Rails-To-Trails and Back

I developed a clear sense of place by age five or six. I was map-literate by the time I started first grade. I also liked trains. At that time we were living in the Crestwood section of Yonkers. Crestwood was a commuter stop on the New York Central Railroad’s Harlem line (now part of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad). Back then the Harlem extended all the way up to Chatham, New York where it met the Central’s line that ran east from Albany to Boston. In the late 1950s, long-distance trains still ran on the Harlem to Chatham and beyond. When they barreled through Crestwood I understood they were going far away. In 1976 service was halted north of Millerton in northern Dutchess County and by 1980 the line from Chatham south to Dover Plains in Dutchess County was abandoned. In recent years rails were again laid northward from Dover Plains but only for a few miles. In 2000 Metro-North resumed service on this extension, opening a station at Ten Mile River and a terminal at Wassaic. North of Wassaic, much of the old Harlem Line in Dutchess and Columbia Counties is now part of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

Converting abandoned rail lines to recreational bike or walking paths is a national phenomenon. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy lists1,359 such trails around the United States. In my area I enjoying walking and biking the North County Trailway , which follows the abandoned Putnam Division of the New York Central north-eastward across Westchester County and on into Putnam County. One day I would like to walk or bike eastward from St. Charles, Missouri on the Katy Trail which follows the abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.

While I think rail-to-trail conversion of abandoned rights of way is great, I would add one caveat – that such conversions should be reversible. In my opinion, the highest use of these trails is for passenger rail. The day may come when the economic and environmental costs of automobile use will be such that “re-railing” becomes an attractive option. I can imagine tracks again being laid on these recreational paths. We should keep this option open.