Morris Canal Plane 9 East Traditional Cache

Built in the 1830's, the Morris Canal stretched across northern NJ with terminals at the Delaware River and Newark.  The canal used a unique series of inclined planes to negotiate elevation changes.  Using cables and a wooden boat trolly, canal boats were hauled to the top (or bottom) of the plane and deposited in in the basin at the end. A unique system of water driven turbines powered the massive cables that hauled the canal boats.

This is Plane 9 East, one of  the 23 inclined planes that were built for this purpose.  The planes were numbered consecutively starting at Lake Hopatcong The house at the end of  Emery  Lane is the original canal tender's home.  It is now a private residence. The retaining wall around the property of the residence is made from stones salvaged from the plane. (supposedly the current home owner will be giving them back)

Enough of the plane remains to get a picture of what it looked like in it's heyday and there are two interpretative signs that explain how the plane worked.   A Boy Scout led the effort to clear this particular section of overgrowth and debris, as it had become a dumping ground over the years since the canal was dismantled in the 1920's. This area is slated to become an linear park.

At the cache site you are standing near the top of the plane. It actually extended the entire length of Emery lane and almost to the intersection of River Road and Main. Unfortunately only the upper section remains. 

Many of the buildings in the area, especially at the intersection of Main Rd and River Rd were originally local businesses built to support the canal operation.