Gov. Cuomo, all of the arguments have been heard in the rail-vs.-trail debate along the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. New York state has decided to construct a 34-mile rail trail from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake, and to refurbish 45 miles of rail infrastructure from Tupper Lake to Big Moose so the Adirondack Railroad can operate 107 miles from Tupper Lake to Utica. End of discussion.

Or is it? Do the citizens of the Adirondacks and New York state still have a choice? Do you, as governor, have the authority to address an urgent, developing problem? The state plans to spend many tens of millions of dollars on this corridor to return it to usefulness. If you get it right, the region will benefit greatly. If you err, the region will suffer from the waste of a great public resource and your legacy may be tarnished.

The state’s decision to build the rail trail from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake appears to enjoy considerable support. Work is continuing, with the timetable for completion of that work the only point of remaining concern. Work that seemingly could be completed by late 2022 is to be completed “by 2024.” The obvious question is, why must it take so long?

The rail work south from Tupper Lake has evidently begun, with a timetable for completion “by the end of 2021” (https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/121633.html). Is the Adirondack Railroad prepared to operate when the taxpayer-funded rail work is done?

A GoFundMe page has been started to raise $90,000 so AR can “expand into Tupper Lake” by funding “at least one more locomotive plus a high-rail truck.” How much progress have they made in raising those funds? As of early June, they’ve raised under $20,000 — less then 22% of their goal.

Meanwhile, the Adirondack Railroad is soliciting for volunteers as well as donations. Is this because they can’t afford to hire skilled, experienced workers? Do they plan to operate heavy, complex, old, polluting, unreliable equipment along a new and very remote route with unskilled new volunteers?

The taxpayer-funded rail work is to be completed this year. But the Adirondack Railroad is evidently not planning to operate anywhere this summer, and they appear not to be capitalized, staffed or otherwise prepared to operate to Tupper Lake. As Tony Goodwin recently wrote in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, “To me, it seems very unwise for the DOT [state Department of Transportation] to go ahead and spend millions to restore the track if there may not be anyone to actually operate trains on that track.”

The Adirondack Railroad’s secretive finances and their questionable operating capacity have been persistent problems that may be seriously exacerbated by their pending expansion of operations. More than ever, taxpayer-funded restoration of rail infrastructure south from Tupper Lake appears to represent a case of throwing good money after bad.

As I wrote in the ADE on April 17, 2020, the work south from Tupper Lake has all the makings of a classic boondoggle. This longest-in-the-nation tourist train from Utica to Tupper Lake will not attract significant ongoing demand since very few people — especially families with active children — have the patience to sit for a very long day on a slow-moving train. This lack of demand may force AR into bankruptcy, and the state’s multi-million-dollar expenditure on rail infrastructure will have been wasted.

As I noted previously, the most likely outcomes from the 45-mile extension are one of the following scenarios:

a. AR will go bankrupt, leaving the state with a massive rail investment but with no rail operator,

b. AR will refuse to extend operations past Big Moose unless it is substantially subsidized by the state for each trip to Tupper Lake, or

c. AR will begin operating to Tupper Lake and soon thereafter inform the state that it must suspend operations unless taxpayers make up AR’s annual shortfall between operating expenses and revenues.

The state is entering “into a de facto business partnership with (AR), whereby the state will be in the position of a minority partner with no power but with substantial financial obligations year after year” (https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2020/04/boondoggle-vs-bonanza/).

Gov. Cuomo, the state’s commitment to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to enable rail operations along the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor south from Tupper Lake appears to be a disaster in the making. It is not too late for you to order an emergency audit of AR finances, staffing and operational capacity. If AR does not cooperate, or if your findings are as alarming as publicly available information suggests, then the only prudent course of action would be to interrupt the rail work and focus on completing the rail trail in one rather than three years.

For the long-term good of the region and the state, please pull the plug on rail refurbishment south from Tupper Lake, at least for now, and go all-out to complete what promises to be a world-class rail trail connecting the Tri-Lakes area. Soon enough, to judge by comparable rail trails elsewhere, the Adirondack Rail Trail will be a popular success that will guide your actions for the section of corridor south from Tupper Lake.

David Banks resides in Rockville, Maryland, and is a former resident of Lake Clear.