Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) Discussion - 2014

Saturday, March 22nd

On Saturday at Cornell St. work continued on coach 2940. 3 additional windows were installed,1 window was sealed on the exterior w/special acrylic compatible silicone, 3 interior wood frames were re-installed. All exposed wood on the frame edges contacting the windows were stained black for a finished look. Crews also continued work on the generator and succeeded in restoring heat to the car. Engineer training was conducted by Earl later in the day. Participating today were: Earl Pardini, Joe Michaels, Jim Bruck, Rick Desir, Jesse Gabron, Dave Hilliard, John Marino, Freddie Rasmussen, and Mark Glaser.

In Phoenicia, George Peck and Dave Heick marked ties in the Phoenicia yard, and Art Vogel joined them later in the day where they did work repairing the tamper.

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

This little gem came out of the March NYS STIP list:

KINGSTON RAIL TRAIL: CITY OF KINGSTON, TOWN OF ULSTER, AND TOWN OF HURLEY; CONSTRUCT 1.7M OF BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN TRAIL LINKED TO HURLEY RAIL TRAIL, CITY OF KINGSTON, TOWNS OF ULSTER AND HURLEY

Estimated cost of 1.2 to 2.5 Million.

Found on Pg. 21 of the following PDF:
https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/stip/files/R8.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

C.J.V.

chrisnewhaven wrote:
CONSTRUCT 1.7M OF BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN TRAIL

Estimated cost of 1.2 to 2.5 Million.

.

YGTBSM!!!!!

BR&P wrote:

chrisnewhaven wrote:
CONSTRUCT 1.7M OF BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN TRAIL

Estimated cost of 1.2 to 2.5 Million.

.

YGTBSM!!!!!

Yes........what BR&P said.

Charlie

Those figures seem a little bit inflated! I was on a trail job once where we built twice the length for far less than $1.2 million! But the saddest thing is that those funds would go so much farther in rebuilding those rails than they would to build any trail.

So what does this mean that this trail project is on a NYS DOT list?

Fellow Railfans,
With all this trail nonsense, attacks from our elected officials and so on, It is very clear that New York is NOT the state for any rail preservation.
The powers that be in the great state of New York have made it clear that Rails must be replaced by recreational trails with no hope to see the Trains co-exist.
It's beyond amazing what has been accomplished "across the pond" by our British Rail fan brothers. Persevering not just rail lines, but having full operating steam excursions on a regular basis, let alone building a brand new locomotive the "tornado" which is an undertaking that probably could not happen here in the United States because the nay Sayers run the show.
British Heritage railways should be closely studied and understood by our elected officials before they go running their mouths that This and other hard working American heritage railroads must be replaced by trails.

The CMRR is an asset that Kingston and Albany are beyond clueless to comprehend. The benefits that a through rail service with sections of trail will bring to the city of Kingston and both Ulster and Delaware counties is insurmountable. There is no trail, be it a former railroad or nature trail that could deliver the economical benefits and income to these localities then the CMRR will.

Instead of this trail issue, Kingston and Ulster county alike should be first aiding the rebuilding effort to complete the line from county to Kingston. Thus providing through service. Starting with the section from Cold Brook to Route 209 then work with the trail organizations to make a joint operating economic engine for the region.

There is no reason for "sides" when the clear most economical and beneficial choice is a co-existence.

yes but for $1MM per mile of conversion you volunteers should get together and bid on it. At least you could haul the rail away and store it for a later day.

Otherwise that money goes into the hands of some corrupt, pre-screened construction firm that is close to your corrupted politicians. If you win the bid, you may commit sacrilege to the rail line, but at least you stopped the bad guys from profiting.

ccutler wrote:yes but for $1MM per mile of conversion you volunteers should get together and bid on it. At least you could haul the rail away and store it for a later day.

Otherwise that money goes into the hands of some corrupt, pre-screened construction firm that is close to your corrupted politicians. If you win the bid, you may commit sacrilege to the rail line, but at least you stopped the bad guys from profiting.

Unfortunately I'm sure Mike Hein and the rest of them already have friends at some construction firm that would bid on and win the work, and kick back some cash to them in the form of campaign contributions or under the table.

Corruption in NYS is way out of control. Every few weeks the Feds are raiding one state senators office after another... frankly they're not arresting these crooks fast enough (and I don't actually hold out hope that they'll ever fully investigate all of the crimes these guys are committing).

I'm sure this has bee addressed before but Dog Bert you might want to go look up the word defamation.

You can think anything you like but making allegations without some solid proof puts you in a precarious place

and doesn't help the cause of the railroad. I'm no fan of Hein and the trail people either but this is not the

way to defeat them. Otto has made this clear on more than one occasion. Be careful.

Saturday, March 29th

On Saturday, Joe Michaels plans to lead a team on coach 2940 starting at 9:30am at Cornell Street. Plans are to continue work on the generator and to continue work installing new windows. Mark Glaser plans a line inspection later in the day.

George Peck plans to start at 9:30am at the Phoenicia Yard planning to get things in Phoenicia ready for service.

Sunday, March 30th

Those who would like to continue to work on Coach 2940 please inform Earl to make sure the yard is open. Suggested time is 10am.


Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

O-6-O wrote:I'm sure this has bee addressed before but Dog Bert you might want to go look up the word defamation.

You can think anything you like but making allegations without some solid proof puts you in a precarious place

and doesn't help the cause of the railroad. I'm no fan of Hein and the trail people either but this is not the

way to defeat them. Otto has made this clear on more than one occasion. Be careful.

I don't need to look that one up. There's a thing in the constitution called the first amendment. All I'm saying is that If I were more invested in this, I'd look up every campaign contributor he has (Actually, I did skim the list a few months ago - a whole lot of them don't live in Ulster). There's a reason he wants a trail. There are dollar signs attached to it.

This article is already a year old, and it's not like the FBI hasn't raided any politicians offices since then... Every couple of weeks there's something new.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics ... upt-states" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Google 'New York State Corruption'. That's just a scratch of the surface.

This is what anyone trying to build anything in NYS, who isn't paying off their local politician (via campaign contributions) is routinely faced with. Why do you think Gallo parked a truck on the tracks? Does anyone really believe he gives a poop about lead paint falling off of those cars?

If anyone wants to ban me for pointing out facts, I'm 100% ok with that. If CMRR is to survive, it needs to know its enemies.

Saturday, March 29th

In Kingston on Saturday, work continued on coach 2940, three more windows were installed and 120 V outlets were hard wired on the car interior. Crews switched out the yard, moving MOW equipment out of storage and onto the loading dock track. The work flat was repositioned and the container cleaned out/organized. A cleanup of yard grounds was performed. Engineer training was conducted and an inspection train ran to Albany Ave. Participating were: Earl Pardini, Walt Otto, Tyler Carelli, Jim Bruck, Peter Fluchere, Rick Desir, Freddie Rasmussen, Joe Michaels, Tom Whyte, John Patane, John Marino, Jesse Gabron, and Mark Glaser.

In Phoenicia, Dave Heick, George Peck and Art Vogel replaced the compressor seal, hydraulic line & starter aolenoid on the tamper, ran the tie handler running, and worked on the ballast regulator, and used the gradall to clear space for new ties.

Ernie Hunt
Volunteer Coordinator
CMRR

DogBert wrote:

O-6-O wrote:I'm sure this has bee addressed before but Dog Bert you might want to go look up the word defamation.

You can think anything you like but making allegations without some solid proof puts you in a precarious place

and doesn't help the cause of the railroad. I'm no fan of Hein and the trail people either but this is not the

way to defeat them. Otto has made this clear on more than one occasion. Be careful.

I don't need to look that one up. There's a thing in the constitution called the first amendment. All I'm saying is that If I were more invested in this, I'd look up every campaign contributor he has (Actually, I did skim the list a few months ago - a whole lot of them don't live in Ulster). There's a reason he wants a trail. There are dollar signs attached to it.

This article is already a year old, and it's not like the FBI hasn't raided any politicians offices since then... Every couple of weeks there's something new.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics ... upt-states" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Google 'New York State Corruption'. That's just a scratch of the surface.

This is what anyone trying to build anything in NYS, who isn't paying off their local politician (via campaign contributions) is routinely faced with. Why do you think Gallo parked a truck on the tracks? Does anyone really believe he gives a poop about lead paint falling off of those cars?

If anyone wants to ban me for pointing out facts, I'm 100% ok with that. If CMRR is to survive, it needs to know its enemies.

0-6-0's admonition is well-founded on both a political and legal basis. As to the latter, the First Amendment establishes a limited right to free speech, in its essence it prohibits prior restraint by the government on free speech. It offers no protection to the consequences of exercise of free speech such as actions for slander or libel. Politically the railroad does not want to be perceived as engaging in mudslinging and Railroad net also does not want to so perceived or become a co-defendant in a tort claim.

chrisnewhaven wrote:This little gem came out of the March NYS STIP list:

KINGSTON RAIL TRAIL: CITY OF KINGSTON, TOWN OF ULSTER, AND TOWN OF HURLEY; CONSTRUCT 1.7M OF BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN TRAIL LINKED TO HURLEY RAIL TRAIL, CITY OF KINGSTON, TOWNS OF ULSTER AND HURLEY

That sounds like the O&W from Washington Street to the head of the Hurley Rail Trail. The northern end of it isn't a railbed, but the O&W comes in from the east. I've bicycled that part of the O&W and it's kinda wet.