Meanwhile, Back In the Real World

Twigsville

As of December 23, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Steps: 384811
Miles: 163.79

Well, the virtual walker wanted to be home for Christmas, so today, he is walking in the real world. Twigsville is not on any map, because I made up the name. The location is on the Perkiomen Bike Rail Trail where a rail spur off a branch line off a trunk line of what was the Reading Railroad used to be. So I figured, a spur on the end of branch was a twig, hence the name, Twigsville.

More seriously, the name "Perkiomen" is derived from a Lenni-Lenape (Native American Indian) word and has been given two different interpretations. The first meaning "the place where cranberries grow" due to the fact that wild cranberries grew along the banks of the creek and the second being "cloudy waters." I've never seen any of these cranberries so I guess cloudly waters it is...



A trail map showing Twigsville, more commonly known as Gratersford, PA.

Having done so much walking over the past couple years, I am always seeking out new places to walk, so I didn't walk the same place over and over again. The Perkiomen Bike Rail Trail, however, is my favorite walk. It goes 19 miles from just outside Valley Forge National Park up the Perkiomen Creek and ends in another park called "Green Lane". Along the way it is bordered by quaint towns, more parks, and many breath-taking views of the creek.



The trail crosses over the creek a number of times, once on this railroad bridge, in Gratersford. Founded in 1756 by Jacob Kreator, a textile weaver, Graterford was originally named Grater's Ford (a corruption of Kreator) until abbreviated to Graterford by the postal service in the mid-1950s. It was renamed Twigsville by yours truely in December 2007.



One of the nice things about this trail is that there are benches for people to sit on every half mile or so - This particular bench is a memorial to Tommy Hunt. I know nothing about Tommy Hunt except he died young and this bench is profusely decorated with flowers on his birthday, and decorated at Christmas. The inscription reads “Dance as if no one were watching, Sing as if no one were listening, And live every day as if it were your last” (Born 9-6-1982, Died 7-12-2003).



Way back in the mists of time, the Perkiomen Creek Railroad contributed to the development of area. The train reached Perkiomen Township on July 5, 1869 stopping at Skippack Station, slightly north of Graterford. Somewhere along the line, the Reading Railroad took over and ran trains for years. However, passenger service ended by 1960 and August 2, 1978 was the last time a freight car passed through the area.



A newly built extension of the trail that heads toward the town of Skippack, PA.



It's hard to see, but the construction date is in a classic Reading Railroad diamond, 1928. The reason this bridge and spur was built was to provide building materials for the State Correctional Institution at Graterford. The facility, built in 1929, is Pennsylvania's largest maximum-security prison, holding about 3,500 prisoners. The grounds include an extensive prison farm on 1,730 acres which borders a small part of the trail.



On the other end of the bridge, one encounters this scene. How did that caboose get down those little, itty, bitty tracks? Steam trains are remembered by the Pennsylvania Live Steamers club located in the shadow of the railroad bridge. They run 1 and 1/2 inch scale trains, in which the rail cars are about the size of a medium dog. Check out the pictures! The trains are kind of cute.

Live, from Twigsville, your walking correspondent.