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Rail Trail e-Newsletter
January-February 2026 #104
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Hi ,
Winter is almost over. Really, it is! Anyway, we've got some great stories this month and a bit of news about the podcast too.
I'll be expanding my podcast to be launching once a week as opposed to twice a month. This will cure the backlog currently in-place. Sorry to all who are awaiting their launch! Stay patient my friends.
I have also updated the archive of all the past eight+ years of past e-newsletters to be easily findable at this link: GreenwaySolutions.org
For those of you new to this resource, this e-newsletter is in the top 10% of all the thousands of e-Newsletters hosted by Constant Contact and I've got a tiger-by-the-proverbial-tail here. There is so much demand for info about this developing network that I have to correctly memorialize this. Hence the beef up of this site to handle the demand.
One of the interesting stories below is a short one-minute video from the manager of the town of Plainville, CT where he lays out the state plan to finish the last major gap in the NHNCG. And another video is 1/2 hour long. This is where Dan Hodge of Cambridge Econometrics and I talk to Patrick Berry of the local NBC affiliate, WWLP about both recent reports about what a completed, long-distance will mean to the communities along the way.
Best,
Craig Della Penna, Principal
Northeast Greenway Solutions
62 Chestnut St. Northampton, MA 01062
413 575 2277 CraigDP413@gmail.com
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In the GREEN area, we have news about the
Mass Central Rail Trail
and perhaps some of the 18 other trails that directly connect to it.
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LOCAL NBC TV AFFILIATE DID A PROGRAM
ABOUT THE REPORT BY CAMBRIDGE ECONOMETRICS i
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The report that was about the economic impact of a completed trail from New Haven to Northampton.
Link here to the 1/2 hour program.
Link here to the report.
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Here's a story from Ware, on the MCRT with a backstory that was 20+ years in the making.
Yes. 20+ years to get the greenlight to build out a 1,500 foot stretch of trail. The owners of the land have finally come around to the idea that the trail is a good idea. Never say never. And you all are always stunned that it takes so long to build a trail here in Mass.
Link here to a readable view of the short little story to the right. Sometime I'll tell you the full backstory.
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Sudbury Police Gear-up for Rail Trail Safety.
Another great story by Kevin Lahaise of Sudbury Weekly about the transformation underway there. Read more.
Here's another story about the details surrounding the finaliza-tion of the trail construction in Sudbury. Read more.
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Gateway to prosperity: What’s next for Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities?
Made an official designation almost 20 years ago, Gateway Cities are largely mill towns that were once the anchors of the state’s industrial past. The idea was to provide longtime residents and newly arrived immigrants a path to the “American Dream.” Read more. (The story fails to mention anything about the network of rail trails being developed in Gateway Cities. We'll have to contact WGBH about this. CDP)
| | | HUDSON, one of the 26 communities on the MCRT has just been noted as THE MOST Welcoming town in Massachusetts. Read the article. | | |
Welcome to the Roads Less Travelled Podcast!
Love rail trails, bike tourism, or greenway real estate? Have you ever dreamt of operating a bed & breakfast along a scenic trail? Or seen how trails can revive small towns?
Join host Craig Della Penna a Realtor, trail advocate, and storyteller, for quick, insightful conversations where real estate meets sustainability and adventure.
Have a story to share? Book your spot and be part of the Roads Less Travelled. LINK here to the booking, on-boarding site
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David Hallerman is a retired communications professional now based in Western Massachusetts. He previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at In Place ReDesign Architecture, a firm specializing in aging-in-place design and planning. Before that, he worked as a principal analyst at eMarketer, focusing on U.S. advertising and digital media trends. Active in his community, David participates in events such as the “Will Bike 4 Food” charity ride for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, does photography for Grow Food Northampton, and volunteers with Northampton Neighbors. He is an avid cyclist, photographer, and astrologer, and resides in Florence, a village of Northampton, Massachusetts. Click here to go to the conversation.
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Kristen Sykes is a conservationist, organic farmer, and advocate for biking and pedestrian infrastructure. She has been actively involved in advancing sustainable land use, active transportation, and community-based environmental initiatives. Through her work in conservation and agriculture, Kristen promotes healthier ecosystems and resilient local communities, while championing safe, accessible mobility options for all. Click here to go to the conversation.
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AND IN THE WHITE AREA,
OTHER NEWS AROUND THE REGION
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Rail trail will provide access in Lynnfield Dylan Pichnarcik 1-25-26 Lynn Item
LYNNFIELD — The Conservation Commission was asked to draw money from the Conservation Fund to be used for the planning and surveying of a potential rail trail that will provide open access to conservation areas in town at their recent meeting.
The proposed request was presented by Director of Planning and Conservation Emilie Cademartori, on behalf of the town’s Open Space and Recreation Working Group. Read more.
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NY State signs off on plan for major trail along, and over, Hudson River
The 7.5-mile Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail would connect existing paths in the highlands. It is not without its detractors. (I couldn't resist not putting this story in here. For those of you thinking that these projects are easy-peasy, reading this will bring you a greater appreciation.) Read more.
| | Derry, NH and the lawsuit about the rail trail tunnel vs spaghetti road alignment. There should be a settlement coming in a week or so. | |
Continued Derry Rail Trail dispute threatens multi-year delay Zachary Marano, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester 1-12-26
It may not feel like it, but the end of another winter is just around the corner. And crews are poised to start working on the long-planned, contentious Derry Rail Trail crossing at Folsom Road by April.
The problem is that workers are still uncertain about what they’re going to build, due to an ongoing legal dispute between the federal/state DOT officials and local recreation enthusiasts: a tunnel, or a crosswalk? Here is a link to this recent story. And here is the link to the full story with context, from our archive
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HERE'S YOUR HOMEWORK FOR THIS E-NEWSLETTER.
CONTACT THE GOVERNOR.
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https://www.bournerailtrail.org/letter-of-support-rail-to-trail
And here is something that is not widely known. Part of the narrative about the controversy here is that the track in question here, leads to an airbase and thus there is a national defense aspect to this that won't allow for the removal of the track structure.
Sorry folks that doesn't ring true.
Westover Reserve Air Force Base in Chicopee, MA with a 11,597-foot (often cited up to 11,970 ft) runway is designed to serve the largest, heaviest-lifting, military transport planes in the world. Those planes are still there, but RR isn't.
This base no longer has an active RR there. The state allowed that to be abandoned several years ago. Just another example of our inverse world. CDP
| | | Here's a couple of stories from CT along the
New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway
The longest interstate trail in the northeast U.S. | | Here's Plainville, CT's Town Manager Mike Paulhus leading a short video about the 3-mile gap in the trail in his town and how it is going to be built out in the next couple of years. | | | |
Large-scale CT solar project looks to drill under popular trail. Residents concerned with its impact
By Stephen Underwood | sunderwood@courant.com | Hartford Courant 1-13-26
Broadleaf Solar, a renewable energy supplier, is seeking to drill transmission lines under the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in East Granby as part of a large-scale solar project on a former agriculture field. Read more.
| | | This site has oodles of info about this two-state project: www.NHNCG.org | | |
AND IN THE ORANGE AREA;
Interesting, "HIGH ALTITUDE" Stories From Around the Country and Sometimes Beyond.
| | RTC Turns 40! A birthday is a good time to stop and reflect on major milestones, and as Rails to Trails Conservancy turns 40, Rails to Trails magazine is taking this time to reflect on the people and events that have shaped the national trails movement since the 1980s. Read more. (The photo above shows Gov. John Ashcroft, in the spring of 1990, "cutting the ribbon" for the opening of the KATY Rail Trail in Missouri. I wasn't there back then, but they called me in 2015 to be the keynote speaker at their state-wide conference for the 25th anniversary of that opening. It certainly was one of my most memorable "Forrest Gump moments." Just passing thru life.) | | Here's a great 18 minute video that tells how the creation of the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville South Carolina caused not only a renaissance in the community, but caused a huge uptick in local small businesses setting up next to the trail to serve bike or ped based traffic. Very inspirational story for sure. View the video. | | THIS HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY | | |
Do you or a friend have a surplus house somewhere in Mass? I know that sounds implausible, but I do get a couple of listings a year in situations like this.
I will make these oddities more impactful. Bring me in as your listing agent and I will market the property. When it sells, I will turn over my share of the sale commission to the Mass Central Rail Trail project.
Contact me at: CraigDP413@gmail.com or 413-575-2277.
Craig Della Penna, CRS, GRI, Green, REALTOR, Associate Broker Trailside Team The Murphys Realtors. 7 Main Street Florence, MA 01062
NorthamptonRealtor.com/innovator
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If you are getting this e-newsletter, you or a friend are likely to be a member of a Friends group affiliated with a rail trail somewhere in the northeast.
Kathy and I would love to offer up a creative fundraiser. We'll make a two-night stay available for two couples at our award-wining bed & breakfast--Sugar Maple Trailside Inn. This will include a guided tour by me, or either a walking tour or a biking tour of the rail trail network here.
We touch-on not only all the RR and industrial history, of course, but also the political history of how each section got built. I'll curl your hair.
This tour will include lunch at a restaurant near the rail trail.
This donation should be a part of an overall fundraiser event for your local trail project. Link here to more info. Click on the image above for a more readable version.
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