Parts of Moose Club Way where pretty slick. Fun to go through, but also a little scary, because this a pretty remote part of the Adirondacks. There where a couple of moderately steep hills on the truck trail, that going up like this was a bit rough. You can understand from this picture, why the some of the Adirondack Truck Trails are still closed.
Two connected railroad corridors, long mired in uncertainty, inched closer to a potentially recreational future in the past two months.
In October, New York State reached an agreement with Saratoga & North Creek Railway (owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago) seeking a “voluntary abandonment” designation of the line that runs from North Creek to the old Tahawus mine in Newcomb. Then in November, the Warren County Public Works Committee voted 9-2 to begin the abandonment process for the 40-mile stretch of tracks the county owns from North Creek south to Hadley. Warren County also owns the land beneath the tracks. The voluntary abandonment, which has to be approved by the federal Surface Transportation Board (a process that takes about six months), frees the state, counties and municipalities involved to explore other uses for the corridor besides freight and passenger rail.
I think it would be really neat if they converted the Vanderwhacker Railroad line into a bicycle and snowmobile trail. While they can't undo the rail-bed permanently laid, they can take advantage of it to make it easier for people to hike back or bicycle and explore the wilderness during all seasons. Moreover, climate change, leading to less snow, it's increasingly difficult to have snowmobile trails with tracks under the snow. Maybe eventually they could also open it up to seasonal ATV or UTV use, although that's probably a bit of stretch for New York. Plus I think it would be nice if the Vanderwhacker Rail Bridge over the Hudson River could be safely crossed by foot.
The Chicago-based rail company that owns a controversial rail line in the central Adirondacks that the state is seeking to have declared “abandoned” has consented to the abandonment, records show.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office submitted a letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Friday indicating that Saratoga & North Creek Railway had consented to abandonment of and interim trail use on the so-called “Tahawus” rail line between North Creek and the hamlet of Tahawus in Newcomb.
It only took them 75 years to condemn and tear down Franklin Roosevelt's illegal railroad. Roosevelt claimed that it was necessary for the war effort, but one has to think it was more a way to give the middle finger to the preservationists and Tammany Hall, more generally.
Roosevelt wasn't a fan of the Forest Preserve concept to put it lightly. And he spent millions to sue the state into submission, appealing it all the way to the Supreme Court, when they could have built a railroad that was only about 10 miles out of the way and avoided forest preserve.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has asked the federal government to declare a section of railroad from North Creek to the former mining hamlet of Tahawus as an “interim trail” while it is determined whether the rails should be considered abandoned.
The DEC filed a request Monday with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board seeking a “certificate of interim trail use” for the 30-mile stretch of rails owned by Saratoga & North Creek Railway, which pulled up local stakes nearly two years ago. The DEC has been seeking to have the rail line, which ends at the hamlet of Tahawus in the town of Newcomb, declared “abandoned” after a dispute over SNCR’s decision to store old tanker cars on the line.
I was thinking the other day, it’s been a long time since I camped and spent much time in the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest. From the Vanderwhacker Mountain Firetower Trail to Lester Flow to just camping along one of the many roads up there, much can be done at weekend up there.
The last time I was up there was in May 2013, when I camped off of Northwoods Club Road and hike down to the gorge and paddled around Huntley Pond. That was fun, but I think if I go back I’d rather do Vanderwhacker Mountain and camp off of Vanderwhacker Road.
I’ve kind of avoided going back up there, as it’s a pretty long trip and involves hitting rush hour traffic on the Northway, but I think it would be a good adventure, on a nice summer weekend, not too hot once the roads get harder, because often Vanderwhacker Road aka Moose Club Road is very soft.
