Wallkill Valley Railroad

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The Wallkill Valley Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in New York.

The WV served the lower (northern) Wallkill Valley until its abandonment in 1982 by owner Conrail.

The corporation is currently owned by John Ethan Rahl who purchased all rights, titles and interest from Conrail in 1986.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Wallkill Valley Railroad 1.2 New York Central 1.3 Conrail 1.4 Norfolk Southern Railway and remaining facilities 2 Rail trail 3 Stations 4 External links 5 Footnotes 6 References

[edit] History

[edit] Wallkill Valley Railroad

It was founded in 1866, and was constructed to the Erie Railroad's six-foot gauge, so it could be easier to transport goods from one railroad to the other. It was even operated by the Erie for the next ten years after its construction. It got to New Paltz in 1870, bridged Rondout Creek and the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1872. Steamboat captain Thomas Cornell then became president of the railroad that same year, although people though that he bought the railroad just for his own sake. He did complete it to Kingston, but left it soon thereafter. There were then plenty of newspaper articles suggesting that it was a financial scandal, and the Wallkill Valley went bankrupt.

But Cornell purchased it again in 1877. And he had later learned, with the help of his stepson Samuel Coykendall, that the West Shore Railroad was chartering a route to New York City, and it would pass through Kingston on the way. Cornell responded to that by chartering an extension for the Wallkill Valley right into the middle of where land was already chartered for the West Shore. But what this meant to the West Shore was that they could have a new branch. The West Shore purchased the line at a price of almost $1,000,000 in 1881.

[edit] New York Central

It soon became the rural Wallkill Valley Branch of the West Shore Railroad, although the locals whose profits were wiped out during the previous bankruptcy didn't agree with this. And an occasional scheme was hatched to extend it to the Pennsylvania coal mines to bring more money to the railroad. However, they never succeeded in doing so. The New York Central then bought the West Shore Railroad in 1884, and passenger service was slowly declining, as with most rural branches. Passenger service was completely abandoned in 1937.

After that, some of the previous Ulster and Delaware locomotives were sent to operate on the Wallkill Valley Branch, since they were light enough to cross the Wallkill Valley's Rosendale Bridge. But those were all gone by 1949, and the branch was soon entirely dieselized. The last regular freight train was run on the branch in 1977.

[edit] Conrail

Conrail almost entirely abandoned the branch, though it was considered briefly as a new route to Allentown, PA, via Kingston, Campbell Hall, and the L&HR. It was discovered in 1977 that the piers supporting the Rosendale Viaduct had shifted, and that repairs would not be worth the money to keep the line open. The physical plant was soon completely abandoned, and the infrastructure was torn out and sold for scrap except for the Rosendale trestle, a little spur from Walden to Campbell Hall and a team track in Kingston. The process of dismantling the railroad took from 1983 to 1984. However, the corporate rights remained intact, along with most of the road bed. Today, the railroad makes money by enforcing WVRR's original right-of-way and franchise, charging utility companies licensing fees to cross the property.

[edit] Norfolk Southern Railway and remaining facilities

The remaining spur from DeGroodt's Paving in downtown Walden to the Campbell Hall Metro-North station is used for freight service by Norfolk Southern. The station in New Paltz remains along the trail, though the station in Gardiner burned in 2002. Walden station was moved to a village park, and remains intact.

[edit] Rail trail

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(May 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Portions of the line in both Ulster and Orange Counties have been converted into a rail trail called the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, described here from north to south. Note that north of River Road, Rosendale the Wallkill Valley Railroad actually runs in the Rondout Valley.

The right of way from Prospect St in Kingston to the Rosendale-New Paltz town line was purchased from Conrail by John Ethan Rahl of Rosendale, operating as the Wallkill Valley Railroad Co, in June 1986 for one dollar.^[1] He subsequently sold parcels (but kept the right of way) north of Rosendale village to abutting land owners, reserving the right to try to reactivate the railroad through the use of inverse condemnation.

Several legal battles took place with corporate and government entities claiming WVRR is "not a railroad." Contrary to those claims, all corporate documents, mergers, and leases remain on file at the New York Secretary of State, and no record exists of a formal dissolution. The City of Kingston took property from the railroad in lieu of taxes. Rahl contends that his taxes were illegally quadrupled after purchase, without a fair hearing.

The New York State Thruway Authority^[2] permanently blocked portions of the railbed. The Thruway obliterated its railroad underpass during repairs in 1998, replacing it with an earthen berm, a violation of state transportation law. The highway easement condemned during the Thruway's construction only compensates for the bridge pilings erected upon the land ($400).^[3] As a 20th century Public Authority, the Thruway did not have the right to outright condemn the land of a 19th century railroad.

The most notable feature of John Rahl's acquisitions is the 975 ft Rosendale Railroad Viaduct (known locally as the Rosendale trestle) built in 1895 by the King Bridge Co of Cleveland OH.^[4] In 1991, Rahl built a pedestrian walkway on about 60% of the trestle, from the southern end, for a prospective bungee-jumping venture which was prevented from opening by the Town of Rosendale. Douglas Hase tried again unsuccessfully in 2003-4 to get town approval for such a venture.^[5][6] The town's rationale is to prevent "recreational use" of the trestle. However, it has long been used recreationally as a linear park, and actually crosses a town park below it. The Rosendale Trestle has been adopted as the town's official logo. WVRR's lands are industrial property, but Rosendale claims the trestle is a "residential zone." The trestle walkway and the railbed from there south to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail is open to the public as the Rosendale Rail Trail for non-motorized traffic, dawn to dusk. The valley view from the trestle, which spans Rondout Creek, NY Route 213, and the route of the former Delaware & Hudson Canal, is very scenic.

The longer Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, continuing south through New Paltz and Gardiner, is more formally maintained.^[7]

The Shawangunk Rail Trail runs from NY 208 in Wallkill south to the Orange County line. The railbed from there south to Walden, although unsigned and not particularly scenic, is also open to public use as a rail trail. The only public access points to that portion seem to be at the north end from the Shawangunk Rail Trail and at the Lake Osiris Rd crossing. In particular, the southern end of the trail ending at the former bridge over Tin Brook in Walden seems to be a dead end surrounded by private property.

[edit] Stations

• Kingston Union Station
• Binnewater
• Rosendale
• New Paltz
• Gardiner
• Wallkill
• Walden
• Montgomery (Connection with Erie RR)
• Campbell Hall

[edit] External links

• Ulster and Delaware Railroad Historical Society
• Wallkill Valley Railroad Co, documents and photos
• Wallkill Valley Rail Trail

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• 1. Ulster and Delaware Railroad Historical Society
• 2. The Old "Up and Down" Catskill Mountain Branch of the New York Central