User:Mitchazenia/Manunka Chunk Union Junction

Manunka Chunk was the site of a large railroad complex, run as a joint venture between the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's original main line and the Belvidere and Delaware Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Manunka Chunk, New Jersey. The complex consisted over the years of a two-bored tunnel, opened in 1856, a train station, opened in 1899 and Manunka Chunk Tower, opened pre-1913. The junction remained in usage for several decades, and as time went on, tracks were slowly removed from the area. When the Lackawanna Cut-Off was opened, the train station was closed, although the tower remained in use until its closure in 1948.

History
The first railroad crossings through the village of Manunka Chunk, New Jersey date back to 1856, when John Blair opened the Warren Railroad throughout Warren County, New Jersey, stretching from Washington, New Jersey to Portland, Pennsylvania. The railroad had to make use of two tunnels to navigate its way through deep mountains and hills in the northwestern portions. The Van Nest Gap Tunnel (also known as Oxford Tunnel) opened in 1862 near Oxford Furnace, New Jersey and the Manunka Chunk Tunnel, a then one-bore tunnel through soft shale. During the construction of the Van Nest Gap Tunnel, Blair had a temporary road over the mountains installed. The railway was complete when the tunnel was finished in 1862. The delay in construction was due to difficulty boring through gneiss in Van Nest Gap and due to the fact that the Morris and Essex Railroad got a temporary injunction to stop construction of the Warren Railroad. In 1869, a second bore was added for Manunka Chunk Tunnel and the railroad was double tracked.

Effects on nearby village
In 1876, the Pennsylvania Railroad brought its Belvidere and Delaware Branch up north along the Delaware River and created a junction at Manunka Chunk. The Warren Railroad, now owned by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad created a joint venture, constructing a new train station, freight station and junction tower (U Tower) for both railroads to share. This was done so neither railroad would have to build extra mileage or construct new bridges to serve its passengers. The station depot at Manunka Chunk was attached to the center of the western bores of Manunka Chunk Tunnel. The station became a junction point for travelers from Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to reach the beauty of the Delaware Water Gap. As a result of thew newfound service, the area around the village of Manunka Chunk grew, opening as a resort town along the Delaware River. The area had the Manunka Chunk House built in the early 1900s, but only lasted into the Great Depression, when the place was abandoned and burned down on June 13, 1938 during a suspicious fire. The area was in a gradual depression since a 1913 washout of the railroad lines, both of which caused the station to be closed down and abandoned along with the collapse of the original Manunka Chunk Tower, which rested on its side after the disaster.

1913 flooding
On August 1, 1913, a cloudburst formed just west in the community of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania. around 4 pm. The cloudburst crossed the Delaware River and caused extensive damage in its path, and after it passed, six railroads including the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western had washouts. The newly-created New Jersey Cut-Off withstood with no damage, however, the Old Main and the Belvidere and Delaware Branch both received extensive destruction. 200 ft of the Belvidere and Delaware was washed away and crumbled down to the public highway below, causing Manunka Chunk Tower (U Tower) and the Manunka Chunk Freight Station both toppled with the mountainside. The tower operator, however escaped without harm. As a result of the flooding, both railroads were blocked and experiencing numerous track washouts, along with a 50 ft gully through the roadbed. The Pocono special, a train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadelphia was blocked at the site and had to turn back for Easton, Pennsylvania. The mountainside supported-Lackawanna also lost a freight train when the public roadway collapsed on top of the freight cars passing 30 ft underneath. Nearby hotels and resorts were badly damaged, resulting in power outages and broken water mains. No lives were lost in the calamity, which was estimated to cause more than $100,000 (1913 USD) in damages. Local news reports said the worst damage was centralized to Manunka Chunk, where wire communication became near impossible. The Bangor and Portland Branch also lost seven bridges during the storm, causing all trains to be stranded in Portland.

Manunka Chunk Tunnel
The Manunka Chunk Tunnel was first constructed part of the Warren Railroad through White Township, New Jersey. The tunnel itself first began construction in 1854, after John Blair got the go-ahead from release of a court-appointed injunction placed by the Morris & Essex Railroad. The tunnel itself was bore through soft shale, taking less than considerable time to complete the entire then one-track, one-bore structure. The tunnel at Manunka Chunk opened in 1856, taking a quarter of the time it took to construct Van Nest Gap Tunnel on the same line. It received a 2nd track and bore in 1869. The tunnel was one of the problems with the main line for the now-Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Its facing on the eastbound portal had a significant design flaw as the natural structures around the two portals sagged. However, the western portal was constructed of fine masonry design of stones and bricks.

The tunnel remained active for many years, although service dwindled once the New Jersey Cut-Off Line was completed to the north in nearby Columbia, New Jersey in 1911. By 1948, there was only one freight train crossing through the tunnel and no passenger service. That year, the eastbound tracks were ripped up from the old main line, leaving Manunka Chunk as a single track line. In April 1970, the now Erie Lackawanna Railway severed any train service past Washington, and closing down Manunka Chunk Tunnel for good, but it had not seen a train for a while due to another flood a few years prior.