23. July 2010 by Kevin.

07-18-10

cleared and ready for the new bridge - the original stone
wall support for the old bridge can be seen - July 01

the crane used to lift the new bridge in place

the new bridge for the not-yet-completed new section
of the rail trail - July 18

  When I ride through the village of Highland to check on the progress of the phase 2 construction,I had been taking note of the area where the ROW crosses over Vineyard Ave. I had noted on my ride at the begining of the month, that the east side had been cleared.This was an indication the placement of the new bridge was soon to be. On this day I had seen (couldn’t help but notice) that the new bridge was in place. I had missed the actual placement,and so I don’t know if the pre-fab rail trail truss bridge was one very large complete bridge in one section,or was in 2 halves,and assembled in place.The tunnel under Mile Hill Rd is complete.I had thought there would be another section,the bridge part,(to create a “brunnel”) put on top of the pre-fab tunnel,but the space between was filled in  with dirt and rocks. A new grade for the road had been formed.The forms for the concrete retaining walls / portals had a faux stone block cast on one side.The finished result was quite nice.This new section of the RT will be more sopisticated than the older,somewhat simpler section.There is that truss bridge over Vineyard Ave.,the side trail up to route 9W,and the tunnel. I think the parking lot at the east end will be paved. The parking lot in the town park at the west end was not origunaly paved. It had been paved. The parking lot at the pavilion remains un-paved.The paved trail surface of the origianl 1997 section (”phase 1″) has gotten a bit bumpy and rough over the past few years,and is showing its age. I don’t know if there are plans to re-pave this section.

the completed new tunnel under Mile Hill Rd - July 18

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14. July 2010 by Kevin.

pardon moi mes ami for the delay in posting this blog entry but I have been watching Le Tour - la Grande Dame des grand tour - en Versus - vive le tour! alez! Alberto,Andy and that “old guy” from Texas - bonne chance!

My other interest other than the obvious,cycling,is railroading.Therefore how nice it is for myself to combine my 2 interests when I ride one of the  local rail trails of the area.There,beneath the wheels of my bike,there once were rails and trains rolled across those rails with a rhythmic clickety-clack. And imagine my excitement when the Walkway opened last year and I was able to ride my bicycle across an old RR bridge high above the Hudson River.The high vantage point on the Walkway provides an excelent spot to watch the CSX mega freight trains on the west shore of the river, or Amtrak and Metro North trains on the east side Hudson line. As one travels along a rail trail,there are ocasional reminders of the past railroad history. An old signal (the one that was at Grand Ave. on the DRT,in Poughkeepsie, has been removed for restoration),the remnants of an old siding, an old station or other structures,and of course the requisite bright red caboose. (of note there are 2 cabooses - or is that cabeese? - in Highland,one on the Hudson Valley RT at the pavilion,and one at the west end of the Walkway - and cabooses are a thing of the past,RR’s now use a F.R.E.D. - flashing rear end device - at the end of a freight train) With construction on 2 rail trails,the Hudson Valley RT and the Dutchess RT,both on the old Maybrook line ROW,I have taken an interest in researching the history of the extant Central New England RR, and the Maybrook line of this RR.I had found a colection of some great historical photographs along this rail line,most going back to the late19^th and early 20^th centuries. However,there was also a colection of photographs after the fire on the RR bridge, which is now the Walkway Over The Hudson.One of the photographs I saw was a picture dated 1997 of the ROW overpass at Didell Rd. being removed. I had actualy been there at this time and saw this.I did not have a good camera at the time and so do not have any photos of my own.

Central New England RR - Maybrook Line

Poughkeepsie - Highland RR bridge - post fire (pre Walkway)

Walkway Over The Hudson

my Hudson Valley and a bit beyond photo
gallery (includes Walkway and some train photos)

NORTHERN

06-27-10 phase 2

  On this sultry,early summer day I would take a short ride on the shady rail trail to see the new memorial, at the Morgan lake trailhead,for Michael Murphy. Michael Murphy is to the rail trails of Dutchess county what Fred Schaeffer is to the Walkway.Michael Murphy is the person who spearheaded the extension / development of the Harlem Valley RT in Dutchess county. This rail trail is the first one in Dutchess county.In 2006, as county public comisioner,he worked on the development of the old Maybrook Line ROW into the Dutchess rail trail. This RT would be the second one in the county.This would be his last public works project for the county before his retirement. He,sadly,died a short time after retirement in May of 2007.

  In addition to the above mentioned memorial,I had noted there are new black-on-white mileage markers for this section of the RT - “phase 2″. This section of the RT will remain, for at least a few more years, as a seperate rail trail from the “main” rail trail to the south. I guess the low green mileage markers from the southern trailhead in Hopewell Jct,were a bit confusing to some.There was some math involved when going in either direction to determine how far one has gone in this section.

the very northern end of the DRT - it is an additional 100 yards aproximately to the kiosk area and the memorial - for a total of 11.96 mi.

  One thing I found interesting when I had read the text on the memorial,was the phrase “Morgan Lake trailhead”. There,in a most permanent way in raised lettering on a Bronze plaque, set in a block of Granite,is Dutchess county’s intentions for the future of this linear county park. It is forever to be 12 miles in length (11.9 as per the green mileage marker) and Morgan Lake is to be the northern “trailhead” or terminus. Therefore,if that 1 mile section of abandoned ROW from here to the very east end of the Walkway OTH state park is ever purchased from CSX and developed as a connector trail to the DRT,it will not be an extension of the DRT and be under jurisdiction of the county. I don’t know under whose jurisdiction this section would be. The state as an extension of the WOTH park? Or perhaps the City of Poughkeepsie as part of a city trails system (like other cities such as Philadelphia,Denver,Seatle etc.) The latter may be a posibility. It seems the railroad,
CSX,is not wiling to sell just this section of the abandoned ROW’s in the City of Poughkeepsie it owns,but all of the ROW property it owns. IF a fair market price for all of the property can be agreed upon, and IF the funding can be obtained to purchase said property,then ALL of the former railroad’s ROW property in the City of Poughkeepsie will (leagaly) become public property ready to be developed into trails.

PHASE 3 CONSTRUCTION

07-02-10

  I had read on the DC trails website that phase 3 will be from Old Manchester Rd. - CR49 (north end) to the north end of phase 1 and to SR 82 - the southern terminus / trailhead in Hopewell Jct.,which I had thought had been done as part of phase 1 (see the phase1 report below) Therefore phase 3 will consist of 3 sub phases - 3a north of CR49 - Titusville Rd. (town of La Grange) to Old Manchester Rd.(town of Poughkeepsie), 3b south to the north end of phase 1 (town of East Fishkill) and 3c that last 1/2 mile and the southern trailhead in Hopewell Jct. I had also read that the crossing at CR49 - Titusville Rd. will be an above grade crossing. This will be a change from the original ROW which was an at grade crossing.When phase 4,the new bridge over SR 55 and that last section to Overocker Rd is completed,there will be a a contiguous trail from there to at least SR 376 in East Fishkill.The “turbo jocks” will love that,doing rail trail time trials. The trail police will be busy handing out speeding tickets! The crossing at SR 376 in East Fishkill is currently an at grade crossing. My guess is that this may be changed to an above grade crossing as well.
 

  At CR 49 - Titusville Rd.,the access gates have been removed on either side. At Maloney Rd. there was additional concrete forms and rebar work for the new retaining walls / bridge supports. There was no activity at Diddel Rd. A few years ago I had ridden the ROW from Old Manchester Rd. to see the how far north the first section of the DRT - phase 1 - went. I had gotten south of Didell Rd. when I came to a small RR bridge over the Sprout Creek. I could see SR 376 just beyond the other side. At the time I was not wiling to tip toe across the bridge and turned around. This time I rode SR 376 to where the ROW crossed the highway.I then rode the short distance to the north end of the first completed section of the rail trail. On the return,I rode the old ROW north from 376 to the south side of the Sprout Creek bridge.This time I tiptoed across the bridge to continue north on the old ROW.I had noted that work was underway removing the remaining concrete suports for this bridge. This did not make sense at first,but if the crosssing at SR 376 is changed to an above grade crossing,then a new, higher bridge will have to be built to match the new grade of the ROW

SOUTHERN

07-02-10 phase 1

  After a refreshment stop at the nearby deli in Brookmead plaza,I returned to the ROW highway crossing and continued north on the old ROW toward the north end of the open and completed phase 1 section. In short time I spoted the parked cars at the litle parking lot at the phase 1 north end. One of the first surprises for myself, riding this section of the RT, is that only half is paved.The surface is split longitudialy.One side is hard surface asphalt for wheels,the other side is soft surface dirt / hard packed sand for horses or maybe runners / walkers who may want a softer surface. The other surprise came, after riding a short bit,when I passed a HJ 2.0 mileage marker. I had known that this section is suposed to be 1.7 miles in length, and so this had me puzled at first.Then I had realized this section does not go all the way to the old depot in the Hopewell Junction rail yard (in the village of Hopewell Junction) On the DC trails website it does indeed state that phase 1 goes from Bridge Street - SR 376 to Walton Lake. However,I am not familiar enough with the Hopewell Jct. village and rail yard to know that there is some distance from the highway to the old depot. In addition,it had seemed inconceivable by myself that this first section of the RT would not go from at least the old depot and include a trailhead parking area and kiosk as was done with phase 2 here in Poughkeepsie.This southern section was so different from the much “classier” and complete  phase 2 section here in Poughkeepsie,if not for the sinage,I would not have known I was indeed on the Dutchess rail trail.I now understand the coment by someone I had talked to last year, when the pahse 2 section opened,that the phase 2 section with the kiosks, paved parking lots,and full width paved trail surface,is “nicer” than phase 1.

  As I neared the southern end of phase 1 in Hopewell Jct. at SR 376,not at the old depot,I had seen some major construction of what apeared to be a new motor vehicle road,adjacent to the RT. With a bright red fire hydrant protruding up from the not-yet-completed grade and several long white small diameter pipes extending even higher than the fire hydrant,and several blue colored large diameter pipes not-yet-fully buried,it looked like some sort of large outdoor industrial Independence Day art exhibit.There was an at grade RT crossing at the south end.There is pedestrian crossing striping on the roadway. On the other side, though,there was a TRAIL CLOSED sign and some construction barrels. Undaunted by the trail closed sign,I continued south on the old ROW into the rail yard. The old balast had not been removed yet from this section and so this section was quite rough. I emerged from the woods into the open rail yard, and there it was ,in all of its dilapidated “glory”,the old depot. In some of my Maybrook Line history research,I had found some information about the restoration of the depot. The old depot aparently was not part of the DRT project and the county did not include money for the depot restoration by a seperate entity - a “friends” of the depot preservation / RR historical society. Actualy the depot should have been the trailhead and have been included in the overall rail trail project.The depot as part of phase 1 would have been restored,a paved parking lot would have been built. There would have been an access gate / entrance onto the actual trail at the north end of the rail yard where I emerged from the woods traveling south on the very un-developed ROW.

the still active Beacon-Danbury branch line looking east

  Conrail,now CSX,had removed all the track from the Maybrook line west branch - Maybrook to Hopewell Jct. - back in the early 1980’s. However, on the “east branch” - Beacon to Danbury CT - they left the track and still maintained the ROW and had rail (freight) operations along  this section. In the mid 1990’s,Metro North (commuter) RR bought this branch for a potential new line or division. (of course way back when there was passenger service as well as freight service along this branch) As far as I know,that has yet to happen. I remember when I was still living on the east side of the county in the charming village of Pawling (station stop PAWLING in RR parlance - I had lived there untill 1995),on a trip south on the Harlem line,I had seen that MNCRR had put up station stop signs. One I remember was the one for DYKEMAN,just north of what was called at the time BREWSTER NORTH. There is a small rail yard and repair facility here. (Metro North has since re-named this stop to the old name PUTNAM JUNCTION - there was a Putnam branch line that used to go west from here) This scenic,now single track, Beacon-Danbury branch crosses over the Harlem line near the hamlet of Towners,enters Dutchess county near the hamlet of Holmes (town of Pawling) then along Whaley Lake (elev. 700 ft. aproximately) to the north end,then a swithback descent down to Stormville, through a rock cut,to Hopwell Jct. and south east from there to the Hudson river where this branch line connects with the Hudson Line. In Hopewell Jct. the ROW of this still active line,under jurisdiction / ownership of Metro North, merges with the old ROW yet-to-be Dutchess rail trail (almost entirely) under jurisdiction / ownership of the county of Ductchess. It would seem from some of what I had read as part of my Maybrook Line research,there may have been a dispute over the the extent of ownership by the county in regards to the old ROW within the rail yard area in Hopewell Jct.This may explain,in part,the 3 year delay in doing that last bit of RT. Indeed one of the odities I had noted on the 2006 planning map of Hopewell Jct.is that the map shows the RT extending beyond the depot to the SR 82 overpass (the map does not give any indication as to the elevation difference between the hwy. and the ROW) I had always kind of wondered about this. One could only go another 1/4 mile before one comes to a locked access gate with a no tresspassing sign. The RT should have started at the depot.This would have been mile 0.0.The depot is at the north end of the rail yard and should be far enough from the extent of Metro North’s ROW property as to not cause any issues.

the very south end of the yet-to-be Dutchess rail trail

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28. June 2010 by Kevin.

06-25-10

June 2010 - the Hudson Valley RT is just feet away from the Walkway OTH

the new side trail at rt 9W

  When I had gotten to the west end of the Walkway,I had seen that the barricade had been moved to the side.There was a mound of fill dirt and gravel just feet away from the very west end of the WOTH state park.I had seen that there is no bridge yet over the ROW / RT-yet-to-be at Mile Hill Road. There is still that pre-fab tunnel. There was a bit of some additional concrete retaining wall / portal form and re-bar work.There was no activity at Vineyard Ave. There was quite a bit of activity at Commercial Ave., though.A worker waved me past so that I could continue on to the old, partialy open, section of the RT. They were clearing an area much wider than the paved path part of the RT. The Hudson Valley Rt is a double wide RT. Half is paved and is  a 12 foot wide bike-pedestrian path The other half is not paved, and is intended for Equestrain use.

  As I was about to leave the east end area of the (open phase 1) RT,I saw a box truck aproaching from the Commercial Ave. end through the construction area. I had seen an explosives sign on the front of the truck. A BMW with the custom liscense plates “PYRO PRO” followed behind the truck. I had thought,briefly at first,that this truck might be going to the construction area on the old - phase 1 section of the RT where there is an old tunnel being removed. A bit of wishful thinking on my part to speed up the process so that the existing RT would not be split in 2 sections, and that New Paltz Rd. - the Atlantic Coast Route - would be open. I had thought it odd though, that if this were true,why were they driving the truck all the way from the very east end and not access the RT from New Paltz Rd. near to the construction area on the RT? After the truck passed, I began to ride west to the aforementioned construction area on the RT. I shortly came upon an area of the RT with yellow caution tape across the whole width of the RT. A worker pulled back a section of the caution tape to let the truck into the area. I would find out the truck was carying fireworks, and a fireworks shell launching area was being set up. As it was a week before the big day for such pyrotechnics,this must be for a church carnival fireworks show. The RT, more or less,passes behind the Catholic church’s athletic field and school where the carnival would be.

fireworks displayed during the Walkway grand opening ceremony - 10/02/09

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20. June 2010 by Kevin.

06-17-10

town of LaGrange CR49 crossing - the main construction staging area at the
north end of this new section being built

  Phase 3 construction is underway When I had checked the Dutchess trails website last year during the phase 2 construction,I aparently had gotten the start and completion dates reversed.I had thought phase 3 construction would start in the Fall of this year,2010,but as per the website,phase 3 is to be completed in the Fall,and would start this Spring.I had seen on the website that phase 3 construction was underway.This bit-more-than 4 mile section,will go south from CR 49 - Titusville Rd.,in the town of LaGrange,to the north end of the previously completed and open phase 1 section in the town of East Fishkill.This will be the longest section to be built. Once phase 3 is complete,the combined sections will make a bit-more-than 6 miles of RT between Hopewell Jct. and CR 49 in LaGrange.
This will be the middle of the RT. As per the website, phase 4 would be the “biggie”,the new $6M bridge over SR 55.This wil be the final section of the 12 miles total RT.There are plans for a future phase 5 to replace the bridge over SR 115 - Salt Point Tpk. Most noteably,there are no future plans,by the county of Dutchess,for a phase 6 to extend the RT from the north-west end of the open phase 2 section to the east end of the Walkway. With the Dutchess RT phase 3 project,and the Hudson Valley RT phase 2 project,(Ulster county - town of Lloyd)) there are now 2 RT projects,of 2 different rail trails, along the same ROW, on both sides of the Hudson river. I would ride out CR 49 to where the ROW crosses the road,at grade,to see if there was any construction activity at this end. It had seemed that the construction would be mostly from the north to the south. There was a main “staging” area and construction trailer on the north side of the road.

  In the late 1990’s,I had mapped out a parallel route along the abandoned Maybrook line ROW. It was to become a rail trail.I had thought,at the time, this would happen in a few short years,and as the RT was built,I would have a route to ride to the sections that are open. At the time I had ridden south into the town of Wappingers,and the town highway department were removing one of the bridge-tunnels (a “brunnel”) over several of the town roads that the ROW passed over. A “mere” 13 years latter,riding a different bycycle,I was at the same location,where there was a construction crew working on the latest section of the Dutchess Rail Trail. They were building the foundation/support for … you guessed it,a NEW BRIDGE! for the RT over Maloney Rd. near the intersection with Daley Rd. I then rode another town road to where the ROW crossed over Diddell Rd. There was no work yet for the new RT bridge over this road.

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16. June 2010 by Kevin.

The weather forcast for the month of May should have been - summer with brief periods of spring.  Preceding this weekend it had been very summer like with tempatures in the mid 90’s (F) and afternoon thunderstorms. Indeed March had been unusualy warm as well. My first ride of the year I was wearing my summer touring shorts and a T shirt.I also had to apply sunscreen. I have already gone through an entire bottle of sunscreen which would almost last a normal entire season.

Fri. 5/28

  Originaly the forecast was for rain / thunderstorms today,but was OK.Today would prove to be quite nice with relatively low humidity and temps in the 80’s.I would go for a short ride across the river (via the Walkway OTH state park of course) to do a bit of shopping and to check on the status of the Hudson Valley RT “phase 2″ extension project at the start of the holiday weekend. (see seperate blog report below)

Sat. 5/29

  Today would have the weather that Friday was suposed to have.With high humidity and a threat of thunderstorms,I did not ride today. I would,instead,set up my window unit air conditioner for the season.

Sun. 5/30

  I had wanted to return to the Roosevelt Farm Lane - Hyde Park Trail.I had planed on riding this trail from rt 9G across from Val Kill - Elanor’s home - to US rt. 9 and the FDR home NHS during this weekend. The FDR Home traditionaly has had a WWII encampment on the grounds during this weekend,and other Memorial day related events and programs.The 1.7 mile ride through the woods would provide me with cool releif from the blazing sun.

SLIDE SHOW VIDEO (MS Windows Media .wmv)

  Once at the south end of the trail,at US rt9,I was able to easily find the Tulip leaf blaze for the Hyde Park Trail on the other side of the highway, on the FDR home grounds. The trail went up,the wrong way,on a paved service road.I ended up near Belafield “cottage”. This so called “cottage” would be quite a respectful home by any standard. With all the traffic,and my focusing on getting to the military encampment and the Wallace visitor center,I had lost the trail markers.I would first ride to the visitor center to get a cold soda to wash down the sandwich I had brought with me. I had previously known that the new captain, Cmndr. Robert Chadwick, of the USS Roosevelt - DDG 80, was going to be in Hyde Park for various Memorial Day activities and celebrations. I would find out he would be giving a presentation in the auditorium of the visitor center at 15:00 hrs. (3:00 PM to the non-military) As a former member of the ”Tonkin Gulf Yatch Club” - USS Coral Sea CVA 43,this would be of special interest to myself.This would provide me with enough time to take a walking tour of the military encampment spread out in the field across from the FDR presidential library. The Memorial day weekend encampment was primarily WW II, but other military wars and or periods were represented as well.There was representation of WW I,WW II,Vietnam,and Desert Storm and the present.The Korean war period may have been represented,but the vehicles etc. are so close to WW II,I may have thought what I was looking at was of WW II.The very first military camp I had seen was in fact a WW I era Army camp with a period vehicle,a person (who looked old enough to be a Korean war vet) dressed in the typical WW I era “doughboy” uniform of a “non com” (non-commisioned officer - pvt.,corpral etc - to the non military) ,a dashing looking fellow dressed in a typical period officers uniform (weraing decidedly non WW I era wrap around sunglases) and a fully restored 1918 Vicker Mk 1 machine gun.There are typicaly foreign army camps represented at these Memorial Day weekend encampments.The red star on the sign of one camp clearly identified this to be a Soviet Russian army camp. The Vietnam era camp was identified not only by the equipment or the
 or the M16 weapon most associated with this war, but by the late 1960’s newspapers,and a Life magazine, of the period. I heard some gunfire. A re-enacted “battle” had begun.

USS Roosevelt DDG 80

   After the re-enacted battle I returned to the Wallace visitor center for the presentation by the new captain, Cmndr. Robert Chadwick II, of the USS Roosevelt DDG 80.The Roosevelt is named for both Franklin and Eleanor. The ship was oficialy adopted by Hyde Park and the county of Dutchess. The Roosevelt is an Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class of modern guided missile destroyers.Thus the “G” designation.The Roosevelt is of the variant with a small helicopter flight deck, and hangers,
 at the aft end. (the rear of the ship to the non-nautical) She is 510 feet long and 10,000 tons displacement and has 4 GE gas turbines, or as her captain put it it “four DC 10 jet engines”, for a total of 100,000 HP to the 2 shafts.The propellers,or “screws”,are variable pitch to allow for foward and reverse. Like a ferry boat,but much bigger. When the captain began to talk about the more technical aspects of the ship it sounded like an episode of “Star Trek”,with phrases like “phased array” - “Aegis” and techno-mil acronyms like AN/SPY 1D - MK 99 - ATWCS - MK 41 VLS - AAW - ASW.

Mon. 5/31 Memorial Day

  I had wanted to see just how far it was from Morgan Lake,the northern terminus of the Dutchess rail trail, to the east end of the Walkway via the old ROW,and if indeed I could actualy ride it,at least in part. It would seem that this section of abandoned ROW,which technicaly is still owned by CSX, has become a public use trail. After tip-toeing across the rotting RR ties on a small bridge at the north end of Morgan Lake,I was able to ride to the SR 9G underpass tunnel.This proved to be the most dificult section as there was a debris and dirt berm blocking access.I had to walk around the obstruction via a well worn,very narrow,footpath to the other side under the highway.After negotiating several other bridges,I arrived at the east end of the Walkway exactly 1 mile from the end of the Dutchess RT at Morgan Lake.

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14. June 2010 by Kevin.

  I have noted some confusion in regrads to the area trailways near the Walkway Over The Hudson.There are information kiosks for the Walkway Loop Trail at either end of the WOTH.These kiosks have a large map of the “trail”,which is actualy a street and public road loop route. This map depicts a future time when all of the area trailways connect with the WOTH and are fully completed To add to all of  this confusion, Google Maps seems to think the WOTH is the Hudson Valley RT.I have created an annotated version of the WLT map, as a PDF format document that should help to clear the confusion.Here are some important points that should help:
 

  The Walkway Over The Hudson,the Hudson Valley RT and the Dutchess RT,are all different sections of the same RR ROW - the old “Maybrook Line”.The Maybrook Line went from Maybrook in Orange county NY to Hopewell Jct.,both the RR reference and the village with the same name, in Dutchess County

  The Walkway Over The Hudson is a seperate entity from the Hudson Valley RT and the Dutchess RT.The WOTH is a state park. It is the repurposed 122 year old RR bridge/trestle that spaned the Hudson river between Poughkeepsie and Highland.It is now a pedestrian / bicycle bridge and linear state park.The Walkway became a state park October 3,2009.Prior to this,it was under the ownership of the Walkway OverThe Hudson organization. This organization are now “friends” of the Walkway.The WOTH is part of Adventure Cycling’s Atlantic Coast Route.This route will be part of the US bicycle route system - the route number will be USBR 1

  The rail trail on the west side of the Hudson,Ulster county,in the town of Lloyd and the village of Highland, is named the “Hudson Valley Rail Trail”.This RT is under the jurisdiction of / ownership by the town of Lloyd.Therefore it is a linear town park. Currently,as of 06-09-10, this paved 2 1/4 mile RT goes from the Tony Williams town park on (Ulster) CR15 to near Commercial Ave. in the village of Highland.There is a short 1/4 mile unpaved section to an un-named paved semi private side road to Commercial Ave. FYI: this side road is a very steep 15% grade.There is ongoing construction to extend this RT east from this point to the west end of the Walkway. (not to confuse you but,the very east end of this RT will also be the very west end of the Walkway) The expected completion of this project was originaly to be late Fall of this year, 2010,but as per the recent newsletter available on the HudVal RT website,the work is ahead of schedule and the new phase 2 section may be open in October of this year.

annotated map of the Hudson Valley RT - as of 06-14-10

  The Dutchess rail trail will,when finaly complete - 2011?… 2012? - will be 12 miles in length.The northern terminus is (and will be) the Morgan Lake park in the city of Poughkeepsie.The southern terminus is Hopewell Jct.This RT is under the jurisdiction of / ownership by the county of Dutchess.Therfore it is
 a linear county park. When the RT was planed,Dutchess county was not able to obtain ownership at the time, of the ROW from what is now the east end
 of the Walkway,and so Morgan Lake became the northern terminus of the RT as per the 2006 plans.The 1 mile section of undeveloped ROW from Morgan Lake to the east end of the Walkway is curently, as of 06-09-10, still owned by the RR - CSX.

  In 2025??? there may or will?? be 19 miles (maybe a bit more) of paved (well.. technicaly 17 3/4 miles of paved asphalt and 1 1/4 miles of concrete decking on the Walkway) contiguous rail trail from Hopewell Jct. in Dutchess county to (near) SR 299 in the town of Lloyd in Ulster county.

annotated Walkway Loop Trail map

HUDSON VALLEY RAIL TRAIL

06-11-10

  The new section of the RT is taking shape. I had thought the “bridge” that was to be put in place, at Mile Hill Rd,would well… be a BRIDGE - a new span over the ROW,as there was, and will be once again,over Vineyard Ave. Therfore what a surprise it was to see,on this day,a prefab concrete tunnel in place over the ROW / not-yet-a-RT.I had seen several men,one of whom seemed to be the project engineer, I had told him I had thought there was to be a bridge He told me there is.          I looked down at the ROW and told him,”well… down there it’s a tunnel” Aparently Mile Hill road used to,and now once again,crossed over the ROW,as does rt 9W and SR 9G in the city of Poughkeepsie,via a bridge-tunnel - a “brunnel”.From the perspective of the road it is a bridge,but down on the ROW it is a tunnel.The portals for the sectional pre-fab tunnel part had a faux ”stone” block face and a spot for the keystone,that presumeably will have the year (2010) carved in it. I rode over to the RT access at Commercial Ave.There was no activity in this area. Where the ROW used to, and once again will,goes over Vineayard Ave., I had noted construction activity on the east side in the Vintage Village area. I had found out from the spring 2010 newsletter of the Hudson Valley RT,that this area was the Pratt lumber yard. I had also found out that the RT is split in two as an old bridge - one of those “brunnels” - where (Ulster) CR12 New Paltz Rd. went over the RT,is replaced.This would mean that CR 12 - New Paltz road would be closed in this area.This road is part of ACA’s Atlantic Coast Route and future USBR1.There was no activity in the Commercail Ave. area. I would ride to the pavilion and then on CR 12 to confirm that it is closed.It was.I rode back to the pavilion.I then turned left off the county highway onto a town road, So. Chodike Lake Rd.There was a red and black bike route sign with an arrow pointing in this direction.This was presumeably for a bike-a-thon ride.I knew this town road went to SR 299.I had seen the official highway department orange detour sign for New Paltz Rd. - CR12 on this road.I then returned to the RT and rode to the Commercial Ave. area and then Vineyard Ave. and Tilson Ave. to US rt 9W.I rode up the sidewalk on the west side to see what,if any, progress had been made. I had seen that there had been quite a bit of work done where the ROW goes under the highway.I had noted that there seemed to be a more substantial grade,for a RR, than the original ROW had.There was perhaps a 5% grade from the tunnel. Only in NY (or PA) could there be a hill on an otherwise nearly dead flat RT! I had seen what may be the begining of the side trail to the highway. This would explain the grade on the main ROW,the main ROW is to meet the side trail half way up.

05-28-10

  At Mile Hill road,on the Haviland Rd. side there was a newley poured new concrete bridge abutment / retaining wall on the south side.The forms were still in place.The big pipe was still exposed.I rode over to the Commercial Ave. area in the village of Highland.I had seen an Adesta work truck.
Adesta is the fiber optic company that had paid $400,000 to the town of Lloyd for the right to use the ROW to route their cable.I had talked briefly to a worker,with a cable locater,placing flags marking the FO cable route.He had told me that the new bridges will be put in place in late June.

DUTCHESS RAIL TRAIL

05-31-10

the old RR signal at Grand Ave. - as it apeared June 25,2009

The old RR signal at Grand Ave. ,town of Poughkeepsie, (phase 2 section) has been removed,presumeably for restoration.On the DRT phase
II map,it was noted that the old signal is slated for restoration.

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17. May 2010 by Kevin.

05-10-10

  Work on the forms and rebar lattice, for the new concrete bridge abutments-supports for the Mile Hill road overpass,have begun. In the US rt. 9W tunnel area, I had seen the “mini” Cat back hoe on the west side at highway level.This “mini” back hoe may be the only piece of excavation equipment that could work inside the tunnel.There was no aparent new work on Vineyard Ave. in the area of the ROW overpass. Over the past 36 years trees have actualy begun to grow up in the middle of the ROW.In this overpass area on Vineyard Ave.,there are several small trees that would have to be cleared before the new bridge can be put into place.There are also some utility lines that would have to be moved as well.In the ROW area near Comercial Ave.the debris berm, that went half way up the old RR signal,has been removed.

05-02-10

  The Mile Hill Rd. overpass has been dug out.The ROW has been restored. The new concrete bridge supports on both sides of Vineyard Ave.,in the village of Highland,are in place. On my previous visit I rode on the RT from Comercial Ave. to the depot-pavilion,I had noted that the area next to the pavilion was being cleared.There is now a cleared area, presumably for a new auxilary parking lot.

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27. April 2010 by Kevin.

04-24-10

  The Mile Hill Rd. overpass has been mostly dug out revealing a large drain pipe,which had allowed a small stream to pass under the road. I had seen the new drain pipes ready to be put in place.Work on the new bridge over Vineyard Ave.,in the village of Highland,has begun with the forms in place for the pouring of the new concrete supports.

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21. April 2010 by Kevin.

04-15-10

  I had wanted to ride a portion of the new Atlantic Coast Route,in Dutchess county,from the Walkway in Poughkeepsie to Salt Point. After a leisurely
 lunch at the Walkway,I had realized with all the stops to take notes,and pictures,there would not be enough time to go all the way to Salt Point.
 I would do a shorter loop to Hyde Park and back instead. That,at least,was my revised plan for the day …

  After 4 miles,I was at the Stop & Shop in Hyde Park.I had stoped at the store for some refreshment.While enjoying my Snickers bar,and a cold,non alcoholic, beverage,a city of Poughkeepsie hybrid transit bus pulled up to the bus stop.At this point all was well with the bicycle and myself.I had thought “I will ride home… I don’t need the bus”. Interestingly,the City Bus NORTHSIDE route, goes all the way up to Hyde Park.One of the relatively new diesel-electric hybrid transit buses,with bicycle rack, has been consistently used on this route. Another 1/2 mile,I was at the Hyde Park Brewery and across from the FDR Home NHS.Next door to the brewery,is the southern trailhead for,what is now, the fully developed FDR NHS Farm Lane,part of the Hyde Park trail system.This was a pleasant surprise.

the Roosevelt Farm Lane 2010

When I had gotten my used Giant Rincon ATB (an older model with rack mounts,no suspension,and 1.5 inch tires) a few years ago,I had read that the property
between the FDR home on US rt.9 and Val Kill,Elanor’s home,had been aquired for public use and future trail development.There was an old farm road that went through the forested property.FDR used to drive between the 2 homes on this road.This would be a good oportunity for a first off road ride with my newley aquried ATB,I had thought.I would ride to the northern end of the property across from Val Kill on sr 9G. I would ride,or atempt to ride,that old farm road to US rt. 9 across from the FDR home.There had been some spring rain and flooding a few weeks prior to this 2008 outing.The old farm road started out as just that,an unpaved road, but quickly deteriorated to a technical mountain bike trail.Aparantly,sections of the old farm road over the years,or perhaps with the recent rain,had been washed away.There was just a jumble of rocks and boulders in one section,that was on a downhill grade.I must not have secured my bike computer fully,and at one point had come off the handlebar mount-receiver.  I had to walk back up the road-trail to retrieve it. (that Topeak “Panoram” bike computer is quite rugged - still working to this day) One section was actualy part of a flowing creek and I was riding the muddy creek bottom.When I arrived at US rt.9,I and my bicycle were coated with mud.My ATB had had a proper mountain bike “christening”.Therefore,how nice it was to see the Department of the Interior National Historic Site sign at the southern trail head on US rt. 9.The actual Roosevelt Farm Lane road-trail is part of the longer main trail, of the Hyde Park trails, emblazoned with a distinctiveTulip leaf marker.After a bit of coarser,rougher gravel,the road-trail surface was hard packed fine gravel and much smoother. One could easily ride this with a road touring or “hybrid” bicycle equiped with 700 X 35c tires.The main road-trail is the only trail that bicycles were allowed. Bicycles are not allowed on the side hiking trails.There were motor-vehicle-road-like signs on the Farm Lane trail, at ATB height.There was even a 15 MPH speed limit sign.There were a series of small roller coaster hills at one point.On one of the downhills,I exceeeded the speed limit a tad. I had hoped there was not a HP bike cop with a hand-held radar gun at the bottom of the hill!     I will have to return for a more thourough exploration of this trail from Val Kill,past the FDR home and to the Vanderbilt mansion.

  I had almost,but not quite,made it to the parking lot at sr 9G,when I had thought,at first,there might be some more of that rougher,coarser gravel,but this was not the case and indeed my back tire was flat,as I had feared.The second part of today’s adventure was about to begin. I dis-mounted and rolled my bike to a fence at the north end,away from the path of motor vehicles entering, to begin the fixing-of-the-flat “ritual”. When I went to get everything needed from the tool bag,I had discovered I did not have any more self-sticking glueless patches.There was only one “regular” patch left,but alas the glue had dried up.I had been carrying an old tube with me thinking this was a tube that could hold air at least long enough to get me to the Stop & Shop so that I could take the bus,which I now might need, home.The tube did not hold air even long enough to allow me to re-pack  the bike.Time for “plan C”. I would have to rely on the kindness of a stranger to give me and my bicycle a ride,in their motor vehicle, to the bus stop.As I pondered my fate,hopeing for a “trail Angel” to provide me and my bike a ride to the bus stop, someone arrived.A woman got out her car and let out a large  sized dog from the back of her car.Another woman then arrived with an even larger vehicle,an SUV with a “base” Thule rack on top,with 2 even larger dogs in the back.I would ask this woman if she could provide me a ride to the Stop & Shop so that I could take the bus home.Ellen would be willing if only her friend,the first woman that arrived,could take care of her ATB sized dogs so that I could put my ATB in the back of her SUV while she drove me to the bus stop and back. Ellen’s friend agreed. My trail “Angels” had come to the rescue. I took off the front wheel and slid my bike in the back.At the bus stop,I extracted my bicycle and front wheel from the back of Ellen’s SUV.I thanked Ellen,and put the front wheel back on the bicycle so that I could roll it easily.The bus arrived.I had asked the driver if the MAIN STREET bus had one of the newer buses with a bike rack. He told me yes and I put in the extra fare for the transfer.This will get me a few blocks from where I live,thus avoiding the indignity of wallking all the way from downtown with my bycycle. At the main stop,I took the bike off the NOTHSIDE route bus and onto the MAIN STREET route bus. At the stop near my home,like a team mechanic at the Tour de France, I jumped out of the bus,put down my bag and helmet on the sidewalk,took the bicycle off the rack, and folded the rack back up all within seconds. I then,like Tevia in “Fiddler on The Roof” when his horse could not go any farther and he had to walk his disabled horse home,walked my “horse” home the last few blocks.
ahh… yes it is not about the riding … it is about the adventure

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13. April 2010 by Kevin.

04-07-10

the ROW looking east in the area of the ”Vintage Village”

picture of the ROW and old station in the Vintage Village area - taken September 2009

  I had ridden up a side street off Tilson Ave., in the village of Highland, to get to the back end of the “Vintage Village” complex of antique stores to check on the progress,or lack thereof, of the RT “phase 2″ construction,and to take some pictures of course. I had just dismounted and leaned my bike against a dumpster, when one of the construction workers told me I would have to leave as he had to close the gate. This made me wonder about this small section of the ROW. In addition to the “Antique Village”,there is a small warehouse that has been closed for many years,and what may have been an old freight station,or perhaps the old passenger station? that had been converted for a business of some sort that also had been closed. Is all of the property,including the ROW, in this area under a single private ownership? IE: not the town of Lloyd. Will the completed new section of the rail trail in this area be fenced in with a road crossing for the back entrance access road? The ROW east of this area to rt. 9W has been cleared,but the short sectioon of ROW in that upper section with the warehouse and the old station,has not.

Hudson Valley RT - the east end of the current open section

  I then rode back out to Vineyard Ave. and then onto Commercial Ave. to get to the unpaved “tail end” of the current paved open section of the rail trail. I have ridden through this section to-from the main paved section of the RT many times over the years.However,I have never been on the RT this early in the season. With the sparse vegitation this time of the year,my focused attention due to the recent construction,and as part of that construction the removal of some overgrowth,I was able to see some details missed over the years. I had discovered,for example,a complete section of track that led up to that old warehouse. This must have been a siding from the main track. There were trees growing up from the middle of the track.

ROW cleared from Vineyard Ave. to Comercial Ave.

old warehouse and siding in the Comercial Ave. area

  From the end of the current open section,I rode west on the open paved section to the pavilion. Over the past few years I have noticed the trail surface to be rough in some sections. I had seen on this day on the edge of the paved surface,there were some pot holes.When I had arrived at the pavilion,I had noticed some clearing along the trail just east of the pavilion. The access gate at the private side road,in this area,was open.The pavilion,after all these many years,still does not have have signs on the 3 doors to indicated which one is the restroom.The middle restroom door was open on this day.

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