What About the Railroad?

 

This site is a staunch admirer of the efforts of Catskill Mountain Railroad volunteers over the years to work to establish and maintain the limited stretches of operations in Shandaken and Kingston.  However, this site also believes that the provisions of Resolution 275, (including the potentials of the Gateway), calling for a Segmented Approach with tourist railroad operations concentrated in Shandaken, , compared with the Compromise Proposal, when carefully analyzed and separated from disinformation and emotional appeals, can be seen to be far better for railroad operations, no matter who the eventual operator.  The migration to Shandaken for the railroad has all of the advantages listed in the Segmented Approach page of this website.  A few of these, detailed here, include:

 

• The recently demonstrated economic viability of theme train events can now be staged in an even longer span with intriguing theme possibilities such as the town of Phoenicia being staged as a North Pole for the Polar Express event as is done in the very popular version in North Conway, New Hampshire.

 

• The focus of railroad operations on the route along Route 28 between Mt. Tremper and Phoenicia, which contains some of the most stunning scenery in the Catskills-- a much more dramatiac setting than an abbreviated run originating in an urban shopping plaza.  

 

• A base of operations in Phoenicia, which has been recently labeled as one of the most charming hamlets in the country.  The hamlet is already a tourist draw, and the addition of a well marketed and integrated rail operation into the fabric of the community provides wonderful potential synergies.   

 

• The support and welcoming nature of the Shandaken community (a railroad-supportive town resolution was passed in early 2014), an end to the contentious nature surrounding the Kingston controversy, and the emergence of a sense of shared and mutually supportive enterprise. 

 

• The co-location and seamless integration of the operations of the Empire State Railway Museum which has ready-made space for the facilities the CMRR has said necessary for ongoing rail operations, including an indoor space to work on maintenance and restoration, and storage space for equipment.  In addition the Museum could be seen to benefit substantially by the potential 25,000 visitor traffic from hosting theme train events in Shandaken, significantly adding to its mission of communicating and celebrating the history of the railroad development of the Hudson Valley.  The Museum could also develop interpretative signage and kiosks along the trail in Kingston for historical communication, and to attract tourist visitors to its Phoenicia location.

 

When carefully analyzed, the advantages to a railroad operator of a Shandaken operation overwhelmingly overpower the limitations of a truncated stretch in Kingston with no synergies, enormously increased costs to build trail alongside rail (with no viable demonstrated plan), and no feasible location for required maintenance and storage facilities.

 

It should also be emphasized that officials and supporters of the U&D corridor’s current railroad tenant, the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) have rejected the Compromise Proposal, stating (correctly in this site’s view) that the Kingston-Hurley Mountain Road section is too small and problematic for viable operations. But the counter proposal, of an even longer stretch of trail alongside rail, leading directly into DEP lands already designated for trail  is even more unrealistic in terms of economic and engineering feasibility as well as the County-DEP agreement and more than $2.5 million in grant funding for trail development. The rationale for continued Kingston operations as a main focus is based on, at best, a questionable business proposition--that the financial success of the Kingston operation would be built on transporting bikers and hikers, who would otherwise drive directly to Ashokan trailheads, instead stopping in Kingston to take a 45 minute train there.  

  

In summary, all systematic analysis would point toward the conclusion that the best and highest management decision for a railroad operator would not be the Compromise Proposal, but the migration, as called for in the original Resolution 275 proposal, to a vibrant segmented rail operation in Shandaken.