Tourist trains coming to town?

Region’s resorts could offer packages

By SANDY LONG

WAYNE COUNTY, PA — Somewhere down the track, restored passenger trains might bring tourists from outlying metropolitan areas to Wayne County towns like Hawley and Honesdale for weekend adventures in the country.

Operators of the Stourbridge Railway have begun to explore the possibility of running a weekend train from Hoboken, NJ to Honesdale. While there are still miles to go in the planning process, including discussions with other railroad lines and regional officials, as well as mounting hurdles like skyrocketing insurance costs and upgrading track, there is a good possibility that weekend excursions to the Upper Delaware region will be sold as packages featuring stays at area resorts.

It’s a process that takes time, said Alvin Siebold, managing director of Stourbridge Railway, who stressed that the initiative is in its early stages. Morristown & Erie Railway, Inc., (MER) of Morristown, NJ is the company that operates the Stourbridge Railway for owner Paul Brancato, who bought it last spring.

MER is currently focused on developing freight service to establish profitability first. Brancato is currently looking to build an Ideal Steel Supply warehouse in White Mills for fabrication. Other potential shippers have expressed interest in the line’s freight services for transport of things like road salt, propane, quarry materials, fertilizer and wood pellets.

In looking beyond the freight line development, Siebold and other company officials have met with representatives of local resorts, restaurants and the tourism industry to assess interest in the project, and they found a good deal of enthusiasm. The train could bring tourists to Wayne County on a Friday evening, take others into New York City on a Saturday morning, return them to Wayne County on Sunday morning, then take the Friday travelers back to Hoboken on Sunday evening. The plan would accommodate those interested in a weekend in the country, while allowing others to enjoy a jaunt into the city.

MER has had considerable success establishing such excursions on its Maine Eastern Railroad line, which transports tourists on vintage passenger trains to enjoy the scenic charms of mid-coast Maine between Brunswick and Rockland ( see www.maineeasternrailroad.com ). Similar trains would be used here. Retired by Amtrak, the cars are brought up to current operating standards and given luxury facelifts. Some of them have even appeared in movies like “Far From Heaven,” “Mona Lisa Smile” and “The Station Agent,” and on the reality television series, “The Next Food Network Star.”

Visit www.merail.com for more information.