by csor2010
Taking a long view...I think that while the environmental groups' intentions are good (no one wants the Adirondacks to become a dumping ground) they've gone a bit far with their "all human traces must go" attitude. I expect that a lot of their frustration comes from the fact that the rail-trail proposal seemed to be a done deal and suddenly S&NC came in and bought the line out from under them. Just think about how the Adirondack Scenic people would feel about the state yanking their tracks for a bike path. That said, if the S&NC bought the line to Tahawus and the environmentalists' objections don't have legal standing, there isn't going to be much they can do about it. Honestly, I'm surprised (as are the trail people, I would imagine) that the S&NC is making the investment for the short-term business of hauling tailings. Based on the articles, NLI doesn't seem too interested in opening up the area for rare-earths mining, so once the tailings peter out it seems like S&NC will have a long branch to nowhere on their hands unless they expand their passenger service.
On that note, if I were the environmentalists, rather than fight over the railroad, why not work with them? IIRC the Alaska railroad does something where people can hop off at certain spots to go hiking/camping/etc. Maybe they could arrange something with the S&NC where they could have the passenger trains do the same sort of thing in the Boreas Canyon? The RR does pass through some very scenic areas and it would be nice for those to still be accessible. Tahawus is probably not going to be a tourist destination- I would guess that there's a good deal of contamination up there that probably won't be cleaned up for a while. Why not let the railroad do its job of handling freight out of a contaminated area while working with them to preserve access to the scenic areas enroute?
On that note, if I were the environmentalists, rather than fight over the railroad, why not work with them? IIRC the Alaska railroad does something where people can hop off at certain spots to go hiking/camping/etc. Maybe they could arrange something with the S&NC where they could have the passenger trains do the same sort of thing in the Boreas Canyon? The RR does pass through some very scenic areas and it would be nice for those to still be accessible. Tahawus is probably not going to be a tourist destination- I would guess that there's a good deal of contamination up there that probably won't be cleaned up for a while. Why not let the railroad do its job of handling freight out of a contaminated area while working with them to preserve access to the scenic areas enroute?