The Orange Heritage Trailway is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...

, that runs along the roadbed of the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

from Monroe, NY to nearby Middletown.

History

Between 1906 and 1909, the Erie Railroad constructed the Graham Line as a freight bypass around the congested Erie mainline between Harriman and Otisville, NY. In 1983,

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

chose to abandon the mainline tracks in favor of the Graham Line, which is still used by

Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut D ...

Port Jervis Line The Port Jervis Line is a predominantly single-track commuter rail line running between Suffern and Port Jervis, in the U.S. state of New York. At Suffern, the line continues south into New Jersey as NJ Transit's Main Line. The line is operated ...

and freight operator

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

. This longer route was the preferred route when local opposition to Metro-North caused the historically important Erie Main Line to be abandoned from Harriman to Middletown. The former Erie Railroad mainline turns northwest at Newburgh Junction (Harriman) and tracks terminate at the site of the now-removed and demolished Nepera Chemical plant in the village of Harriman. The undeveloped roadbed continues approximately two miles through Harriman and Monroe. The paved trail begins in Harriman NY with an informal trailhead and parking lot located at the corner of River Rd. and North Main St. There is a

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

siding off the NYS&W mainline near

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

that runs along the rail trail for about 0.5 miles. This siding is all that remains of Greycourt, which was once the site of a sizeable railroad yard and an interchange point between the Erie Railroad and the L&HR. Greycourt is also where the Erie Railroad's

Newburgh Branch The Erie Railroad Newburgh Branch is a mostly abandoned branch line that travels across the center of Orange County, New York. It survives as the CSX Vails Gate Spur between Newburgh and Vails Gate, but is abandoned between Vails Gate and the end ...

split from the mainline. The trail earned the designation of "

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

" in June 2007.

Trail death

In 1999, Paul Harnisch, an assistant district attorney for Orange County, was charged with murder for striking two skaters, killing one of them, while driving illegally on the trail in the

area. Harnish drove for a half-mile with the dead skater on the hood of his vehicle. He was found not guilty for reason of insanity and remanded to the custody of a psychiatric hospital for a period of years.

References

External links

Orange County Parks' Heritage Trail page

Orange Heritage Trailway

Official Map
{{coord missing, Hudson Valley Protected areas of Orange County, New York Heritage trails National Recreation Trails in New York (state)