TRR file photo The Stourbridge Excursion Line suffers continuing financial problems. (Click for larger image)

Railroad excursion line to close

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA. — Unless $70,000 can be raised from local businesses or federal or state grants, the Stourbridge Line Rail Excursion will be out of business at the end of 2003.

The line, which was started in 1979 and has brought thousands of people to Honesdale and Hawley, has been operating this year on a $70,000 grant from the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau (PMVB).

“It will do so no longer,” said Annetta DeYoung, executive director of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, which runs the excursion line.

“We wanted to support them while they looked for more permanent funding,” said PMVB Executive Director Robert Uguccioni.

“It would be sad if the train dies in Honesdale, which is the birth place of the American railroad,” De Young said.

Besides the excursion line, the railroad is used by several area businesses to carry freight.

The railroad line is owned by PENNDOT, who leases it to the Honesdale and Lackawanna Shippers Association, who, in turn, hire a freight operator to actually run the operation. The freight operator is the Stourbridge Railroad Company, owned by Richard Robey of Northumberland, PA.

Up to this current year, Robey has allowed the excursion line to operate gratis. Because of the lack of business on the line, he can do so no longer. That’s where PMVB stepped in for this year only.

Two runs have been the mainstay of the excursion line: a Sunday excursion during the summer from Honesdale to Hawley and a weekday run on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the summer from Honesdale to Hawley, together with dinner at Ehrhardt’s Restaurant on Lake Wallenpaupack or the Settlers Inn in Hawley.

On scheduled dates, the Sunday ride features “The Great Train Robbery,” where actors reenact a train robbery that sometimes leaves the “sheriff” buried up to his waist in sand.

“Everybody always has a lot of fun,” DeYoung said.

“We want to keep this line open, not just for tourism, but for economic development of the area,” she said.

The county has a small industrial park in White Mills where the railroad has a siding. “That’s a plus for the region,” she said.

“We’re trying to get grants through our federal and state representatives together with funds from local businesses,” DeYoung said.

Governor Ed Rendell, during his campaign for governor, visited Honesdale and pledged support to the railroad.

“I hope he meant money,” DeYoung said.