The Catskill Mountain Railroad has the lease until 2016. So the tracks cannot be touched until then.

Personally I'd like to see the trail next to the railbed - so everyone can enjoy!

I should add, I do agree that road needs to be repaired - as it does every Spring.

Vadhopper- The tracks can be touched, however, when the DOT does the work, they just have to coordinate their efforts with the RR who has the right-of-way. The tracks, and the area formerly known as "Higginsville" predates the highway.

Resident- "fun for a few railroad buffs"? Over a hundred volunteers continue to work to rebuild the county's railroad (for free I might add). THOUSANDS of people come from out of the area to ride the Catskill Mountain Railroad. Ticket proceeds go to pay for restoration efforts. In fact, Kingston saw record ridership this season (twice what was projected) with trains running at capacity most weekends. While the extended economic impact to the area is hard to quantify, it is significant. There is a parallel rail bed formerly part of the NY, Ontario, and Western railroad that connects to the Hurley rail trail. It would be wonderful to connect that trail to the city alongside the Catskill Mountain Railroad. If everybody plays nice, great things will come to both entities having goals of improving our community.

The railroad crossing on Downs Street, the sidewalk has crumbled away, the holes are so large that someone is going to break their leg as they walk there at night.
The road it'sself is cracking, the neighbors driveway next to the tracks has cracks all through it and Ora Pl is sinking being right next to the tracks, garbage is strewn up and down the railroad corridor old mattresses, shopping carts, bottles, cans, trash, if this railroad club has so many members where are they? anyone try driving down to the plaza to go shopping? if you have then your car probably needs to be realined it's terrible why hasn't the City made them fix their tracks there?.

Well Matthew, it appears you have a close tie to this neighborhood and a hatred towards the railroad. That is OK. It is not fair, however, that you blame midtown woes on the CMRR. The pavement, sidewalk, and road issues are due to neglect- not the railroad. The old Alco RS-1 weights about 125 tons soaking wet, and passes throught your neighborhood at 5mph stopping for every crossing. At the time the neighborhood was built, 25+ trains a day chugged through that area carrying heavy loads of coal and bluestone.

The volunteers regularly walk the right-of-way to pick up trash and debris (mostly dumped by your neighbors). If it is such a concern of yours, you should volunteer too.

As for the Plaza, it is not the tracks that are the issue, it is the hastily built road that crosses them. The volunteers of the railroad recently rebuilt the Fair Street entrance to the plaza for free with materials provided by the owner of the plaza. The Westbrook Lane entrance could use some work now, too, which we will probably do in the future when the interested parties get together to work out the details.

Oh, and our work crews are out surveying and repairing damage caused by hurricanes and tropical storms, maintaining equipment, building a bridge, replacing ties, and spending our own money to improve a local tourist attraction and economic asset. And occasionally cleaning up your neighborhood. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me. Have a nice day.

Why has my last post been edited? There was no inappropriate or non-factual information presented. Editing public comment is deceptive.

I do not hate trains in fact my kids love riding them and we have been on your trains several times so your perception is wrong. However, I dislike clubs like the CMRR that do not follow their legal contract with the county, that clearly states that it has to keep it's railroad corridor clean and free from trash and brush overgrowth. which hasn't been the case. I encourge anyone to come take a look at the railroad crossing on Downs St and see the damage and trash for themselves and make up your own mind who is at fault.
Also I have chaired three railroad corridor clean ups since 2005 and frankly I am tired of doing the work for your club and so are my neighbors.... it is your responsibility not the homeowners may I also suggest you clean up the train graveyard by the Wonderly building on Cornell St it is an eyesore and it is something our new Mayor is trying to change in Midtown.
As for the plaza I stand by what I said on this eariler post and I will let the people who have to drive over it to make the final decision who's to blame and who should fix the tracks, the end result is the City has no money the county has no money and you have no moneyto fix the problem but it states in your contract that you are to maintain the tracks and keep them in grade aaa condition which has not been the case..

Part of what was edited from my previous post was a statement about who belongs to the CMRR. It is not a club, but a railroad corporation. A corporation which is made up of volunteers and has invested all of its revenue and efforts towards it's stated mission to rebuild the Ulster& Delaware Corridor.
As a volunteer, I, too, have cleaned unsightly items from your neighborhood. I do it as a gesture of goodwill and for the betterment of your community, not mine - which is 40 minutes away in Greene County. In fact, most volunteers come from neighboring counties (and other states) to help in the preservation efforts.
You should come down to the "Graveyard" you mentioned to see the reactivation of a long-derelict diesel locomotive (which is progressing very well), rebuilding a 1910 Steam locomotive, track equipment to speed up restoration efforts, or one of the many restored pieces of rolling stock. It is really quite wonderful what is happening.

We have some very difficult work ahead of us, and a lot of it. There will always be things for you to criticize (easily), so may I suggest that you please consider the intentions and arduous efforts of people trying to improve your community.
Your efforts and patronage are much appreciated. If we meet along the line sometime, I'll buy you a cup of coffee and we can chat more about these issues.

With all due respect you are a club, you have one engine and one rusted out old engine that doesn't work you have three or four cars that you use sometimes on Christmas or fathers day, you take kids for a ride for a miminal charge, you haul no cargo and as far as I know you have no bussinesses that you haul cargo for?.
Yes you are a volunteer who lives in another county and comes into my City to Midtown which causes traffic delays, pollution from you smoke stack, distruction of our roads and as a volunteer you are obligated to follow the contract that CMRR signed with the county which is not being inforced-you are required to clean up the rail corridor as it states clearly in your contract-not out of the goodness of your heart. as nice as that sounds, and then the gall to make snide remarks about my neighbors, isn' t going to win you brownie points with the people who live and breath along the tracks that go through their backyards in the City of Kingston .
With a new mayor who wants to clean up Midtown eyesores like the train graveyard and trashed overgrown rail corridors this kind of non complience will be a thing of the past.

Walking trails are the new rage and there is plenty of federal grant money out there that the county could certainlyuse considering no revenue is being generated by your club as stated in your contract you are suppose to be paying the county at this time, but I have not seen any payments being made by CMRR to the county-have you? I wonder if our places were turned and I was coming into your county into your City onto your street how would you feel if your neighborhood was put through what this club has put the citizens of Kingston through? if anyone is interested stop and look below the Elmendorf bridge the garbage along the tracks will amaze and astound you!..

I agree with Matthew Ryan, CMRR is just a club for a small group of railroad buffs and is not maintained with respect to the city, it should be converted into a walkway.

With all due respect, there is nothing respectful about your tone, your belittling remarks, and your intentions behind them.

I was born and raised not far from the 4th ward, and I still consider Kingston as my hometown. I love the city, its residents (except maybe one) and look forward to the day when all of these positive proposals (including the trail) come to fruition.

The CMRR operates 4 locomotives. The "rusted out" engine, the 2361, has been prepared and primed for its new paint in the NYCentral inspired lightning stripe scheme to math our other Alco. The 539T engine block has been delivered, and is soon to be installed to fully reactivate the engine.

The CMRR has paid its rent. They also take their other obligations seriously, and have in the past (before I was hired as a volunteer) struggled to meet them. The last 5 years have shown tremendous growth and success. The commodity we haul is people. Thousands of people come from out of the area to ride our trains, and to see our progress. These people patronize the local businesses, which yields significant sales tax revenues and improved economic activity.

The community I live in has many outside individuals and groups with good intentions coming into it to advance projects such as the new Kaaterskill Rail Trail, Main Street improvements, and cultural programs. Your help would be much appreciated.

You live in a city with thousands of diesel tractor-trailers and delivery trucks passing through. Your neighborhood is adjacent to one of the busiest freight rail corridors in the world (CSX River Line) and an active rail yard. Might some of the fumes be coming from those sources? There are traffic lights and stop signs everywhere. If you are so impatient that you can't wait 15 seconds for a tourist train to pass by, I suggest you move to the country.

The only statement you've made that is true is the lack of freight customers. That may change as we expand Westward.

Your comments are untrue, outdated, and mean-spirited. Perhaps the RR is to blame for that.

If you ever wish to have a positive dialogue, constructive partnership, or other effort to genuinely solve problems, the offer to discuss them over a cup of coffee still stands.

By-the-way, this topic is supposed to be about the Washington Ave crossing.

I started a petition to Schumer to fix these tracks: https://www.change.org/p/charles-schumer-rail-crossings-in-kingston-ny
Please sign it.. I include the Earth Island image of the burned out tankers in Canada. Lac-Mégantic, Quebec in July 2013

Nothing will happen to these tracks until CMRR agrees to work with the county. They refuse to work with the county because they believe the county wants to shut them down. The county just wants the tracks put to use - which is why they purchased they 40 years ago. The railroad has had 30 years to fix them up, and they do NOT maintain them well - even with the recent success.

There is a hearing to determine what route is used to connect Kingston to the Hurley railtrail: One using the O&W corridor, and the other using this section of the U&D corridor and extending the Hurley Trail up to it along 209. I encourage all to speak up about their preference. The meeting is on December 8, 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1520066258313355/
http://ulstercountyny.gov/planning/krtp