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  • Dutchess Rail Trail

  • General discussion related to Rail Trails nationwide, including proposed rail trail routes. The official site of the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy can be found here: www.railstotrails.org.
General discussion related to Rail Trails nationwide, including proposed rail trail routes. The official site of the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy can be found here: www.railstotrails.org.

Moderator: railtrailbiker

 #194477  by rhallock
 
One can only wonder why it takes $250,000 to design a strip of blacktop.

 #461642  by Blazer
 
This trail looks to be great for us old fat guys who are more railfan than cyclist. There's a possibility it will connect to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail (via the bridge) and also to the sort of under construction Maybrook Trailway in Putnam County for a possible unbroken link from the CT line to west of the Hudson.

I'd be interested to hear any updated information about any of these trails.
 #809580  by RussNelson
 
They've started working on the connector between the bridge (now famously a NY State Park) and the HVRT on the west side. The Dutchess Rail Trail is at least half completed last time I checked. Not sure if it's connected to the east end of the bridge yet.

I'd like to see the Hospital Branch brought into the fold.
 #809713  by Blazer
 
The section of the Dutchess Rail Trail Park in Poughkeepsie from Creek Rd to Overocker Rd is indeed complete. I looked at the ends of the one mile from the east end of the Walkway Over the Hudson along Parker Ave to Creek Rd. Both ends of this mile are dirt singletrack and look well worn but I can't confirm you can actually get through.
 #1008427  by Jeff Smith
 
Walkway Purchases Final Piece of Rail Trail

Brief, fair-use quote:
Walkers, bikers and skaters have reason to celebrate: CSX Railroad will sell Walkway Over the Hudson several pieces of land that will connect the walkway and the Dutchess Rail Trail -- providing a recreational resource envisioned for years stretching from East Fishkill north to the City of Poughkeepsie and into Ulster County.

The acquisition of the rail bed and properties in the city and town of Poughkeepsie provides a long-sought link between the walkway and trail.
 #1055942  by Jeff Smith
 
Rail bed will link to NY's Walkway Over the Hudson

The deal's closed:
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) -- Dutchess County has obtained a stretch of former rail bed that will connect the popular Walkway Over the Hudson with a local trail.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports (http://pojonews.co/MfpDXK ) that the Walkway's nonprofit organization paid CSX railroad just over $1 million last week for the eight-tenths of a mile stretch of the rail bed in the city of Poughkeepsie. The acquisition will connect the Walkway with the Dutchess Rail Trail.

Walkway Over the Hudson has donated the rail trail to the county. Once the trail is paved, it will be part of a 12-mile trail system in Dutchess County.

The former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge opened to the public in 2009 as the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park. It attracts nearly a half million visitors a year.
 #1056545  by bigK
 
in Wednesday's 06-20-2012 Poughkeepsie Journal article "County obtains rail bed" it was reported that the Walkway organization, which had acquried the 8/10 mile former CSX 'mainline' (the old Maybrook line) ROW property from the very east end of the WOTH state park to the Morgan Lake northern terminus DRT trailhead earlier this year,will be donated to Dutchess county - I guess it took this long for the Walkway organization to write the check to CSX

the deal to acquire the property was negotiated by NY Senator Chuck Schumer

the remaining trackless ROW is still owned by CSX - why they still want to own this property is beyond me

I had hoped the property would be donated to the city of Poughkeepsie instead as part of a,albeit small, trail system - so far the city of Poughkeepsie has only the path in Waryas park at the river that will be extended to the WOTH for access to the new elevator

there is a siding ROW that goes from Parker Ave. UNDER the 'mainline' ROW to behind St. Francis hospital and the Marist College Cedar Ave. townhouses - this would provide a link from the above to the WOTH or other parts of Poughkeepsie

UPDATED ROW MAP
 #1056691  by RussNelson
 
There are a bunch of railbeds in that area; more than are shown on the map. See, instead, the OpenStreetMap: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=41.71 ... 4&layers=M

Yes, it would be splendiferous to get the hospital branch back into "service" as a railtrail. I expect that the south end of the hospital branch stops at the Fallkill Creek, because if you look down from the bridge that the DRT uses to cross the creek, there is NO sign of either the CNE or PE railbeds on the ground. If you look on the north side of the trail, and the east side of the creek, you will be rewarded with the sight of the *old* Maybrook line prior to relocation. There's a big bridge abutment about 20' north and 15' lower than the current line.