Photo: Daniel Tamas Mehes / iStock / Getty Images
A 25-year-old man from Kingston has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a Catskill Mountain Railroad locomotive on New Year's Day. The fire broke out around 3 a.m. on January 1 in the Kingston Plaza shopping area, where the locomotive was parked. Firefighters spent about two hours extinguishing the blaze, and no injuries were reported.
John J. Dwyer has been charged with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor arson. He was arraigned in Ulster County and released on his own recognizance, with a return date in Kingston City Court on Thursday (January 8). According to Times Union, police do not believe the Catskill Mountain Railroad was directly targeted, but additional arrests are expected.
The damaged locomotive, an ALCO RS1 built in 1950, was awaiting an upgrade to a clean diesel engine with a $2.3 million grant from the state Department of Transportation. The Catskill Mountain Railroad operates tourist trains along parts of the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad corridor. In a statement, the railroad company initially suggested footprints in the snow were linked to the fire, but later clarified that they belonged to firefighters accessing the scene from Interstate 587.
The incident has occurred amid ongoing debates in Ulster County over the future use of the Ulster and Delaware corridor, with proposals involving both rail service and trail development being discussed. Anyone with additional information about the fire is encouraged to contact the Kingston Police Department.