In what might be the final toot-toot for the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR), a consultant hired by the county is recommending that the “highest and best use” for that section of railroad track running from Kingston to just east of the Ashokan Reservoir should be given over to a walking/bike trail.

The railroad isn’t done yet — there are miles and miles of political plotting to go — but it’s chugging uphill.

What began as an attempt at compromise between warring factions aimed at creating a rail and trail system along that county-owned right of way some 10 years ago has now devolved into one side saying it’s our way, or else.

I can’t say either side negotiated in “bad faith,” as they say in union contract talks, but for this long journey to turn out this way at least suggests a degree of subterfuge.

During that time of on again-off again discussions between the factions, the county’s trail/bike network, financed wholly by the county, has added hundreds of miles of black-topped trails. Now it’s only a short drive to access a trail and hard to imagine that most of those former railroad tracks were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ulster County’s proud railroad heritage galvanized many a volunteer and public support.

Over the same period of negotiations, which has seen three elected county executives and dozens of new county legislators, the railroad upgraded its operation to where it attracted more than 60,000 passengers on its Kingston-to-Stony Hollow run last year.

It seemed like something of an arms race, with one side granted millions in public subsidies, while the other depended on a private volunteer cadre. Only one side had the political clout.

That the railroad recently began lobbying to add another 1.8 miles to the western end of its run in order to access magnificent views of the Ashokan for its passengers might have been a call to arms to trail enthusiasts.

If so, it was the culmination of a long charade. The railroad seemed perfectly willing to compromise with its rivals in establishing a rail and trail operation, albeit without much take from the other side. And now this.

That rail/trail proposal for the western end of CMRR’s route could prove exceedingly costly — upwards of $50 million, according to consultants, before engineering tests could produce a workable design — left some members of the special U&D study committee shaking their heads. The project involved moving and disposing of tons of rock at an existing cut adjacent to a protected wetland to accommodate both rail and trail. Trail alone could be done for a comparative pittance.

As avid walkers, Me and Mario have walked a dozen rail trails around the county, so we’re not anti-trail by any means. We’ve made friends with God knows how many walkers and their dogs, joggers and bikers, though sometimes the latter scare the sneakers off us.

But I’ve always had a soft spot for the railroad. A group of dedicated volunteers rebuilt tracks, purchased and maintained rolling stock and in time created the largest tourist attraction in the county. Its economic impact, especially at its eastern terminus in Kingston, has been substantial.

As noted above, there is still a great deal of politicking to be done before the full legislature steps in one way or the other. It’s difficult to read the seven-member recently reappointed Corridor Committee, but the railroad has few vocal supporters. A split recommendation by the committee will not necessarily sway the legislature.

A Chat With Alex

Here, I do not refer to Alex Trebek, he’s dead, or Alexander the Great, him, too, or even Johnny Carson’s last wife, but to a village deputy mayor from New Paltz named Alexandria – “my friends call me Alex” — Wojcik, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for county clerk in the June primary.

Wojcik hosted a coming-out gathering at a building called The Muse in Rosendale on Sunday afternoon. As I had never seen a photo of the candidate or met her in person, I motored out to Rosendale for a look-see.

“Is that Alex Wojcik?” I asked a visitor. “Yeah,” he said. “You just shook hands with her.”

Wojcik proved most personable, engaging and knowledgeable, and absolutely determined in her quest to become the next county clerk.

A volunteer in the vineyards of Democratic politics where the grapes of wrath are stored for the last half-dozen years or so, Wojcik has been involved one way or the other in every Democratic campaign since Jimmy Carter. I jest; she only recently turned 40.

As I had a number of questions to ask, I got down to brass tacks, so the candidate could get back to mingling with her supporters. I counted about 40 during the half hour I was there, but people come and go at these kinds of affairs.

Getting elected a couple of times to the board of the Village of New Paltz, population 7,324, is a far cry from campaigning countywide among more than 51,000 enrolled Democrats, I said. But she knew that.

I pressed. Coming out of the Town of New Paltz, population 14,407, would leave her at a distinct disadvantage to Taylor Bruck’s Kingston base of 24,069. She smiled with a nod.

The smile faded a bit when I added that in order to be viable on a county level, she’d need to carry New Paltz with a solid majority. Ever-contentious Paltzians are even more at each other’s throats these days, what with dissolution of the village (which she favors) on the table and the village mayor challenging the incumbent town supervisor. Internecine political strife can be punishing. Everybody except town gadfly Butch Dener is a Democrat in New Paltz.

Wojcik was patient with me and attentive, but I could catch her eyes wandering around the room to would-be supporters filing in. I had just dropped in, after all, and she had other priorities.

And so, we arrived at the Big Question, the one acting clerk and primary opponent Taylor Bruck mulls every night tossing and turning in his bed.

“I noticed,” I told her, “in your recent letter to county Democratic Committee members, that your views line up pretty closely with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and our assemblywoman, Sarahana Shrestha. DSA support, with its legion of door knockers, would considerably level the playing field,” I said.

“I have reached out to DSA,” she said. “I am awaiting word from them.” I didn’t ask if she had reached out or heard from the assemblywoman, who seems to be playing her cards close to the vest on this one.

I opined that neither candidate would abide by the results of the Feb. 16 Democratic nominating convention in Kingston. Bruck, the “establishment candidate,” having campaigned among Democrats for over a year, is said to have a substantial lead, and this comes from sources that include New Paltz. Wojcik is the quintessential anti-establishment candidate.

Former assemblyman Kevin Cahill and former county legislature chairman Dave Donaldson had big leads coming out of convention but were defeated by DSA-backed challengers at primary. Wojcik, a student of local politics, of course, knows that.

The good news was I got to talk to the candidate for the first time, to put a face on a name, as it were. And I got almost 30 miles a gallon on my trip from Kingston to Rosendale.