Purpose of Nazareth Branch of LNE through Jacobsburg?

Newbie here. I have spent a lot of time hiking the remaining LNE rail bed remnants in the Lehigh Valley. I also hike in the area parks a bit, and on hiking through Jacobsburg Park along Sobers Run, the thought occurred "why did they build the Nazareth Branch?" This was the line that branched off "Bender's Link" west of Wind Gap on the lower of the two alignments at Bushkill Junction/Rissmiller, and went south through Jacobsburg along the current PPL line, then SE through Aluta and finally south about 1-1/2 mi west of Nazareth and wyed into the E-W line just east of Tadmor. It appears to have been built in 1901 and abandoned in 1937. It doesn't appear to have a remarkable amount of work (relatively speaking) to construct, based on the portions I have hiked. Several bridges though.

I haven't found evidence of substantial industry along this route, so I was curious as if it could have been a cutoff to avoid traffic on the Bath to Bender's Junction branch. Where it wyed off near Tadmor, the wye would allow westward traffic from Nazareth to travel north without changing direction. I've read various things that indicate this was not heavily used, despite possibly less of a grade than the Bath/Bender's branch. When it was constructed, the trolleys were still expanding and those died off quickly with the advent of automobiles. Passenger service wasn't a priority for the LNE, was it?

If anyone has thoughts to share on why the Nazareth Branch may have been constructed, and how its demise relates to the larger picture in this area, I would be interested. Thanks! Don

In short, the Nazareth Branch was constructed by the LNE in 1901 to access the cement region near the Nazareth area. It wasn't until the LNE absorbed the Lehigh & Lackawanna and acquired the line from Benders to Bath and the Northampton Railroad from Bath to Martins Creek that the Nazareth Branch became superfluous trackage. The line was out of service by 1918 and abandoned with tracks removed in 1939.

Does anybody have a map/topo map that shows exactly where the Nazareth Branch came into and connected at/around Tadmor Yard?

I can't seem to find anything that shows that part of the line at Historic Topos etc etc.

Thanks,

Frank

frankgaron2 wrote:Does anybody have a map/topo map that shows exactly where the Nazareth Branch came into and connected at/around Tadmor Yard?
I can't seem to find anything that shows that part of the line at Historic Topos etc etc.
Thanks,
Frank

You probably found this already that shows the line coming down until just north west of Nazareth http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=PA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The bottom edge of the ROW on the map is roughly at the intersection of modern Knauss Rd and Gower Rd about a mile north of Tadmore - I think Gower Rd is built on the ROW.
South of there I didn't find a map with the ROW either - The topos I found are too early to too late. But I looked at a 1939 aerial photo at http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; of the area, and the ROW continued south, staying east of modern Rte 946 (Daniels Rd) and the creek, crossing Rte. 248 and Christian Springs Rd, and then connecting to the east/west trackage heading east towards Nazareth, not back west towards Tadmor Yard. Make sense if the goal was the cement plants at Nazareth. Some topos in the 1940's - 1960's era I found ( at http://www.historicaerials.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) showed a stub remaining heading north up to around 248 from the east/west line.
JS
I always wondered why this branch went out so early - reading Obsessed's explanation of the L&L answered that.

EDIT: Found it!! From 1914. Note highway route numbers have changed since then. ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BP ... n_1914.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Here is the index of the whole series of PA maps - a great resource. ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BP ... ical_Scans" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;