8 more days left for the Catskill Mountain Railroad

[MeowRailroad]

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wir...cial-excursion-as-lease-term-nears-expiration

It really is a shame that the county wants to remove the railroad and put in a trail. I wish I could have had a chance to have gone there.

 

[rjhowie]

Really sad and a genuine shame. Just a pity you don't live over here in GB the champion place for preservation!

 

[Vern]

Seems a retrograde step to turn a viable heritage railway into a walking trail. We have many old railway lines in the UK which have been turned into foot/cycle paths but these are long closed with no chance of ever being a viable part of the rail network - preserved or mainline - again.

Perhaps some enterprising train simmer will produce a facsimile of the line so it can live on in the digital world...

 

[cascaderailroad]

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein ... he is a real live walking, talking, "Plick", a complete maniacal dictator (I think his father was killed by the local train, and was schmizzened to smitherines, and run over), him ordering the parking city dump trucks across the line to physically block operations ... as he is personally hell bent on a personal mission to demolish the RR, and wants to put in fairy tale rails to trails ... now how is that going to boost his local economy ? It's a wonder some local citizen hasn't literally: "taken him out" and reduced his blood pressure to zero, or taken him back of the woodshed, and beat the tar out of him ... he truly is a maniac dictator !

"Oh our vacation to Catskill was ever so exciting, we biked and walked a path where a real live RR once operated" ... WoW !

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein (click on picture, to hate him)



I hate railroads !

 

[JCitron]

There has been a developer in the region who has been after the CSRR for years. It looks like he finally got enough money in the right places to make it happen.

 

[PBY357]

Bad business all around. But lets remember, "Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves." Kingston doesn't deserve a tourist railroad, or even a freight railroad. Tourism to that town will probably dry up and they'll be crying when they realized what they've done.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Most probably Kingston received very little revenue from the RR operations, so they "Canned" the entire RR operation and deliberately bankrupted it by sabotage.

Apparently they think they can get more tourism from historic house walking tours, restaurants, stores and motels, without the RR

Someone needs to get their voice heard by the mass's, and sabotage the towns tourist industry, by informing tourists to stay at some other distant location, and avoid Kingston NY

Like a big billboard or a barn sign: "Boycott Kingston NY" ... "The Town that Killed the Railroad"

 

[MeowRailroad]

A last spot of hope for the railroad is present as the county is actually taking bids for someone to operate the railroad, since the CMRR's lease is up. They have bid on it. So, it is possible that the CMRR or if not that, at least a railroad will stay there.

 

[MeowRailroad]

The CMRR's lease won't be renewed, but, it isn't a total loss. Another railroad will take over the operated line, and, the county only wants to turn the out-of-service parts into a trail, and as pictured below, that is a big part, but it's better for them to not remove it all.

I don't know how accurate this map is, but there's about 7 miles of trackage. Also, if there is enough support for the railroad after it is removed, it is possible that the trail could be removed and the rail line out back in. It's unlikely but more unusual things have been done in preservation before.