As I read through this thread it seems to me that this already is a lost cause. The current distraction is a lawsuit by the county to end the lease early. Even if that fails the lease will still end in a couple of years, and at that time the railroad will be evicted and the track torn up. I don't see anything on the horizon that will prevent that from happening. Is there an election coming up in which pro railroad people are expected to replace anti-rail people in county government?

^It is not a done deal.

The CMRR hopes to serve out the remainder of its lease and negotiate a renewal.

The CMRR wants railroad/trail as do most people in Ulster County.

One man and a few trail people want the railroad ripped up.

The success of Thomas The Tank Engine (and future events) is going to change everything.

Businesses in Kingston were thrilled with Thomas. It was the biggest event in Kingston this year!

More commentary from other sources on the Catskill Mountain, much of it friendly to the railroad:

Note that in some cases, the railroad commentary is part of an editorial that also covers other subjects; you may have to scroll down a bit to get to the subject matter of interest.

http://www.kingstonx.com/2014/09/19/hug ... he-judges/

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2014/ ... Sep14.html

http://www.watershedpost.com/sponsored/ ... -mountain-

And a reason we might not want to be too quick to tear out existing railroads:

http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/co ... 9b80c.html

Friday, September 19th

On Friday, George Peck and Mark Glaser marked ties for the HMR project. ROW was weedwacked as required. 102 ties marked for changeout, CR-5 to farm crossing.


Saturday, September 20th

Saturday 9-20, work on the HMR upgrade continued. Participating were: George Peck, Bob Blake, Marty Weir, Al Schoessow, Steve Gollow, Raphael Demeglio, Tom Whyte, John Marino, Jim Bruck, and Mark Glaser. 32 ties were inserted and plated.

Jim Bruck worked on the coaches at Cornell St. Ernie Klopping did mechanical work. I worked on 209.

Mt Tremper crews: Saturday was Dave Heick, Engineer, Ray Farrell, Conductor, Bill Kaba, Brakeman, and Bruce Devorkin, Ticket agent.

Ryan Lennox and Tyler LaRose cut brush from Mt. Tremper to Andrew's Lane.



Sunday, September 21st

Sunday at Mt. Tremper, George Peck was Engineer, Tony Bocchino, Conductor, and George Bain, car attendant. Peter Fluchere was Ticket agent.

Sunday 9-21,crews returned to the HMR project,todays crew; Al Schoessow, John Patane, Tom Whyte, John Marino, Raphael Demeglio, Marty Weir, and Mark Glaser. Steel tie cart returned to rails. 19 ties inserted, plated, 52 tamped, 25 part spiked.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Friday, September 26th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 11am. Fall foliage season begins!


Saturday, September 27th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 11am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street.


Sunday, September 28th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 11am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Newest article I've seen from the Freeman:

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-new ... qus_thread

Interesting to see the developments in Kingston. I think Mr. Dunn should be congratulated for reconsidering his decision to vote for the trail in light of new information, of which I think the Thomas event may be only part.

On the other hand, the extreme stubbornness exhibited by Mr. Hein remains puzzling. Blast, it's one thing to believe very strongly in a "right" course, but quite another to pursue that course in light of the new evidence.

Something just isn't right.

Of course, we must also remember to read what the opposition has to say, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on them.

http://www.kingstonx.com/2014/09/26/let ... -bottling/

This person has had problems with the railroad for at least the last couple of years (see following comments):

http://en.seeclickfix.com/issues/166154 ... d-crossing

Another anti-rail letter, this one from a strong bicycle backer:

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/opinion/201 ... onvenience

Friday, September 26th

On Friday 9-26, Mark Glaser weed wacked,marked ties from the farm crossing to MP 5.53 and did equipment maintenance at HMR. Ryan Lennox weed-wacked west of MP 6.

At Mt. Tremper, Al Schoessow was engineer, John Prestopino was brakeman, Walt Otto was conductor, and Peter Fluchere was ticket agent.


Saturday, September 27th

Saturday 9-27,work continued on the HMR project; 52 ties were inserted,20 spiked. Today's crew: Bob Blake,Al Schoessow,Carl Wick,Art Vogel, George Peck,John Marino,Tom Whyte,Raphael Demeglio,and Mark Glaser. I did some work on the cars on 209.

Mt Tremper crews: Dave Heick engineer, Bill Kaba Brakeman, Gary Lowe ticket agent, and Dan Howard Conductor.


Sunday, September 28th

Dave Heick was engineer, Dave Hilliard was engineer trainee, Tony Bocchino was brakeman, Russ Hallock was car attendant, and Walt Otto was conductor. Gary Lowe was ticket agent.

Ryan Lennox cut brush near Andrew's Lane.

Sunday 9-28, crews worked from the farm crossing to MP 5.53; 72 ties were marked, plates /ties removed,all were scarified. 36 ties were spiked from Sat.'s insertions west of the crossing.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Friday, October 3rd

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew in Kingston starting at 1pm at Cornell Street.


Saturday, October 4th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street. Mark needs as many hands as possible, so please come and help if you are available.


Sunday, October 5th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street. As before, Mark needs lots of extra help here.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-new ... s-eviction

Judge nixes Ulster County’s bid to lift injunction barring Catskill Mountain Railroad’s eviction

By Patricia Doxsey, Daily Freeman
Posted: 10/03/14, 5:57 PM EDT |

KINGSTON >> A state Supreme Court justice won’t lift an injunction keeping Ulster County from evicting the Catskill Mountain Railroad from the county-owned former Ulster & Delaware Railroad right-of-way.

In a ruling dated Sept. 26, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott rejected motions filed by the county to lift the injunction and to force the railroad to turn over a decade’s worth of financial documents, including bank statements, tax returns, dividend statements, grant applications and a list of all contributions and donations.

Mott called the county’s request for records “clearly overly broad” and said it “requires disclosure of voluminous financial documents that are in no respect relevant to any issue in this case.”

He said a report prepared by Boston-based HDR presented no information that wasn’t available to the county before it served the railroad with a notice of default.

Ernie Hunt, president of the Catskill Mountain Railroad said the county’s motions were a frivolous waste of both taxpayer and railroad money.

“We felt both motions were really unnecessary,” Hunt said. “Our lawyers didn’t think these would be approved by the judge and they just led to a lot of legal fee expense.

“Our opinion is these two motions were just a waste of time and money and they came out as we expected,” he said.

Hunt was especially critical of the HDR report, which was prepared following an inspection of the tracks in May.

That report found that of the 24.5 miles inspected, only 4.7 were restored to “class 1” track and that there were extensive washouts, rotted ties and misaligned track along the line.

The county used those findings as the basis of its request to vacate the injunction. It argued that, given the extent of the track damage, there is no way the railroad could make the required repairs.

But Hunt called the report “highly suspicious,” because the vice president of the HDR is Carter Strickland, the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

In December, Strickland announced that the city would put up $2.5 million to turn the 11.5-mile rail bed that runs along the north side of the Ashokan Reservoir into a trail.

“We believe this connection to Strickland confirms, as we believe, that this was a “made to order” report that was highly biased against the (Catskill Mountain Rarilroad) for political reasons,” stated Hunt in an email.

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein wants to tear up the rail lines on which the Catskill Mountain Railroad operates and convert the rail bed into a walking and cycling trail.

Ulster County Attorney Bea Havranek said the ruling “is just another step in the process.”

“We would expect the Catskill Mountain Railroad would live up to the terms of the lease,” she said.

In June 2013, the county served the railroad with a notice of default, claiming the railroad failed to live up to the terms of the 25-year lease under which it is allowed to operate tourist trains on county-owned railroad tracks from Kingston to the Delaware County line.

The railroad subsequently filed a lawsuit against the county to stop the eviction prior to the May 31, 2016, expiration of the lease, as well as “unspecified damages” it says it’s entitled to because the county made “a number of statements that are derogatory and/or untrue regarding the Catskill Mountain Railroad ... in press releases, articles and/or public meetings.”

The county, in its countersuit, is seeking $1 million in damages it says it is due as a result of the railroad’s default on the lease.

Last November, Mott issued an injunction preventing the county from evicting the railroad until the lawsuits have been settled.

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/opinion/201 ... ink-we-can

LETTER: I think we can, I think we can

Posted: 10/01/14

Dear Editor:

In case you didn’t notice, the little blue train, Thomas the Tank Engine visited our fair city of Kingston in September. He brought pure joy to thousands of kids from the immediate vicinity and the tri-state area who came to our city with their parents and extended families to visit him. Most importantly, he brought money into our city and county through additional expenditures in our local businesses and the generation of sales tax revenue. All of this was accomplished with neither the economic nor political support of our county or city, but just the passion of people who believe rail and trail can coexist here. Makes you wonder what could be accomplished if everyone was working together.

With “The Great Pumpkin Patch Express” and “The Polar Express” train rides coming this fall, it is time for us, the public, to tell our elected officials to stop dwelling on the past and instead find a way forward for rail and trail to coexist in Kingston for the benefit of all. It is time we adults remember the story of “The Little Engine That Could.”

Other parts of the country were smart and motivated enough to figure out how to do rail and trail together. There’s no reason why, with some good will and some compromise, we can’t come together and do the same.
Advertisement

Beth Bengtson,

Kingston, N.Y.

all I see is someone out there trying to cause ruin throwing money around.


GO CATSKILL!!

Friday, October 3rd

On Friday Oct. 3 in Kingston,John Marino and Mark Glaser did track work near MP 4.

At Mt. Tremper, Al Schoessow was engineer, John Prestopino was conductor and Ed Winstanley the car attendant. Bruce Devorkin was ticket agent.


Saturday, October 4th

On Saturday, Oct.4th, John Patane, George Peck, Al Schoessow, John Marino, Tom Whyte, Neil Remsen, and Mark Glaser continued working east and west of Hurley Mtn.Rd., 42 ties were inserted. Ernie Klopping and Art Vogel worked on track equipment. I did some work on the cars on 209.

Mt Tremper crews: Dave Heick engineer, Russ Hallock ticket agent, and Ray Farrell Conductor.


Sunday, October 5th

John Prestopino. Conductor was Neil Remsen and Brakeman was Tony Bochhino. Tyler Carelli was brakeman/trainee. Peter Fluchere was ticket agent. Al Johnson was parking lot attendant.

Sunday Oct.5; John Patane, George Peck, Al Schoessow, John Marino, Tom Whyte, Karl Wick,and Mark Glaser continued work on the HMR project. 47 ties inserted, 2 spiked.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Friday, October 10th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew in Kingston starting at 1pm at Cornell Street.


Saturday, October 11th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street.


Sunday, October 12th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.

Mark Glaser will lead a track crew at Hurley Mountain Road. They will start at 10am at Cornell Street.


Monday, October 13th

We will be running at Mt. Tremper starting at 10am.




Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

Story from the Daily Freeman in Kingston:

http://web.ncs.dailyfreeman.com/general ... king-trail

Of note is that this person does not seem to have ties to railroad or trail--in other words, a plain citizen, someone who is speaking his mind.