Am I remembering my geography right? A chance for some rare > >Dinner Train > > >Posted by: "Jim" <mailto:jfrancl_@_lci.kent.edu?Subject= >Re%3ADinner%20Train>jfrancl_@_lci.kent.edu ><http://profiles.yahoo.com/northcoastjimbo>northcoastjimbo<http://profiles.yahoo.com/northcoastjimbo> > > > >Thu Mar 1, 2007 8:50 am (PST) > > >I just stumbled on this article. Anybody else ever hear about this? ><http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/1584321>http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/1584321 > >I posted it here because the site seems to be go down a lot. >Jim >Dinner train moves ahead > >February 11, 2007 by Laura Freeman Reporter > >The residents of Hudson, Stow, Silver Lake Village and Cuyahoga Falls will >hear a train whistle along a length of tracks, which has been silent for >at least 10 years. > >Gabriel Hall, president and CEO of U.S. Rail Corp., confirmed Feb. 6 a >dinner theater train will be traveling the rails from Cuyahoga Falls >through Silver Lake Village and Stow to Hudson beginning this fall. > >Hall said the U.S. Rail Corp. board of directors decided Jan. 29 to go >ahead with the project after winning a four-year-old lawsuit filed by >Silver Lake Village, which attempted to prevent the dinner train from >traveling through the village. > >"The area is a great location to operate the dinner train," Hall said. "It >is a great opportunity to create jobs, restore rail service and increase >industrial activities." > >Hudson City Manager Anthony Bales did not return phone calls for comment >by press time. > >"I think the dinner train is going to be a great thing for the city," >Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart said. "I hope it will arrive here soon." > >Robart said he anticipates the Cuyahoga Falls depot will be built in the >city's downtown area, where riders can take advantage of the Sheraton >Suites and the summer festivals. > >"This will draw not just from the immediate area but from easily 100 miles >away," Robart said. "I think it will be a great economic benefit to the city." > >Silver Lake officials took legal action in 2002 to prevent the running of >the train, but after four years of proceedings and rulings, the Ohio >Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in November 2006 to allow Metro Regional Transit >Authority to lease a section of railroad track to the Cuyahoga Falls and >Hudson Railway Co., a subsidiary of U.S. Rail Corp., for operation of a >dinner theater train. > >Silver Lake Mayor Bernie Hovey said the village is concerned about the >noise caused by the train and potential traffic congestion on Kent and >Graham roads, but he hopes U.S. Rail Corp "want(s) to be a good neighbor." > >Hovey said he hopes village and company officials "can work together and >make it as palatable to Silver Lake as possible." > >Hall said work would begin this spring to rehabilitate the line, which has >been dormant for 10 years. > >The train line will begin near downtown Cuyahoga Falls, the exact site yet >to be determined, and travel across Front Street, Hudson Drive, along >Silver Lake Village border, into Stow where it crosses Hudson Drive again >and up to Barlow Road in Hudson. > >"We will remove vegetation, replace cross ties, add ballast, rehabilitate >crossings and post property signs indicating an active railroad," Hall said. > >Hall said the company would hire locally for track maintenance and recruit >employees for the dinner train. A Web site would be created in March and >be ready by April to advertise for the positions. > >"There would be approximately 20 to 30 positions," Hall said. > >Hall said U.S. Rail Corp. is planning to buy four or five dining railroad >cars and a passenger locomotive. > >"Initially, we're looking at a capacity of 220 to 260 customers," Hall said. > >The dinner train would provide dinner anywhere from one to six nights a >week, depending on demand, Hall said. Entertainment would be provided on >Friday and Saturday nights. > >"Guests could hold parties or gatherings and book an entire train or one >train car," Hall said. > >Planning is still in the preliminary stage, he said, and a budget and >ticket prices have not been determined. > >The company will look at other dinner train prices and do a market survey. > >"It should be a good thing for the entire area for residents and >tourists," Hall said. > >Hall said the dinner train would be similar to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic >Railroad and the company plans to work closely with them. > >"We want to be good corporate neighbors," he said. > >The company has a director of safety who will visit local elementary >schools beginning in the fall to promote safety awareness around railroads >and crossings, Hall said. Field trips will be available for schools to >teach about trains, he added. > >"We've got a lot of work, but we plan to start up this fall," Hall said. > >Hall said he would meet with Cuyahoga Falls officials in coming weeks to >talk about the dinner train and about building a depot. He said he would >like to meet with Hudson officials next month to discuss the possibility >of a depot in Hudson in the future. > >Four-year battle > >The plans for the dinner train were put on hold as soon as they were >announced in 2002 while the courts sorted out a legal challenge by Silver Lake. > >Metro Regional Transit Authority entered into a five-year lease agreement >with Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson Railway Co., a subsidiary of U.S. Rail >Corp., in December 2002 for operation of a dinner train on a 6.5-mile >section of railroad track from Cuyahoga Falls to Hudson. > >In 2002, Silver Lake Village filed a suit in Summit County Common Pleas >Court seeking a court order to prevent the establishment of a dinner >theater train on a rail bordering the village. > >In 2004 the Summit County Common Pleas Court ruled against the dinner >train plan, but that decision was overturned in 2005 by the Ninth District >Court of Appeals. > >In November 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled a dinner train could pass >along the western border of Silver Lake. > >Editor's note: Cuyahoga Falls News-Press reporter Lauren Krupar and Falls >News-Press editor Phil Keren contributed to this story. >E-mail: ><mailto:lfreeman%40recordpub.com>lfreeman_@_recordpub.<mailto:lfreeman%40recordpub.com>com > >Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3150 Dale The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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