By BETH FOLEY
The Palestine Herald
February 23, 2007 05:41 pm
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Local efforts to keep the Texas State Railroad’s trains from becoming museum pieces continued Thursday as a private company was named as a potential operator of the 25-mile railroad.
After hearing proposals from four interested rail companies, members of the Texas State Railroad Operating Agency tapped American Heritage Railways as their top choice to take over operations if the state relinquishes control. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TP&WD) has operated the railroad since it opened in 1976 as a state park, with state park campgrounds at both the Palestine and Rusk depots.
American Heritage Railways, based in Coral Gables, Fla., owns and operates a pair of popular tourist railways — the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway in Durango, Colo., and the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad in Bryson City, N.C.
“I think from the beginning we kind of thought that American Heritage was the company,” Steve Presley, operating agency chairman, said.
“American Heritage had a very, very strong proposal,” Presley said, noting that the company expressed interest in promoting Palestine’s historic aspects as an additional draw for ridership. “It was a great marketing proposal. It would help our tourism grow in both places.”
The company took over the Durango-Silverton line in 1998, and added the Smoky Mountains line a year later. The North Carolina railroad has been featured in several movies, including “The Fugitive” starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
One of the ways that American Heritage has drawn in new riders has been to appeal to children with special events trains.
Both the Durango-Silverton and Great Smoky Mountains railroads offer Polar Express trains in November and December, which offer children the chance to ride the train, meet Santa at the “North Pole,” share hot chocolate and cookies and sing Christmas carols. The Great Smoky Mountains also offers “The Little Engine That Could” rail tour, which features a full-size replica of the famous Watt Piper story and “A Day Out With Thomas,” a 25-minute ride with a Thomas engine where children can meet Sir Topham Hatt and hear stories and live music.
Besides train tours geared toward children, both railways offer a variety of excursions for adults ranging from standard tours to murder-mysteries, beer and wine tasting tours to foliage tours and rails and whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River.
Although American Heritage had been linked the most with efforts to attract a private company to run the Texas State Railroad, once Thursday’s meeting began, it was clear that the Florida-based operator had competition.
The other three companies — Sierra Railroad Co., Rio Grande Pacific Railroad and Patriot Rail Corp. — also made strong presentations, Presley said.
Sierra Railroad Co., based in Oakdale, Calif., near Modesto, began in 1897 as a freight line to connect the Gold Country to the rest of the state. In the 1970s, the railway began offering dinner train excursions as its commercial business waned. It currently offers a variety of tourist and dinner trains, as well as a short line freight division, the Sierra Northern Railway.
The Rio Grande Pacific Railroad, which specializes mostly in short line and regional railroads in six states, also operates the “Thunder Mountain Line” scenic Idaho train rides in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.
The Patriot Rail Corp., based in Boca Raton, Fla., is a new company which was formed last year by former RailAmerica co-founder and CEO Gary Marino for the purpose of acquiring short line and regional lines. It purchased its first railway, the 118-mile Tennessee Southern Railroad, in November.
“It wasn’t just a runaway,” Presley said. “We could have done well with any of the four.”
The operating agency and American Heritage officials said they hope to have a contract negotiated by mid-March, and to gain approval from the state legislature soon after.
In late November 2006, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick allocated enough special funding to allow the trains to continue their runs through August. However, state officials have said that the state cannot afford to continue the funding necessary to repair, maintain and run the trains.
“I think it’s pretty settled that they are not going to run it anymore,” said Presley, who spoke with legislators and TP&WD officials in Austin earlier this week.
“We’re working just as hard as we can,” he said.
Caught in the middle are area TP&WD employees who’ve spent years either involved in daily TSRR operations or in oversight at the regional level.
While they would prefer to see the state fund the railroad, they also hate the thought of their trains forced to become a static display due to a lack of budget money to keep them properly maintained and running.
TSRR Superintendent Robert Crossman said he was glad to see the local effort being made to keep the trains going.
“I think it would be a good thing to keep the railroad running,” Crossman said Friday.
Regional Director Ellen Buchanan said Friday that she disliked the thought of the trains being forced to shut down.
“Everybody has continued to say we’re trying all options to keep the railroad running,” Buchanan said. “This is another option. Right now, we don’t have the money (to operate) in the 2008 budget.”
As of 4 p.m. Friday, a search on the Texas Legislature Online Web site (www.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx) found that no bills have been filed in either the Texas House or Senate specifically regarding the Texas State Railroad’s funding.
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Beth Foley may be contacted via e-mail at bfoley@palestineherald.com
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