Halloween in Jim Thorpe started out almost idyllic, with above normal temperatures, the sun shining on the remaining fall foliage and crowds flocking to the town for one last chance to see the mountains in all their glory.

But Mother Nature decided Saturday was for tricks and not treats.

Runners, hikers and bikers were on the D&L Trail enjoying one of the last few remaining days before winter weather forced them inside.

Kelly Conforti of Palmerton was among the runners Saturday morning as she prepares to run the Philadelphia marathon later this month.

“I was running on the D&L down from Rockport (when) I noticed that the trains had stopped coming up through the glen,” Conforti said. “Usually I’ll pass at least two when running.”

She was crossing over the bridge above the Lehigh River when several bikers stopped and told her that a rockslide had happened heading into Jim Thorpe.

“I continued on until I could see the slide,” Conforti said, noting that she hadn’t heard it, but proceeded with caution in case more rocks came down.

“I went to the site, lots of rocks on the tracks and trees covering the trail. People walking or running could go around through the woods to continue on but most bikers were turning around. Everyone was surprised but calm about it, she said.

“Mostly, I was glad that the trains were able to stop and no one was hurt.”

In downtown Jim Thorpe, a bustling train station put the brakes on the fall foliage excursions, halting the 11 a.m. Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway from leaving the station and then canceling the remaining trips for the day.

Excursions from Pittston and Reading Outer Station were forced to reverse course. The Pottsville excursion train made it to Jim Thorpe minutes before the rock slide occurred; however passengers on that trip had to be bussed back to their starting location.

Above the rock slide, a section of State Route 209 was missing, having fallen down the mountain to the tracks below.

Carbon County Emergency Management Agency director Zach Gilbert said Monday morning that the response from local and state officials was good.

Originally, a Nesquehoning police officer was dispatched to assess the scene after the initial report came in; but calls soon started flooding the 911 communication center.

Gilbert said at that time, Jim Thorpe police and fire police, as well as Nesquehoning fire police were called to assist with traffic control of the area because it wasn’t sure just how much of the road was stable.

Gilbert was notified and arrived on scene about noon and worked with emergency personnel and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials until that evening.

“The first thing was to evaluate how much of the actual roadway was affected by this,” he said. “After some initial evaluation, it was determined that it was probably about three quarters of the north lane that was affected. It had total and complete washout underneath it and there was nothing supporting the roadway other than there was concrete underlay that was done many, many, many years ago. That’s the only reason that the road was being held up.”

After the initial evaluation from above, officials went down to the trail and tracks to assess the situation from below.

Gilbert said that two big section of an existing retaining wall had given out, causing the rock slide.

“It really needs a decent amount of stabilization, similar to the way that the Mansion House (hill) has been stabilized,” he said.

State officials began working on a plan to rebuild the wall and reconstruct the road, with the department secretary approving emergency funding for the work. PennDOT engineers and outside contractors said that they estimate the repairs to take approximately 6 to 8 weeks to complete.

Until then, Route 209 has been closed between Nesquehoning and Jim Thorpe, and Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway has moved its operations to its Nesquehoning Regional Railroad Station to operate trips into Lehigh Gorge State Park.

Jim Thorpe Tourism Agency President Trish Spillman said it is too early to measure what the closure will cost the borough, and that the weekend of the slide drew a crowd anyway.

“It’s hard to compare this Sunday with last Sunday, because each Sunday we expected it to drop off anyway,” Spillman said. “We thought, this being a Halloween weekend, some people would stay home for Halloween.”

Spillman parks cars at Immaculate Conception church lot in town.

“We didn’t think we would fill the church lot, and we did,” she said. “Instead of filling it by 12:45, like the previous week, we might have filled it by 1:30.”

The agency has not altered its holiday schedule. Old Time Christmas is scheduled for Dec. 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20.

“We’re not changing anything right now about Old Time Christmas,” Spillman said. “At this point, we’re just taking it day by day.”

“I know and understand that it’s frustrating and it’s going to cause a lot of delays and people are going to have times added to their daily commute, however, I know that PennDOT is working around the clock to make sure that this roadway gets opened as quickly as possible,” Gilbert said. “They’re very much aware that this is a main artery of transportation through Carbon County.

“I think PennDOT has a pretty good handle on it and the contractors that are working on it know just how crucial it is to get this roadway open. I know it is frustrating but the most important part is that nobody got hurt, nobody was in the way of it. There were no trains on the railroad tracks below. Life safety always takes priority.”

Jarrad Hedes contributed to this report.