Highmount, NY – Ulster County Executive Michael P. Hein today announced that Ulster County has granted a five year permit to the not-for-profit Delaware & Ulster Railroad (“D&U Railroad”) allowing the excursion railroad organization to re-establish tourism railroad operations in western Ulster County for the first time in nearly two decades.  The Arkville-based D&U Railroad ended tourism passenger service to Highmount in 2001 to focus on operations between Arkville and Roxbury in Delaware County. After months of discussion, Ulster County has issued a permit to the D&U Railroad to re-establish service to County property in Highmount, enabling the railroad to extend its operating track length to nearly 20 miles.

Michael P. Hein, Ulster County Executive

“We continue to work hard to implement the County Legislature’s segmented rail and trail policy for the County-owned Ulster & Delaware Railroad Corridor. As part of the unanimously-adopted compromise plan that we were able to achieve together, the County has now issued a permit to allow the D&U Railroad to restore tourism excursion trains to Highmount near Belleayre Ski Center,” noted Ulster County Executive Mike Hein. “The County is excited to reconnect this western segment of the County-owned railroad line in Shandaken to the increasingly successful D&U Railroad tourism trains, and the restored Highmount station area will also connect to the County’s future rail trail project in the Town of Shandaken. We appreciate that the D&U Railroad is willing and able to invest in upgrading its track from Arkville to Highmount to restore tourism train service to western Ulster County, which operated from the mid-1980’s until 2001.”

Wes Coates, General Manager of the Delaware & Ulster Railroad

Wes Coates, General Manager of the D&U Railroad stated, “The Delaware & Ulster Railroad is committed to building a strong-partnership with Ulster County to restore rail service to Highmount and Belleayre, and we want to thank County Executive Hein and the County Legislature for working with us to bring our railroad to Ulster County.  We are proud to be part of strategy to grow tourism and the economy along the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway. This important partnership puts the ‘Ulster’ back in our operation and will support our plans to attract more visitors to the western Catskills.

The five year permit provides the D&U Railroad with a future station area where passengers can access or disembark from the D&U Railroad event and dinner trains. More importantly, the County railroad property provides a much needed “siding run-around,” a second set of tracks that will allow the D&U Railroad to move its locomotive engine from one end of the train to the other so the train can be pulled in the opposite direction. In exchange for the use of approximately 930-feet of the County’s railroad property, the D&U Railroad will be responsible for upgrades and maintenance of the property adjacent to NYS Route 28 and Galli Curci Road.

The Delaware & Ulster Railroad is part of the Catskill Revitalization Corporation, a not-for-profit economic development organization based in Delaware County that operates special event and dinner trains between Arkville and Roxbury while also owning and maintaining the Catskill Scenic Trail, a nearly 26-mile recreational trail from Hubbell’s Corners to Bloomville on the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad, also known as the Catskill Mountain Branch.

In Ulster County, the 38.6-mile long Ulster & Delaware Railroad Corridor currently hosts segmented rail and trail projects consistent with the policy set by the Ulster County Legislature in 2015. These projects include tourism train operations by Catskill Mountain Railroad in the Kingston area and rail bike operations by Rail Explorers in the Phoenicia/ Mt. Tremper area. In addition to these railroad-based operations, the County is also actively converting designated segments of the former rail line to a public recreational trail for hiking, bicycling, running and other non-motorized activities, including at the future Ashokan Rail Trail in the Towns of Olive and Hurley and the Midtown Linear Park in the City of Kingston.

# # #

Photo: The dinner car on the Delaware & Ulster Railroad’s Rip Van Winkle Flyer, courtesy of ILoveNY.com