.
The closeness reminded me of this sign that I saw on another rail trail. It’s important to remember that you’re very near private property when on rail trails so you shouldn’t wander too far off the trail. Imagine what it would be like to find strangers wandering through your yard every now and then like they did when I was a boy growing up beside the tracks. It can be a little unnerving. The message is important enough for this sign to have been printed by the State of New Hampshire Bureau of Trails.
Something I’ve never seen on a rail trail before is a bent rail, but there it was. I don’t know if it was bent on purpose to follow a curve when it was originally installed or if it was bent after the rails were taken up. I can’t imagine anyone taking the time and effort it would have taken to bend it for a lark but it can be done. During General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march to Atlanta during the Civil War he had his troops heat up sections of track until they were red hot and then bend them around trees. These bent rails came to be known as “Sherman’s bowties.” Since the south had limited supplies of iron this pretty well finished the southern railroads but soon the rebels followed suit and destroyed northern rails in the same way. These bent rails were known as “Mr. Lincoln’s hair pins.”
The bent rail had me scratching my head, because there were no curves to be seen on any nearby part of the rail bed. Would someone really take the time to heat a rail and bend it, I wondered as I walked along.
Here was another strange thing. A two inch galvanized steel conduit came up out of the ground and passed under the rail bed before continuing out the other side and into the forest.
The laying of the conduit looked to be well done and I was fairly certain that it had some electrical purpose but I couldn’t guess who would have the money or the inclination to lay it way out here.
Off it went, up the hill. It wasn’t until later when I was telling friends about it that I remembered how close I had been to the airport. This entire area sits in a bowl which is surrounded by hills and each hill has to have a tower with a flashing red light so planes flying at night don’t run into the hills. This conduit must have been put here to power one of those lights. What a lot of work and what a cost it must have been, but if it saves lives it’s worth it. We’ve had our share of plane crashes here.
By now you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t shown any ledges or “deep cuts” through hillsides. That’s because I didn’t find any, at least not on this section of trail. And that’s why there has to be a part two to this story. I walked too far and took far too many photos for them all to be squeezed into one post, so if you’re at all interested I hope you’ll stay tuned for part two, coming up next week.
Heaven on earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find. ~ Wayne Dyer
Thanks for stopping in.
I’m sorry that you didn’t find the deep cut that you were looking for, but you sure found plenty of other interesting things along the way!
I usually shy away from the rail trails close to where I live, because they do run through people’s yards, and are typically very busy with other walkers, joggers, and cyclists. I should try one of them that’s farther from the city, and that runs though more open country to avoid the crowds and the feeling of being fenced in. They work for you, I’ll bet that if I find the right one that it would work for me.
Thanks Jerry! I did find a deep cut but that’s going to be in part 2.
The rail trails here are busier near towns and cities too, but I walked this one for hours and only met 2 people. There are some that go so far out into the woods you could walk for days and not see anyone.
I see lots of birds on them as well, especially hawks for some reason.
Loved going with you on you new rail trial hike! I learned a few things, thanks so much.
I’ve wanted to hike on a rail trial but haven’t done it yet.
Erika
Thank You Erika.
Rail trails are great places to hike especially in winter, because in this area snowmobiles usually pack the snow down for you.
It is always good to discover a new (to you) trail to walk along. I was very interested by your account of the rail bending antics of the North and South during the Civil War. Mood moss? Whatever next? It does look beautifully green and soft.
Thank you Clare. Luckily the rail trail system is extensive and there are many parts of it that I haven’t been on.
That cushion moss is indeed soft and green, but I don’t know who came up with the name mood moss. It sounds kind of silly to me, like the mood ring did.
Haha! Yes, I agree.
Such an interesting walk, where people and nature overlap.
Thank you Laurie. This would be a very different blog if I didn’t have rail trails to visit in winter.
Thanks for another vicarious walk in the woods! These rail trails look like lovely places to walk. Are they easily accessed via marked trail heads or does one need “local knowledge” to stumble upon them?
I must take gentle, teasing issue with the use of the word “waste” in regard to the downed oak. While it’s true that a human won’t get to turn its energy into heat, it does not seem true that this is, in fact, a “waste.” Think of all the insects, rodents, birds, mosses, lichens, ferns, maybe even other trees, etc. that will transform this massive amount of organic material back into soil! Amazing, right? 🙂
I think our big oaks are some of the most majestic northern forest trees! I just love them.
You’re welcome Jennifer, and thank you. Rail trails are great places to walk. I like them at this time of year because you can see so far into the woods. They cross many streets and roads and have yellow gates, so they’re very easy to see. I can’t imagine anyone not being able to find several legs of the trail, which is actually one long trail called the Cheshire Rail Trail, which follows the path of what was once the Boston and Maine Railroad.
I agree that fallen trees are beneficial to the forest but they are also extremely plentiful, and I was thinking of all the low income families in this area on fuel assistance when I spoke of firewood. A tree that size could have easily provided enough winter heat for a family or two and I doubt that the forest would suffer by losing it. With a government that cares nothing for the poor in charge, I fear they may need it sooner rather than later.
I thought that mile marker had perhaps been placed like that deliberately as a bridge. I envy the white birches of places with cooler summers.
You could be right-someone might have knocked it over but originally it was upright. I used to see them all the time along the tracks but most of them are gone now.
If you like birches you’d love it here. We have several different species.
I enjoyed exploring that trail with you!
Thanks Montucky! The second leg will be even better, I hope.
A great post, as always. This must be the railroad connecting Keene and Brattleboro, more-or-less following the Ashuelot River. It was still in use as a railroad until about 1983, the last rail link to Keene.
Thank you Al. No, I haven’t been on that trail. This one is from Swanzey south to Troy and then eventually Fitchburg.
Really enjoyed this post and the included history of the rail trail. I didn’t know about the bending of rails by the north and the south. Thanks again for taking the time to share your findings. I look forward to them.
You’re welcome Ann and thank you. History and botany are two of my favorite things and they always come together on these rail trails.
What a fascinating post! Like taking a tour with a tour guide explaining the things that puzzle us or pointing out the items we might have missed otherwise. I am trying to remember if I’ve ever seen a box culvert. A sensible solution, for sure.
Thank you Cynthia. Being a guide on these old rail trails is easy because there is so much to see. Box culverts go under the railbed so they can be hard to see, but a stream is a sure giveaway that one is there.
Loved the simple but effective engineering of the box culvert.
Thank you Susan. Yes, they were very effective and they’ll probably last for hundreds of years, barring too many earthquakes.