To the Editor: I live in the Dutch Village apartments next to the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) tracks. They use the section of track next to the buildings as their train yard. Living next to their train yard means hours of spewing diesel fumes and very loud noise. Their engines idle for hours, creating volumes of diesel smoke we can smell in our apartment, even with the windows closed. (Editor's note: See photo in slideshow.) On Jan. 23, their engine idled outside the apartment building for over five hours. A train yard does not belong next to an apartment complex.

Last spring, I got in touch with Ernie Hunt, the head of the CMRR, about the problem. He said "our crews are not supposed to idle the locomotives for any significant amount of time." He said he'd speak to the crews. Nothing has ever changed. Their lack of concern makes running a railroad next to Dutch Village untenable for the people living here.

There are many seniors as well as families with small children living here. We can't keep the windows open in nice weather because of diesel fumes, and these fumes leave my wife and I feeling ill.

As to the economic impact of trails, take a look at the Ulster County Legislature report at:

https://legislature.ulstercountyny.gov/news/legislature/ulster-county-releases-state-trails-report-80-miles-shared-use-trails-generate-17

In short it says, "80+ Miles of Shared-Use Trails Generate $17 Million in Annual Spending from 1.4 Million Visits."

A trail from the Rondout to Ashokan would be wonderful. It's mostly done. Let's finish it.

Michael Gaertner

Kingston