Save the Railroad Through the Adirondacks

Trains Magazine Steam & Preservation
1

I posted this on the General Forum, but thought it might be of interest to those who spend a lot of their forum time here:

A small, but very vocal group has been pushing for the removal of the rails from the old NYC Adirondack Division, to be replaced by a hiking an biking trail.

At this point, they have been successful in convincing NY state to review the “Unit Management Plan,” (http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/remplacidump.pdf) which currently calls for rail operations during warm weather and use as a snowmobile trail in the winter. So far, this arrangement has worked just fine.

The trail advocates insist that 20,000 (or is it 250,000? The number seems to vary) people per year would use this “world class trail.” The trail would run through several wilderness areas of the Adirondacks. Many portions of the trail would be extremely remote, with no cell phone service or any other services for that matter.

Your own experience with local trails may help color that assertion.

The Adirondack Scenic Railroad has carried over 1.2 million people in the past 21 years. Currently the operation includes 22 miles of trackage over a short line, 40 miles of active track (Remsen-Big Moose) and another 10 miles of active track between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. The entire corridor is on the National Register of Historic Plac

2

Still a week left to send in comments!

The trail people are already claiming victory.

3

sent a pointed email

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From what I hear from those that have attended meetings so far suggests much the opposite.

5

I finally sent in an e-mail just under the wire to NY DOT.

It sounds like, from the Trains NewsWire today, that Saranac is taking a wait-and-see stance.

6

so now that they are staying in operation they are being vandalized by the tree hugging trsil. group… sad

7

I have both ridden the Adirondack Railroad and use the snowmobile trails every winter in the Thendara-Stillwater area. The lift that these trails have to the economy in the Adirondacks is huge - in the winter the only way to even get to some of these areas is by snowmobile - and snowmobilers do one thing that the granola people do not - we SPEND MONEY…

A walking trail would be a total waste, and would do little to support the economy - how many people are realistically going to WALK the 25 miles from Thendara? The train will carry MILLIONS over many years. Snowmobiles bring tens of thousands of people up to these remote areas in the dead of winter - helping the folks survive.

I hope they decide to help the railroad upgrade the trackage to Lake Placid - it would be a boon for NY, as well as a great winter trail fro snowmobilers, who bring in the money during the winter months…

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There’s quite a bit of talk on this under “General Discussion.” The topics’ drifted to page two, so you’ll have to hunt a bit to find it. Very lively I might add.