A man looks out the back of an Adirondack Scenic Railroad train as it pulls out of Saranac Lake on Oct. 26, 2016, to spend the winter in Utica — possibly never to return if the railroad group loses its lawsuit against a state plan to remove this portion of track. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

MALONE — The judge presiding over a lawsuit filed against the state by the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society requested more information from lawyers on certain issues at a hearing Monday morning.

Franklin County Judge Robert Main Jr. did not give a timeframe for response, and the particulars were not specified at the hearing, held at the Franklin County Courthouse in Malone.

This was the first hearing on the suit filed by ARPS, which operates Adirondack Scenic Railroad tourist trains in summer and fall between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid as well as between Utica and the Old Forge area. ARPS sued the state Adirondack Park Agency and state departments of Environmental Conservation and Transportation.

The state last year finalized a decision to take out 34 miles of train tracks between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake and to replace them with a multi-use trail. The state also plans to upgrade 45 miles of poor-condition tracks to let trains travel north as far as Tupper Lake.

Lawyers for the railroad argued Monday that the state plan violates the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, that is raises historical preservation issues, that the state ignored economic data and that the decision was arbitrary and capricious.

Legal counsel from New York’s attorney’s general office, representing the state, countered that the plan follows the basic guidelines for a travel corridor and that state officials did review the economic data the railroad submitted, but is not required to adopt plans based on that data. Counsel also presented a letter of resolution pledging to create a mitigation plan for historic preservation.

During the early phases of the lawsuit, which was filed last April, the state also found that it did not own fee title to several parcels of land: one at the Lake Placid train station, which is owned by the Lake Placid/North Elba Historical Society, and three parcels centered around the North Country Community College campus in Saranac Lake. Judge Main raised questions about the title issue, despite the state having letters of intent to transfer the property from the Saranac Lake parcel owners: NCCC, Franklin County and Essex County.