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Delaware and Ulster Railroad

Delaware and Ulster Railroad
Delaware and Ulster logo.png
Locale Delaware County, New York
Dates of operation 1983–present
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Arkville, New York

Coordinates: 42°8′51″N 74°37′12″W / 42.14750°N 74.62000°W / 42.14750; -74.62000 The Delaware and Ulster Railroad (DURR) is a heritage railroad based in Arkville, New York.

The last regularly scheduled passenger train over the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad (U&D) tracks was operated between Kingston and Oneonta by the New York Central Railroad on March 31, 1954. The tracks were then cut back to Bloomville in 1965 to make way for construction of Interstate 88 near Oneonta, and for lack of freight business west of Bloomville. Ownership of the tracks passed to Penn Central in 1968, and to the government-backed Conrail on April 1, 1976. The last westbound freight train over the mountains was operated by Conrail on September 26, 1976, with the return trip to gather up all remaining freight cars taking place on October 2, 1976.

The DURR is a subsidiary of the not-for-profit Catskill Revitalization Corporation, of Stamford, NY, which owns the former U&D railbed between Highmount, New York and Bloomville, New York: 45 miles. The line was acquired from Penn Central in 1980, for $770,000, following the successful regional advocacy for this by noted transportation attorney Donald L. Pevsner. Funding was provided by the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation, of Hobart, NY, which currently has $57 million in assets derived from IBM stock that was sold to Mr. O'Connor directly by Thomas Watson, Sr., IBM's founder, in the 1920s. The Foundation conveyed the 45-mile-long line to the Delaware County Towns through which it passed, and these Towns later conveyed it to the non-profit Catskill Revitalization Corporation. The new tourist railroad started operations in 1983, between Highmount and Arkville, NY, and extended operations later to the Arkville-Roxbury, NY segment.


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