Ulster and Delaware Railroad - Present Condition - Ulster County

Ulster County

Starting at Kingston Point, Milepost 0, the Trolley Museum of New York operates the remaining trackage in Kingston east of the CSX River Line, up to about Milepost 2.4. The line in this section is owned by the City of Kingston and leased to the Trolley Museum. The Trolley Museum is focused on the preservation of the use of trolleys and restoration of the old U&D Rondout Yard. It built a new engine house and shop in 1987, and the idea of rebuilding the utility building and the station has been suggested. The Museum currently operates from MP 0, Kingston Point, to MP 1, Rondout Yard, with a branch along the Strand. The track from MP 2.4 to 2.8 has been removed and the right-of-way sold to private parties.

The line from Kingston to the Delaware County line is owned by Ulster County, which bought it from the Penn Central in 1979. The Catskill Mountain Railroad leases this portion from Ulster County for tourist operations between Phoenicia and Cold Brook Station. The tracks between Kingston and Cold Brook have been cleared for track car use, and are being upgraded for full train service from Kingston west towards Phoenicia, and are currently usable by trains east of MP 5.0 (Bridge C9), and from MP 21.3 (Bridge C30) to 27.9. The Catskill Mountain Railroad commenced operations in Kingston in December 2008. Two bridges in need of repair separate the two ends of the railroad, one at MP 5 (Bridge C9) and the other at MP 21.3 (Bridge C30). On August 28, 2011, Bridge C30 was washed away due to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Irene, severing the Phoenicia operation from the Kingston operation for the time being.

The line between Phoenicia and Highmount, also leased by the Catskill Mountain Railroad, is isolated by six large washouts west of Phoenicia, and has not seen a train since regular service ended in September 1976. However, a 2+1⁄₂-mile (4.0 km) section of the line, between Giggle Hollow and Highmount, home to the scenic double horseshoe curve, was cleared for track car use in 2006 by the Trolley Museum of New York, Catskill Mountain Railroad and Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society. Another section from Big Indian to Shandaken was cleared in 2009. The abandoned roadbed from the Hunter and Kaaterskill branches in Ulster County are walkable, despite all but one of the bridges being removed (there is only one surviving bridge on the branches, near the Ulster County-Greene County border line, which is privately owned).