A group of people pooled their resources, solicited funding and wrote grants so the train and station could be restored. Now we find that all this work will be for naught because another group wants to rip out the rails.

The arguments for this change are that:

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1. A trail will bring in more tourists and thus more money; it will be used by bikers, walkers, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobiliers.

Pro rails: The discussion should be which one will bring in the kind of tourist who will spend money here. Recent statements say that the train brings in spending customers. Bob Hest (Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Nov. 9) states that a study done projecting the income from the train vs. the trail indicates far more dollars would be brought in by the existence of the train than by a trail.

Con trails: The people who are up to biking, hiking, skiing, etc. these long trails would be people wanting a challenge, but they would not necessarily be the type who will be spending money locally. They will try to minimize expenditures here. They want the challenge, not the amenities.

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2. It would be less costly to fix a trail and maintain it than to fix and maintain rails.

Pro rails: If the costs are similar for fixing and maintaining existing rails vs. installing trails, then the rails should stay.

Con trails: The rails would have to be removed. This is a cost. In looking at the picture that Dick Beamish had of a lady jogging along while pushing a baby buggy, I noticed the smoothness to the trail. (ADE, Nov. 9) To maintain that kind of trail in the Adirondacks would be an expensive proposition. Other costs to consider: Would “porta-potties” be placed at intervals on the trail, and who would build them, provide them and maintain them? A consideration not needed for the train. More thought will have to be given for emergencies on a trail, which has not been a big concern with the train. That will be an additional cost.

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3. Decent sites are limited for snowmobiling, etc., and the corridor is being wasted by having only the train on it. Thus this new group should be given the rail corridor and the train, and the history and the hard work of another group of people, should be thrown to the curb.

Pro rails: There is no other site for the train! Unlike the other activities, the train needs to have its rails to be able to travel.

Con trails: People can walk and bike on hundreds of roads and trails. There are miles of back roads with next to no traffic. I do not know how many miles of trails have been made for the purpose of hiking, skiing and snowshoeing, but I believe it is considerable as evidenced by the number of cars at the many parking spots in the Adirondacks.

There are snowmobile trails, which are easily identifiable by the small stop signs at a road junction and snowmobiles have been known to use the track in the winter. Also, there is a concern that most snowshoers and skiers do not feel comfortable being on a trail that has high snowmobile use. Thus, who will determine the use of this new trail in the winter?

In other words, there are sites for these other activities in existence right now. However, remove the tracks and there will be no train, now or in the future.

This train’s value is not only one of transportation, however limited at this time, but of a vehicle of history. It connects us to what was and also tells us what could be. Hearing a train come into a depot, witnessing it go through the process of slowing and breaking, has to be experienced. The train in America has a mystique and reverence, as evidenced by the number of movies, songs and literature where the train is the main or underlying part of each. Our train and depot are the things that make Saranac Lake “charming” and interesting, a place to tell others about and to come back to.

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In conclusion:

1. There is real evidence that the rails will bring in more dollars than the trails. The businesses in Saranac Lake know that when the train comes in, their sales go up. All we know from the trails is conjecture based on comparisons that do not match our circumstances.

2. There is cost to reconstruct, repair and maintain a rail system and a trail. There is no evidence that this cost will be less for a trail, and in fact, there will be other costs that the train does not have.

3. There are places for people to ski, snowshoe, walk, bike and snowmobile already in the Tri-Lakes. Once that track is torn up, the train is gone. Gone also is an activity for the elderly, disabled and for those wanting to experience history. Keep the track and all the other activities will still be going strong.

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Barbara Rexilius lives in Bloomingdale.