Does anyone know how light the "light rail" on the Lowville and Beaver River Railroad is?
Specifically, is it 60#? (or lighter.)

I thought that they still served a chemical plant or two in Carthage? If Slack Chemical and other one are still active, will the trackage there remain in service by the MA&N?

If not and everything in Carthage is slated for abandonment, I wonder if the government will step in and purchase the trackage to the nearby CSX connection?

A lot of recently rehabbed track to Newton Falls that was done in the hope of attracting an industry at the former papermill site (along with the potential to ship waste tailings from the old J&L site in Star Lake) would be guaranteed to never be used if they don't.

St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency invested around $10 million in rehab from Carthage to Newton Falls less than a decade ago, iirc. While a bet that likely wasn't going to pay off in the end with the mill closure, this would seal the deal with the gap from Carthage to the nearby CSX connection being severed.

Hopefully if they're pulling out, the Carthage depot at least gets a new lease on life with a new owner. Has looked pretty shabby in recent years with it obvious that they weren't taking care of it anymore. Needs a new roof and a lot of TLC soon or she'll be a goner.

I appreciate you posting the STB docket links - very helpful to have access to those documents detailing the proposed abandonment. The timeline and process is more clear now.

It does seem rather presumptuous that rail removal began prior to abandonment approval being granted. Hopefully GVT can provide satisfactory clarification to the STB on the issues cited.

At a minimum, a full environmental and economic impact review should be conducted before allowing such a major regional rail loss. The door should be kept open to potential future operators. Once rails are gone, restoring service becomes exponentially harder.

Thank you for the update and sharing your insight. This will be an important proceeding to follow for anyone concerned about preserving northeast regional rail connectivity. Please keep us posted on any developments!

What kind of economic and environmental impact is needed?

Economic. There have been no trains or customers on the line in over 10 years. It has made "$0" economic impact on the region. As far as potential customers? Again there has been no movement in 10 years any potential for large customers like a paper mill or lithium mine? If not, it is more economical to move those product by truck. Shouldn't the local county (owner) be allowed to use the property to what they feel would be the highest and best use?

Environmental. Currently the line is unused but has creosote ties every few feet for its entire length. There may also be spots where hazardous materials were spilled. In a trail conversion the ties are removed and the suspect areas are test and cleaned.

While I understand the desire of some of the locals to keep the rails in place and not build a trail, sometime taking a different direction, such as a trail conversion may bring potential to the area.

The region has no shortage of trails. Hundreds of wonderful options to explore.