Orange Heritage Trailway

The Orange Heritage Trailway is a 14.5 mile[1] rail trail in Orange County, New York, that runs along the roadbed of the Erie Railroad Main Line from Harriman to a point halfway between Goshen and Middletown, New York.

Orange Heritage Trailway
Orange Heritage Trailway near Chester, New York
Length12.2 mi (19.6 km)
LocationOrange County, New York
Trailheads
  • St James Place, Goshen
  • Chester Train Station, Chester
  • Park-N-Ride, Monroe
  • Millpond Parkway, Monroe

History
Norfolk Southern freight train with parallel Orange Heritage Trailway. in Chester, near the NYS&W bridge.

The former Erie Railroad main line turns northwest at a junction 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, although no trailhead exists in Harriman NY.

The Erie built a freight bypass that continues north at the junction in Harriman, used by Metro-North's Port Jervis line and freight operator Norfolk Southern Railway. 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.

There is a Norfolk Southern siding off the NYS&W main line near Chester that runs along the rail trail for about 0.5 miles.

The rail trail also passes an abandoned Erie branch line in Greycourt that passes through Washingtonville and rejoins the Erie Newburgh Shortcut at Vails Gate Junction in Vails Gate.

The trail earned the designation of "National Recreation Trail" in June 2007.[2]

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 Chester area. Harnish drove for a half-mile with the dead skater on the hood of his vehicle.[3] He was found not guilty for reason of insanity and remanded to the custody of a psychiatric hospital for a period of years.[4][5][6][7]

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References
  1. openstreetmap.org
  2. "Orange Heritage Trail gets National Recreation Trail designation". The Chronicle. 2007-06-08.
  3. "Prosecutor Is Charged In Death of a Skater". Nytimes.com. 1999-07-01. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  4. "Sigler lawyer battles tirelessly to win cases". Ostrer.com. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  5. "Prosecutor faces murder charge". News.google.com. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  6. Harnisch sent off to psych hospital
  7. Harnisch going to L.I.

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