Friends, The Ulster County NY Executive, several Legislators and a very vocal group of “trails WITHOUT rails” are pushing hard to have this attraction gutted. Turning its connection to the Kingston yard and CSX into a trail, usurping its reservoir frontage and leaving only a disconnected few miles near Phoenicia. The CMRR is all that’s left of the Ulster & Delaware in Ulster County.
There has been a lot of discussion, some of it heated, some of it nonsense from the trail only crowd,in the local papers. Personally I use trails and love rail. The issue is clear. We have hundreds of miles of trail in the County but only one tourist railroad. Two other old lines are long gone. The CMRR has time and again offered to share the ROW, having both side by side. Their offer has been ignored.
If you wish, you may be able to help by signing this petition.
Thanks!
Disclaimer: I am not a member, but I do support the group in other ways.
You can find out more about the CMRR at several places on the web including here.
meanwhile…back at the ranch…the trail people are thinking “those train freaks want to ruin the scenery”!
There is a rail trail here in my area, and they are expanding it. IF we had a tourist railroad alive in our area, I would hate to see it go in favor of MORE rail trails.
The rail trail idea is GREAT for OLD ABANDONED rail lines that will never again be used, but NOT for IN USE lines like the CMRR.
Now that you have made me aware of it, I/we may just have to go visit it as it is kinda in my back yard {though we prefer steam excursions}.
It is sad that areas with tourist RR are quickly protesting against the lines {steam powered complain about the smoke from Coal burning steamers here in the NE}. and trying to close them down. Unfortunately with the economy having an impact on such things, we can’t exactly boast about the tourist dollars pouring in!
The sad thing is non-train people think of trains as noisy, delay causing, smoke belching, “in the way” things yet fail to realize how much of their lives [and goods and services} are here BECAUSE of trains!
What do property owners adjacent to the railroad think of this propsal? I’m asking because, I know of a proposed rails to trails project that failed to be implemented. Farmers feared the trails would be used for criminal activities, and they fought the proposal in court. Farmers won. In this case, the rail line was already abandoned. Eventually, farmers purchased the railroad right of way.
Therefore, I suggest working with adjacent property owners and get them on your side.
Stu: As an avid moutain biker and fledgling model train enthusiast, I have to say I have never chewed bark in my life. (My wife may agree with the meathead assessment, but that’s a different story.)
[(-D] Awesome! I love being out in the woods as well, mountain-biking or otherwise, but that’s just it: OUT in the woods. The wilderness in North America is huge; can’t people drive/ride/walk a bit to enjoy a patch of it that doesn’t have a current occupant?
Through the city of Kingston the ROW runs in the middle of the worst part of town. Drug dealers, gang bangers, the occasional dead body. Tons of trash thrown on the ROW by the local citizens. Every year the CMRR removes at least a gondola load at no cost to the city. The mayor is a shill for the County Exec.
No one is going to want to walk there, particularly after dark.
In the rural areas the majority of the ROW is bordered by NYC DEP reservoir. They do not want pedestrians but have to allow the railroaders. This is the elephant in the room that the trails only people try to ignore.
Signed this earlier in the week after it came through the Friends of the Valley Railroad network. Oddly enough, I have ridden on that line. Beautiful area. Many, many years ago, when I was crazy enough to do such things, we used to grab an inner tube and a CMRR ticket and ride several mileas up the Esopus River from Phonecia, then ride the rapids back down.
Thank you everyone! From your posts it appears that this a wide scale problem. What a shame that some people think that their interests and theirs alone should be supported but all others removed. This is particularly unbelievable when theirs are taxpayer funded and the railroad is self supporting.
These outpourings of support can only help. Perhaps we can make this go viral. (OK so I’m dreaming [zzz]).
