Orange Heritage Trailway - Location

Location

The ex-Erie Main Line turns northwest at a junction and tracks terminate abruptly at the defunct Nepera Chemical plant in the village of Harriman. The mostly overgrown and inaccessible road bed continues approximately two more miles through Harriman and Monroe and feature several abandoned bridges. The publicly accessible portion of the Orange Heritage Trailway rail trail begins in the vicinity of Airplane Park in Monroe.

Erie built a freight bypass that continues north at the junction and is now the active Port Jervis Line, also used by Norfolk Southern. This active freight bypass line continues north to Moodna Viaduct and Middletown by way of Salisbury Mills. This line, with six extra miles, was chosen as the route for active rail traffic when local opposition to Metro North caused the historically important Erie Main Line to be abandoned from Harriman to Middletown.

Orange Heritage Trailway also junctions an abandoned Erie branch line that runs through Washingtonville and rejoins the active Port Jervis Line at Vails Gate Junction in Vails Gate. The portion of the line visible from the trail is currently used for short-term storage of freight cars.

The Orange Heritage Trailway itself also rejoins the active Main Line at its terminus in Middletown.