Railroad Forums
Moderator: Otto Vondrak
Otto Vondrak wrote:You know what's funny? I don't think Ulster County is bound to any particular county executive in the coming electionWell put.......I hope the voting residents of Ulster County won't drink his brand of Kool-Aid should Hein run
eehiv wrote:The CMRR has agreed to nothing, and our plans are unchanged. The Freeman article misrepresents the CMRR's position, which is to support whatever agreement is fully executed between the County and NYC. As I mentioned before, a new commissioner is coming in and this agreement is a longs ways off, and we will continue to advocate rail with trail until it is finalized. In the meantime we will continue to rebuild track to return to Phoenicia in 2014 and continue our expansion of Kingston passenger service towards the Reservoir.Mr. Hunt,
EH
scoostraw wrote:I STRONGLY suspect that there is more going on here than meets the eye. (I won't even ask)Mr. Scoostraw, I agree with you 100% on this. If you look at the actions of both the county exec and the mayor, they appear to be taking the position of it's my way or no way. And that way of running things, like a dictatorship, starts to isolate a person. And so for them to continue this witch hunt against the railroad, leads me to think there not concerned about any fallout, because they have some serious support for this trail. (I won't ask or speculate also.)
I'm looking forward to seeing the CMRR continue the rebuilding to West Hurley (and beyond).
eehiv wrote:At Lasher Road, the plan is to replace the narrow underpass with a grade crossing (which was there originally).Interesting. Would that consist of lowering the grade of the railroad or raising the grade of the road, or some combination of the two? It also makes life fun because of the very sharp bend on the north side of the crossing. If it's to be a protected crossing, it would need an auxiliary light facing around the bend.
stevegaarder wrote:It seems to me likely that the erroneous newspaper report came from a misunderstanding of the rail-with-trail proposal. So this would probably be a good time to put out that proposal loud and clear - "we do support the trail - along with the rail."And the Trains Magazine article was a "misunderstanding" also? The CMRR facebook page has comments like "You guys gave up too easily" etc. The CMRR can correct this misconception if it wants to.
Steve
scoostraw wrote:Look a few posts up... Mr. Hunt said the CMRR has agreed to nothing.stevegaarder wrote:It seems to me likely that the erroneous newspaper report came from a misunderstanding of the rail-with-trail proposal. So this would probably be a good time to put out that proposal loud and clear - "we do support the trail - along with the rail."And the Trains Magazine article was a "misunderstanding" also? The CMRR facebook page has comments like "You guys gave up too easily" etc. The CMRR can correct this misconception if it wants to.
Steve
scoostraw wrote:Trains Magazine got it wrong becuase they copy-pasted the same headline from the Freeman, which further caused confusion amongst the railfans. Here is a follow up that was pasted on CMRR's facebook page:stevegaarder wrote:It seems to me likely that the erroneous newspaper report came from a misunderstanding of the rail-with-trail proposal. So this would probably be a good time to put out that proposal loud and clear - "we do support the trail - along with the rail."And the Trains Magazine article was a "misunderstanding" also? The CMRR facebook page has comments like "You guys gave up too easily" etc. The CMRR can correct this misconception if it wants to.
Steve
The December 16 article in the Daily Freeman entitled "Catskill Mountain Railroad abandons plan for Kingston-to-Phoenicia Scenic Train" misrepresents the position of the railroad on the recent announcement from Ulster County. The CMRR's position is that we will support whatever agreement is executed between Ulster County and the New York City DEP. In the meantime we will continue to advocate rail with trail throughout the reservoir area with the new DEP commissioner until the final agreement is signed. No money flows until an agreement is actually signed between NYC and Ulster County, which could take years to negotiate.-otto-
In the meantime, the CMRR's access is uncontested as long as the lease is in place. The railbanking process cannot begin without the CMRR's consent, again as long as the CMRR's lease is in place. Without railbanking, which is highly unlikely to be granted by the Surface Transportation Board (STB), and without a written agreement with the DEP, the only access to the reservoir is by rail.
The CMRR has agreed to nothing (it can't, since the county refuses to negotiate with us), and our plans are unchanged. In the meantime we will continue to rebuild track to return to Phoenicia in 2014 and continue our expansion of Kingston passenger service towards the Reservoir.
If an agreement is executed between NYC and Ulster County that limits rail use, the CMRR will support interim trail use, as long as we are given the opportunity to expand both existing operations to the reservoir AND are ensured that the possibility of eventual rail restoration is not prevented.
The CMRR needs to make clear that it is fair, reasonable, and flexible enough to welcome the trail project and share the corridor NOW. However, under no circumstances are we giving up the right to pursue rail restoration in the future.
