NOT ALL ABOARD
Deal to preserve rail corridor, but not tracks, on reservoir land confounds train supporters
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The chairman of the Ulster County Legislature is lauding a deal to preserve a railroad easement through the Ashokan Reservoir property, but a veteran legislator and rail supporter says the deal is an agreement without any meaning.
Chairman Ken Ronk called the agreement — struck between County Executive Michael Hein and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for a permanent property easement for the 11.5-mile railroad corridor through the Ashokan land — “the best solution we can have,” and he said it was “the outcome rail supporters were looking for and demanding.”
“It’s exactly what we envisioned when the Legislature passed its policy for the corridor one and one-half years ago,” said Ronk, R-Wallkill. “I think the county executive is doing exactly what we envisioned when we unanimously passed our policy.”
Legislator David Donaldson, D-Kingston, however, called the protection meaningless because “there’s no preservation of the track that’s there.”
On Thursday, Hein announced an agreement with the city environmental department that he said allows the county to create a pedestrian trail along the corridor, while protecting the coun-
ty’s “irrevocable right” to restore train service along the corridor in the future.
In 2013, Ulster County stuck a deal with the city agency to allow the county to develop a trail along the county-owned railroad right-of-way adjacent to the reservoir. The agency said it would not allow both an active train and a recreational trail through the land.
The idea of converting the former rail line into a recreational trail spurred a lengthy battle between Hein and the Catskill Mountain Railroad — a for-profit, private group that, until May 2016, held a lease on the tracks — and among members of the community who split over whether the corridor should be converted to a trail or maintained for a tourist train operation.
In late 2015, the county Legislature adopted a policy that provides for tourist train-related opportunities on two sections of the railroad right-of-way, and a recreational trail that will enable hikers, bikers and others to enjoy the scenic vistas of the Ashokan Reservoir.
Catskill Mountain Railroad President Ernie Hunt said the latest agreement “preserves rail use” along the Ashokan, but he noted that the county still has a trail-only policy on the reservoir land. In Facebook posts, some rail supporters said the agreement was meaningless if the county pulls up the existing tracks because it would be too costly to replace them once they are removed.
Donaldson said the agreement is deceitful because it would be financially impossible to replace the tracks after they’re gone.
“There’s no way your going to pull up those rails, then replace them,” he said. “It’s way too cost-prohibitive. It’s not going to happen in this world.”
Ronk said those who think a tourist train can run on the existing tracks “have not walked it.”
“I have walked it multiple times,” he said. “There are spots where you can pull the spikes straight out of the ties. And not just a few here and there. It’s spike after spike after spike.
“There’s an incredible tie replacement that needs to be done,” Ronk said, adding that “it might take more money to upgrade that 11.5
miles to Class 1 track than it would to put new rails in.”
Under a five-year lease with the county, the Catskill Mountain Railroad has permission to operate a tourist train on a roughly 5-mile stretch of track between Kingston Plaza in the city of Kingston and state Route 28A in the town of Ulster. Currently, the railroad is operating on a stretch of track that is about 2 miles shy of its permitted use.
Rail Explorers Corp., owned by Mary Joy Lu and Alex Catchpoole, was awarded a lease to operate a rail bike operation along the western segment of the tracks, which runs for roughly 6 miles between Boiceville and Phoenicia, on track that the Catskill Mountain Railroad previously leased and used. The rail bike operation didn’t get off the ground this year, as planned, because bids to repair three wash-outs along that stretch of track came in higher than the county anticipated and a plan for a turnaround near along Cold Brook Road angered residents. County officials now expect Rail Explorers Corp. to begin operating in 2018.