When & why was this built? What's in Hughesville?
It was actually the Warren Glen Branch.
Split off from the "Lehigh Line" main at Musconetcong Junction about MP 69.9. There was/is a large paper mill in Warren Glen. Formerly Riegel Paper Company, now Fibermark (http://www.fibermark.com/index.html). The Hughesville plant, nearer the river, is now a superfund site I think. The ROW is partly a trail, very fun to hike. Connects with the Musconetcong Gorge trail (http://www.nynjtc.org/trails/record/20031113.html) It's a great place to hike, if a little strenuous at times...
Here's a topozone map of the area centering on Warren Glen (fool around with the scale on the right, and move a little south so you can see Hughesville too):
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40. ... atum=nad83
I had an email from Keith Bednar a while back - he worked the branch before it closed (around 1977.) I don't think he'd mind if I posted parts of it, since it decribes some operations:
"The only thing that I can remember about working the branch is that there was not a run around at Warren Glen. We would go from Easton to the run around at Musconetcong Jct. (spelling?) run around our train and head down the branch. Did most of our shifting at the papermill at Warren Glen. When we were done we would shove our train back to the main line and after permission from Easton tower shove out and go west again. I worked the job in the latter part of the 70s after conrail.1976, 1977.The job ran out of Florence yard in Bethlehem. We used mostly the alco 7600 series engines. The station was still standing at Hughesville and it was inside the plant there. It was a small building about the size of Bloomsbury. However the station agent used an office in the paper plant. My brother Mike worked that agent job, around 1966, 67. He would spend several hours at Bloomsbury and then go to Hughesville and do any billing there and return to Bloomsbury in the afternoon.The regular agent was a man named Russ Boozenbury. He was a good guy and as far as I know he is still alive and lives in Bloomsbury. I can't remember for the life of me if there was a runaround at Hughesville or not. I do remember the branch to be a real nice ride. I can't help as for when the branch was abandoned. I know that the paper mill then got their freight from the old Bel del branch of the Penn. Where they also had a factory. Hope this helps. I had to rack the old brain to remember this stuff. The job that I worked was ARV-2 and ran at night so pictures were rare."
) that calls it the Musconetcong Branch. Also these traffic stats, all to Riegel Paper Corporation: