Trail plan could mark end of line for railroad

From Daily Freeman - Tuesday, January 24, 2006.

Bernie Wagenblast

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Trail plan could mark end of line for railroad
By Kathryn Gill , Freeman staff

KINGSTON - Ulster County may drop a long-term plan for a tourist train from
Kingston to Highmount in favor of a 38-mile hiking and biking trail along the
former Ulster & Delaware Railroad corridor.

A public workshop is scheduled for Feb. 9 on the feasibility of a trail from
Kingston Point Park to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center on the Delaware
County line.

The workshop, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Olive Town Meeting Hall on
Bostock Road in Shokan, will explore issues associated with the creation of a
pedestrian and bicycle trail, said Bill Tobin, the principal transportation
planner with the Ulster County Planning Department.

At present, most of the railroad right-of-way is owned by Ulster County and
leased to the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The city of Kingston leases a lower
portion of the track to the Trolley Museum of New York. However, Tobin said,
less than 10 miles of track are being used.

For five months a year, the Catskill Mountain Railroad offers a 14-mile,
90-minute round-trip scenic train ride on seven miles of track between Phoenicia
and Boiceville. It also operates the Esopus Creek Shuttle, which provides
transportation for summer inner-tube riders on the Esopus Creek.

The Trolley Museum runs vintage trolleys on a 1.5 mile section from East
Strand to Kingston Point. Both groups operate weekends and holidays from May 28
to Oct. 30.

Tobin said the trail plan offers the potential for a continuous
transportation and recreation corridor from the Susquehanna River in Oneonta to the
Hudson River in Kingston. But he acknowledges there would be challenges to
overcome.

In 1991, the Catskill Mountain Railroad signed a 25-year lease with the
county. Tobin said that contract requires the Catskill Mountain Railroad not just
to maintain the right-of-way, but to improve it as well. The group is about
a decade behind its goals, Tobin said, and county officials feel it is not
living up to its end of the deal.

Harry Jameson, vice president of Catskill Mountain Railroad Inc., disagreed.

"We have continued to make progress in the restoration of the Catskill
Mountain branch line and have a design document that has been approved by the
Federal Railroad Administration and the New York State Department of
Transportation, which is on file with the county, for restoration and operation of the
tracks from Kingston to Phoenicia," he said. "The right-of-way easement through
the (New York City Department of Environmental Protection's) Ashokan
Reservoir is explicitly and only written to allow railroad operations."

Tobin acknowledged that the Department of Environmental Protection has
voiced concern over the possibility of a trail that would run adjacent to the
Ashokan Reservoir. The agency is concerned that people might be tempted to swim
in the reservoir, he said.

Under the trail proposal, the railroad tracks would be covered with asphalt
and gravel, or a raised platform of some kind, Tobin said.

While some argue that a scenic train promotes tourism, Tobin said the trail
would be more usable for adjacent property owners, who currently must get
permission to walk in the area, or pay a fee to ride the train. A trail would be
for the public good, "not just a profit," he said.

"Who is more important, a few tourists or people that live here year-round?"
Tobin asked.

 

Boxcab,
I agree with you. Any time there is a chance for revenue, it should never be passed on.

I could almost understand making the trail if no one wanted to operate the line or if it had been long since abandon.

With that said, I must admit that I do like riding my bike on the old Seaboard right of way near Atlanta that has been turned into a trail (The Silver Comet Trail) but like I said, that line had been abandoned for a while before it was turned into a trail.

 

Ya, I have to go with both sides:
A) If it can generate revenue, great!
B) If it can't generate revenue then a trail makes good sence _if_ it can truly become what is intended.

There are certainly cases like Boxcab mentions. There are lonts and lots of cases like BNSF Fan mentions.

Judgement call and some are wrong.

 

The trail thing can be a problem. There was a murder on the Sacromento River trail about 10-15 years ago. The trail isn't on an old railroad grade, but it is right below the grade of SP's Matheson Branch which followed the river up to Shasta Dam. What they used for the trail used to be the Middle Creek Road, but I think the city wanted to quit making people bypass town so they turned into a trail There is a trail that does use the old grade further up stream known as the "Rail Trail" and as I recall they were having problems with hunters a few years back.

The Matheson Branch could have made a good tourist railroad out to Shasta Dam, but people probably complain that the train was too noisy and blocked their prescious views of river.