To the editor:

I am writing to acknowledge that my earlier research on train speeds from Utica to Lake Placid was incomplete. Walter Ordway’s letter of February is thus correct, and I apologize for my earlier, hasty response. My excuse, though admittedly weak, is that the history of the line, “Fairy Tale Railroad” by Henry Harter, reproduced a representative timetable that only showed five-hour running times. Harter stated that “The scheduled time changed little through the years.” The faster trains cited by Mr. Ordway were often seasonal and therefore did not show up on every timetable.

I will note, however, that the current estimates for the cost of rehabilitation only include track capable of permitting 30 mph passenger operation and not the higher speeds that would allow faster than five-hour running times.

Tony Goodwin

Keene