Catskill Mtn. RR Brush Cutting Saturday, July 22nd

On Saturday, July 22nd, Dave Baker and I plan to lead a crew working east of Pine Hill, New York. We plan to start about 9:30 am at the Pine Hill depot site. We will be cutting east of MP 39.55 and hope to make the Giggle Hollow bridge at MP 38.9.

The Trolley Museum has lent us their breaker cart to carry our tools to the cutting site. We will be digging out some fill on the tracks at MP 39.4, so bring a shovel if you have one. Otherwise we will be cutting saplings mostly, so chainsaws and big clippers will be most useful.

Win Goodier from Richmond, Virginia will be visiting the area and joining us on this session. We are looking forward to putting him to work!

Pine Hill is 35 miles west on Route 28 from Exit 19 (Kingston) of the NY Thruway. Turn left at Elm Creek Street, which will take you to Main Street (old SR 28). Turn right (north) on Main. Up the hill, veer left onto Bonnieview, then left on Mill Street. Go up the hill under the RR bridge, and turn right onto Station Road. We will meet at the Station Road crossing, where the rails have been removed.

As always, any new volunteers are welcome.

Ernie Hunt

CMRR Maintenance run 7/21, Brush Cutting Saturday, 7/22

On Friday, July 21st, Tom Healy led a maintenance run on the line from Andrews Lane, MP 24.9, to the crane at MP 16.3. With him were Steve Kijak, myself, and our visitor from Virginia, Win Goodier. We cut a number of trees on the line, and cleared some fill on the tracks, keeping this section of the line open for sickle bar cutting next month.

On Saturday, July 22nd, I led a 5 man crew east of Pine Hill continuing to open the line towards the Giggle Hollow bridge at MP 38.9. We cut .15 mile from MP 39.55 to 39.4. Heavy rain slowed us down. We have 1/2 mile left to the Giggle Hollow bridge. Our crew consisted of Dave Baker, Chris Bigham, Travis Rapp, myself, and Win.

Photos from these two sessions are posted here:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?byrail ... ountain_RR

Many thanks to Win for coming all the way from Virginia to help out.

Ernie Hunt

Are your efforts being covered in the local media? If so, we'd like to see what they say. After all, you are improving public property at your own expense, an unusual occurrance today.

We are hoping our maintenance run in Kingston, tentatively scheduled for August 5th, and assisted by local work release labor, will generate some positive press.

We will use our sickle-bar cutter to clear the line of recent growth (we cleared this part of the line last spring) from the shops at MP 3 to just past Hurley Mountain Road, MP 6.

Plans are to start spraying this section of the line after this cut so we will never need to do this again.

The CMRR plans some tie replacement work in Kingston soon after the cut so they can get the 401 out of the barn and down the line a bit.

EH

When you guys are ready to start building new crossing protection in Kingston, what are the odds that they'll let you guys keep that really cool overhead crossbucks mast near your shops? Would something like that be able to be grandfathered into a new installation, or is it gonna have to bite the dust?

On Saturday, August 5th, there will be a major project to clear the ROW in Kingston west of the Cornell Street yard. Starting at 8am, Earl Pardini will lead a work release gang clearing trash west of Downs street. They will be using a backhoe to pick up trash and the thicker brush.

Ernie Gehrer and George Liucci will be following with the sickle bar cutter from the Downs street crossing starting about 10:00am, going as far west as they can get.

Any volunteers with brush cutting equipment (mostly weed wacker type brush cutters) and clippers who can join us would be most helpful. Or, you are also welcome just to stop by and watch!

The purpose for this will be 1) To maintain what we cut earlier this year, 2) to prepare for track work west of the Cornell street yard so the CMRR can get the 401 to Kingston Plaza and beyond, and 3) to clear the track for weed spraying in the fall/spring.

Ernie Hunt

I don't know if the old sign complies with whatever RR sign standard is used by the city of Kingston, but it can probably stay until the CMRR starts regular freight service on this section. At that point, I would assume the city will want new signs installed. If the old one eventually needs to be removed, it will be saved and relocated elsewhere on the line.

EH

On August 5th, we had a large group come to help us clear the line west of Downs Street in Kingston, NY. The CMRR had use a of a work release gang from the City, who helped pick up trash and chop brush.

The volunteers consisted of Ernie Gehrer, George Liucci, Al, Earl Pardini and his wife Mimi, George Cook (and his dog Cinder), Chris Bigham, Dave Baker, Tom Healy and myself.

I worked with the crew running the powered GSX-1 (with 4 rotating weed-wacker heads) and the sickle bar cutter trailer. The GSX-1 made it from MP 3.3 to MP 3.7, but died there. We had to push the sickle bar cutter the rest of the way to MP 3.78, Westbrook Lane (the east side of the Kingston Plaza shopping center).

After lunch we met the gang at the Thruway crossing (MP 4.9) and pushed the sickle bar 1/2 mile across the Esopus Bridge and through VERY thick growth to Route 209 (MP 5.4) and back.

Everything in Kingston is now maintained except for the short section between Washington Avenue and the Thruway, and the section from the stored cars (MP 5.5) to Hurley Mountain Road (MP 5.95). We will come back and cut these sections on another weekend.

Here are some pictures of our work today:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?byrail ... ountain_RR

EH

You folks are doing a hell of a lot of work and are to be commended for your efforts!

Today Dave Baker and I did a little cutting near Pine Hill, extending the cleared track from MP 39.4 to 39.3, and got about 25% of the fill off the tracks at MP 39.4.

Doug Kadow, head of the UDRRHS, stopped by and helped for a couple hours.

Photos from today are here:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?byrail ... ountain_RR

Ernie Hunt

Catskill Mtn. RR Brush Cutting – Saturday, August 19th

On Saturday, August 19th, Dave Baker, Chris Bigham and I plan to lead a crew working to clear the West Hurley siding and associated mainline track. We plan to start about 9:45 am near the West Hurley Station site, which is at about MP 10.2. We will start at the end of the siding, which is about 1,000 feet west of the former station site at about MP 10.4.

West Hurley is 5 miles west on Route 28 from Exit 19 (Kingston) of the NY Thruway. Just before you reach West Hurley, and about 3/10ths mile after the stoplight at Zena Rd, turn left onto a small dirt road leading into the woods. At the end of the road, turn right and proceed until you reach the end of the siding, about 1,000 feet west.

Weather is expected to be very pleasant - a high of 81 degrees. As always, any new volunteers are welcome.

Ernie Hunt

Yesterday, Friday, August 18th, Dave Baker and I spent half a day cutting about 300 feet of saplings off the line east of Pine Hill at about MP 39.3, and continued to dig out the fill at MP 39.4.

Today, Saturday, August 19th, Dave Baker, Chris Bighan, Al Johnson and I started clearing out the siding at West Hurley (about MP 10.4). This kicked off our fall brush-cutting, starting work on the uncleared MP 6 to 16 segment.

We cleared the switch and siding and continued clearing the line west to MP 10.9. Beyond that, the line crosses the Glenford Dike, and this 1/2 mile of track on the dike had been previously cleared by the DEP.

Afterwards, we started working east from MP 10.4, and got to MP 10.3, where we will start next time.

In all we cleared about 6/10ths mile of main line and 1/10th mile of siding today.

Here are some pictures from today and Friday:


http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?byrail ... ountain_RR


Ernie Hunt

Below is a link and the text of an article in the Daily Freeman (the Kingston, NY Newspaper) concerning our brush cutting session in Kingston last August 5th. Faint praise, but at least its a start!

EH


http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/index. ... 4969&rfi=8

08/20/2006

Railroad, neighbors clean up city right-of-way

By Paul Kirby , Freeman staff

KINGSTON - A 1,000-foot section of the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad right-of-way in Midtown has been cleared of garbage, brush, and debris following a number of complaints about the property.

Earl Pardini, the president of Catskill Mountain Railroad Co., which leases the right-of-way from Ulster County, said a number of volunteers, including neighborhood residents, cleaned up a stretch of tracks from Downs Street to Kingston Plaza earlier this month. He said heavy equipment was used to clear the tracks of debris.

Pardini said "no loitering" and "no trespassing" signs will be put in place soon.

Mayor Jams Sottile and Alderwoman Jennifer Ringwood, D-Ward 2, said they were pleased by the latest effort. Ringwood, who has complained that the right-of-way has become a hangout for drug dealers and prostitutes, has led previous cleanups in the past.

"We were pleased that the railroad did organize this cleanup, but, as we all know, brush grows back," Ringwood said. "It needs to be an ongoing effort."

Ringwood said the Catskill Mountain Railroad's lease requires the company to maintain the right-of-way.

"It is clear that this organization is required to do the maintenance and clearing of the tracks, and I, as mayor, am requesting that they do it on a continuous basis," Sottile added. "While I appreciate their cleanup, they need to do it on a regular basis."

Sottile said he gets regular complaints about the condition of the tracks.

The company has envisioned a tourist train along the entire 38-mile length of the right-of-way from Kingston to Highmount, has limited finances. It currently operates a six-mile rail ride from Mount Pleasant to Phoenicia, which carries Esopus Creek tube-riders during the summer.

On Saturday, August 26th, George Cook and Al Johnson cut east from MP 10.3 at West Hurley to about MP 10.1 or so. They did this in the pouring rain! This puts us only 4.1 miles from our goal on this section, MP 6, and lengthened the cleared section in this area from 1.1 to 1.3 miles.

Ernie Hunt

Catskill Mtn. RR Brush Cutting – Monday, September 4th

On Monday, September 4th, Chris Bigham, George Cook and I plan to lead a crew working to clear the line east of West Hurley starting just east of the former station site at about MP 10.1. George Cook has volunteered his track car, and Tom Healy will be dropping off a flat we can use for moving our cutting tools. We plan to start about 9:30 am at the parking area just west of the former station site.

West Hurley is 5 miles west on Route 28 from Exit 19 (Kingston) of the NY Thruway. Just before you reach the West Hurley post office, and about 3/10ths mile after the stoplight at Zena Rd, turn left onto a small dirt road leading into the woods. At the end of the road, turn right, go a couple hundred feet and park in the parking area on the left.

East of West Hurley, the line curves south on an overpass over Basin Road at MP 10.01, continuing though a large cut, and then runs straight south for about 1/2 mile. The line then begins to curve east and crosses Beesmer Road at about MP 8.98, and joins the original pre-reservoir grade at the end of this curve, at about MP 8.79. The line continues straight southeast until it crosses Route 28a at MP 8.38.

Weather is expected to be partly cloudy with a high of 78 degrees Monday. Tropical Storm Ernesto should be long gone.

Ernie Hunt