2009-06-04 40 -73
| Thu 4 Jun 2009 in 40,-73: 40.9745098, -73.9838037 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Participants
- Jevanyn and company
Plans
- I'm going to Clifton to pick up a fish tank, and Oradell is not much further from there.
Expedition
The drive up from Clifton was uneventful, except for a maintenance crew on US-46 that pushed everyone into one lane, right at the point where my onramp met the highway.
We arrived around dusk, and as we crossed the tracks on Old Hook Rd., I felt a boost of excitement when I saw the farm/market at the corner of Schraalenburgh Rd. Since these two streets were main thoroughfares, I parked a good four blocks from the train crossing.
It had rained most of the day, and was pretty humid. Halfway from the car to the train crossing, I realized I had the wrong satellite photo with me. (The one from Tuesday's geohash had still been in the car.) I did not go back to retrieve the correct map. As it turned out, going back would not have improved my chances of success.
I missed getting a picture of a train crossing the road (batteries died as I tried to get a shot of the gates closed). I didn't see the train itself; it may have been only an engine since the road was only closed for two minutes.
Once at the train crossing, I ducked along the embankment, exploiting a brief moment when there were no nearby cars. I soon realized that the visual landmark I was hoping to use, a track though the farm on my left, wasn't visible through the trees. Still undaunted and running out of daylight, I pressed on until I reached a pair of drain pipes, routing a tiny trickle of water from under the tracks and toward the reservoir. On the reservoir side, a six-foot fence meant I couldn't go any further west. I knew the drain would be on the photo when I checked it later, but I thought the geohash was closer to it than it was. But knowing I was not going to get any closer to the geohash than the fence itself, I gave in and turned back.
Photos
Crossroads near the geohash.
Well, are they open or closed?
Mmmmmm, hot dogs!
This would be an at-grade crossing. Not as exciting as an actual train, but whatchagonnado?
... and this is as far as I can get.
