Rail line under question at commission meeting

Scenic Railway started in the area with the intent to run excursion train rides in Perry and Spencer counties.

“This is the third iteration of a passenger train that’s been tried and it’s on the brink of failing, if not already past that,” Ohio Scenic Railway President Logan Day spoke before commissioners.

The scenic railway service has been in operation since June 20, 2020, operating out of Tell City at The Depot and using Perry County Port Authority and Hoosier Southern Railway track line.

Day spoke about the current state of the recreational train excursions. Currently, 2,500 people are season ticket holders for Scenic Railway and they have been questioning whether they will have seasonal rides.

While Day did not give an answer to the customers’ question, he addressed his business’ relationship with Hoosier Southern Railroad, which is part of the Port Authority and caretakers of the local rail line. He said he is not being allowed to operate the train between Perry County and Spencer County for safety reasons. Day said passenger trains are not allowed to cross Indiana 66 because of a lack of traffic signs and not allowed across the Anderson River bridge because of its age and condition. Other road and rail crossings are missing safety signage, which Day said further prohibits them from travel.

He also stated that the community needs to review what issues brought about its failure or it will never get the rail excursion tourist trade back.

Day emphasized that the relationship between Scenic Railway and the Port Authority had positive points over the last several years. However, he believes the local culture led to the limits placed on Scenic Railway. According to Day, the Port Authority only allowed the excursion rides because of the county commission. He referenced recordings between himself and former Port Authority president and CEO, Alvin Evans, where Day said Evans was using Scenic Railway as leverage for him to address Spencer County rail line safety concerns with Spencer County authorities.

Maintenance was also an issue, according to Day. Though Day said the Port Authority has completed track maintenance over the years, his concern was that he was never shown a maintenance budget. Some of the track maintenance should have been paid with the $175,000 in track fees Scenic Railway paid to Hoosier Southern. He said he has not been shown what portion of that has gone into track maintenance.

This has been a very large professional and personal endeavor, Day said, and “unfortunately … it’s become one of the biggest nightmares of my life.”

Hoosier Southern respondsFormer Port Authority and Hoosier Southern board member Danny Thomas made an impromptu response following Day’s speech. Thomas was a board member for 12 years, including when these decisions were made.

A $35,000 debt is why the Port Authority board restricted Scenic Railway from operating above 5 miles per hour on the track, Thomas said.

Thomas stated that while he was on the board, Scenic Railway paid about $140,000 of the $175,000, leaving $35,000 owed. That amount became “good faith” money owed when the Port Authority said they would give $30,000 to repair an engine and take it from the fees owed.

Scenic Railway and the $175,000 are only a very small part of Port Authority and Hoosier Southern revenue, Thomas said. The railroad has a tie replacement program and a railroad crossing grant, which is how they maintain the rail line. Putting things into perspective, there are 70,000 ties on 22 miles of line at minimum $210 per tie. Thomas figured that the $140,000 Scenic Railway paid would replace about 500 ties.

As a railroad trying to serve industry, Thomas said the Port Authority faces the same difficulties as Scenic Railway had. “That railroad is the lifeblood to the economic vitality of this county,” Thomas said, “without that railroad, Waupaca [Foundry Inc.] is gone.”

Port Authority board also decided Scenic Railway could run in Perry or Spencer county but Thomas said they would never allow a passenger train across the 100 year old wooden structure, Anderson River bridge. In addition, 14 of the 22 miles of track have metal rail with a casting date from the year 1908.

A freight derailment in Spencer County took days for a professional rail service crew to access due to the track’s condition, Thomas said. If such a derailment would happen to a passenger train, they might not have days to access the people.

“We never said they couldn’t operate in Spencer County. We had to be careful of what we allowed because we simply could not risk something bad happening,” Thomas said.

Currently, the Port Authority has an $8 million grant for a new bridge over the Anderson.

The Port Authority also wrote a press release in response to the meeting, which appears in this issue of The News.

What Scenic Railway broughtDay estimated that the Scenic Railway brought in 1.4 million tourism dollars to the community. He based this estimate on traditional, local economic impact figures, applying a $1-$2 secondary spending ratio to the near 20,000 tourists who visited in the years of operation.

Scenic Railway’s Katie Pappano spoke on the train’s financial history. In January 2020, Day and company came to Tell City to begin operating the train. It was on that date Pappano said they leased their train cars and locomotive, insured them, rented office space and paid for housing for the weekend crew. In total, Scenic Railway paid approximately $20,000 per month at a year commitment, whether running or not.

Starting March 2020, COVID-19, its pandemic status, the temporary lockdown and later restrictions were cause of the limited operations, Pappano said. They were running between 25% and 50% capacity, she said.

“Needless to say, 2020 was a catastrophic year for them,” Pappano said.

Scenic Railway reported about 7,950 passengers in the first year; in 2021, 8,737 passengers rode the train; in 2022, 4,477 passengers rode. Pappano reported 93% of the riders came from outside the county, listing states from Alaska to New Jersey.

In the full operating term, Pappano argued that many local businesses and organizations benefited from Scenic Railway’s operations. Pappano broke down what organizations benefited. Since Scenic Railway’s start, Pappano said the Port Authority received $175,000 in track fees; and $47,500 was paid to CNS for fuel. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has seen an increase in the visitors tax they receive to operate, Pappano said, which she related to Scenic Railway’s draw. Many local restaurants also catered on the train.