ARKVILLE, N.Y. — The Delaware & Ulster Railroad, a heritage rail operation that last ran in 2019, has announced plans to resume operation beginning in May.
“The railroad is heading in a new direction literally and figuratively,” Todd Pascarella, executive director of the Catskills Revialization Corp., the nonprofit organization that operates the railroad, said in an announcement on Facebook. “We will be offering train rides aboard a combination of cars and engines that have been here for decades. However, for the first time in 25 years, riders will be traveling east from Arkville toward Fleischmanns and eventually to Highmount.” Since 2001, trains had run north to Halcottsville and Roxbury, N.Y.
The railroad has also brought in a contractor, Stephen Lane, to manage the operation while track reconstruction continues. “Stephen has quite a bit of experience in the mechanics and logistics of railroads, but the thing we need most right now perhaps is urgency and commitment to the business aspect of our railroad,” Pascarella said, “and Stephen’s entrepreneurial background and leadership experience gives him that balance as well.”
Arkville, in the western Catskills Mountains, is about a 140-mile drive north of New York City and about 70 miles southwest of Albany. The railroad operates on a former New York Central line last operated on a revenue basis by Conrail in 1976. Operations are set to turn on Saturday, May 10, and are currently scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays the remainder of the year. For more information or tickets, visit the railroad’s website.
According to The Delaware & Ulster Railroad’s detailed website, there are some interesting Mother’s Day Train rides. Well, wouldn’t it be great if there were also Father’s Day Train acts?
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