Ulster County to Catskill Mountain Railroad: Live up to lease or lose right to use tracks
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/06/12/news/doc51b8d5dbbe113062434352.txt
Hein said he hopes the action will encourage railroad officials to “participate in meaningful discussions and put an end to their pattern of avoidance.”
EH
Seems to be the opening move to get rid of the railroad and turn the R-O-W into a trail.
Hope the RR wins.
Even if they do “win”, sounds like they will be forever fighting for the right to use the tracks. I wonder if the heartburn (and money) is worth it?
Unfortunately, the trail advocates are often local and well-connected, whereas the rail supporters tend to be less so.
And I suspect there may be motives involved that have little to do with a trail and everything to do with simply getting rid of the railroad.
I wasn’t aware that CMRR was a for-profit entity (or else the story lied). A lot of their staff is volunteers, AFAIK.
I fear that success here on the part of the trail advocates will further embolden those who want to rip up the former NYC Adirondack Division. As noted in the comments, however, people aren’t necessarily using existing trails - why would they use a new one?
Is there anything that out-of-stater can do to help this situation?
Put a shipper on the line w/ steady business.
It’s sad to see what is happening on Ulster County ROW, when you compare it to what has happened on the Warren County owned ROW where the Saratoga & North Creek is a going concern and seemingly thriving.
The rails to trails people are playing dirty. They want to kill the Delaware and Ulster and the Adirondack Railroad. Now it just so happens that whats behind this is a real estate developer has land or options on land near the line. Rail to Trails are very liberal about where the trail goes. As I have seen on the Washington and Old Dominion in DC has been rerouted a number of times off the railroad right of way when a real estate developer steps in. Its to the point that the W&OD is unusable for railroad service in the future
I just don’t understand the “all or nothing” mentality of these trail people. I’ve been following this issue for a while and it seems the CMRR has made every effort to compromise with them. They’ve even go as far as commisioning a study outlining how a trail can be collocates with the rail.
I think it’s time that the railroad called on the lawyers. They’ve been trying to be accommodating but the trails/ government are bent on destroying them. They held their cap on with the dumptruck incident but the mayor still doesn’t care. I believe they would have some ground in court since the government has withheld $2 million in FEMA funds from them, greatly hindering them in maintenance. Also the dumptruck incident could land the mayor a felony. From what I’ve read, another claim they make against the railroad is that they don’t keep it clean enough, when the railroad has been cleaning up their Kingston trackage with no cost to the county. I hope the railroad has a volunteer lawyer on their crew
I don’t blame the overall rails-to-trails people. In fact, the national-level RTT folks have disavowed the trail advocates in the Adirondacks.
The Adirondack trail advocates may have several motives, but development isn’t one of them - the same people who are behind the trail effort are also involved in groups blocking development in the same area.
It’s thought that one goal of the trail advocates is to get the rails taken up so the conservationist types can lobby for the ROW to be included in designated wilderness areas, thus banning the snowmobiles.
You’d think that the snowmobile groups would be up in arms, but it’s also thought that they want to be able to say “we lost our trail!” (the ROW is a popular snowmobile trail in the winter months) and be able to push for other trails that will actually better suit their desires. The same conservationists would oppose that development right now.
One of the trail advocates is simply looking for a road into his isolated business - which he is reportedly trying to sell. Lifting the rails would provide that road. Not everyone is convinced he really cares about the rest of the trail.
As I said, it c
Where is the Surface Transportation Board in all of this do they have jurisdiction? By the way there is already a poorly maintained rail trail in Ulster County (Walkill Valley Rail Trail)
For my two cents, I am rooting for the railroad. Those guys have been working hard and pouring their heart and soul into rebuilding the line. They have a nice little operation that they run out of Kingston, and if they can get up to the resivour and beyond, I believe it will be they will have something. I like to hike and bike as much as I like trains too. I don’t know why it can’t be shared. I believe it is special interest. The County Exec got money from the govenor for a bike trail, they are now projecting a $5-6 Million dollar cost to put down a trail, Thats county money, where the railroad is rebuilding it using thier own, and then it has to be maintained. Go to the Catskill Mountain Railroad pages on the internet and see the work these volunteers have been doing. My hopes to the railroad guys.