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Kingston Mayor Commits Class D Felony Against Catskill Mountain Railroad

As Alderman Tom Hoffay said Friday 4/26/13, The Mayor has Gone Mad. It is indeed madness to get a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) from moving historic cars off of Route 209 into Kingston. A phone call would have sufficed. By placing a dump truck blocking the CMRRs tracks, nearly a mile east of the cars, Mayor Gallo committed a class D felony of NYS Railroad Law 53-e : NY Code Section 53-E: Unlawful interference with a railroad train. As well as breaking the law this was clearly an attempt to shut down the CMRR. This is what the CMRR has been up against for years, now everyone can see it. Because we make no political contributions to any politician in Kingston or Ulster County, and focus on our job, bringing visitors to Ulster County and Kingston to spend their dollars here, this is the reward we get. Regardless of your position on rails or trails, this is no way to treat a small business in Kingston or Ulster County. The Ulster County Health Department, under the control of Mike Hein, provided material to assist the city in issuing the Temporary Restraining Order. Rather than having a truly open and reasonable discussion on rail vs. trail, they instead decide to stifle the debate by putting the CMRR out of business. Is this what Ulster County has come to? No wonder businesses and jobs have been leaving the county in droves. The CMRR has always complied with any requests made by the city and county. By resorting to legal action, it is clear that the goal of the city and county are to put the railroad out of business because we disagree with them and believe that rail and trail can co-exist. Ulster County seems to be an outpost of Russia instead of a part of the United States of America. It should be noted that of the two cars in question the Lion Gardiner a 1917 Pullman Dining Car is the last of its kind and is owned by the Empire State Railway Museum, not the CMRR. This car is soon to be taken out of the county for restoration by another group. The CMRR has never planned to bring this car into Kingston for restoration. The other car is a former Erie Lackawanna coach that is a twin to the two that we have restored for our Scenic Train out of Mt. Tremper. See attached photos of what it will look like after restoration. The CMRR plans to restore this car and will follow all local laws in doing so as it did for the coaches in Mt. Tremper.

The Temporary Restraining Order is clearly designed to intimidate the CMRR into leaving Kingston and stifling an open debate on rail vs. trail. We hope that others can finally see what we have been battling for years from the City and County. Regardless of your position on rail or trail, Ulster County and Kingston will keep losing jobs and businesses if this un-American, antibusiness behavior is allowed to continue.

Harry G. Jameson III Chairman Catskill Mountain Railroad Co., Inc