Article in today's Cumberland (Md.) Times-News (just posted to Flimsies, registration required) states that 2005 will be the last year the Western Md. Scenic RR operates all the way to Frostburg.

"During the meeting it was decided that the cost of continuing train rides to Frostburg would be too prohibitive in light of the fact that 2006 is the last year the state will subsidize maintenance costs for the scenic railroad. Per an agreement with the county, Maryland is funding $225,000 this year, and will provide a final $112,000 in 2006. But cutting the Frostburg run could cost the scenic railroad another $25,000 in hotel and motel taxes that the city has contributed for the past few years."

"Approximately $25 million could be needed to keep the train operational over the next five years," [County Administrator Vance Ishler] said. "We currently lease facilities (including a turntable) in Ridgeley from CSX (Transportation). But CSX has had some offers on that property, and they could kick us out at any time, so the train would need a new 'home.'"

About $8 million of the estimated $25 million would go toward such a facility, and Buehl noted that City Junction near the intersection of North Mechanic Street and Henderson Avenue in Cumberland has been considered as a possible housing and maintenance location for the train.

. . . On the bright side, eliminating the Frostburg run solves a big problem for construction of the Allegheny Highlands Trail, which parallels the scenic railroad between Frostburg and Cumberland. Discontinuing trains to Frostburg would prevent trail users and trains from having to share the 914-foot Brush Tunnel.

Getting around the tunnel problem would cut the estimated trail construction cost by nearly $3 million, and allow planning for the trail segment between Frostburg and Cumberland to continue on a more timely schedule."

http://www.times-news.com/articles/2005/02/19/sections/top_stories/top02.txt

WHAT???? I hope this is false information. If it wasen't for that stupid trail, this wouldn't be happening.

this aint rite

Before we start a flame war re: rails/trails, consider that taxpayer funds in Maryland continue to be tight and resources are already spread thin. At $225,000 per year, the State is really subsidizing this puppy, and I am sure that the local government in Cumberland cannot afford to pick up that slack. Add to that fact the reality that one of the the local State delegate, who happened to be Speaker of the House of Delegates in Maryland, and who served as the guardian angel of WMSR, was voted out of office in 2002. He shepherded through several sweetheart projects in the Cumberland area including a resort hotel with a history of low occupancy.

And when is the locomotive up for inspection, etc.? I am sure that is a hefty cost that no one is ready to pay for from the coffers out in Cumberland.

Wesley

Let's see..........

$225,000 a year divided by their ridership (which I am purely guess-timating, I admit, at perhaps 25,000) probably amounts to somewhere on the order of $10 per passenger per year.

That's on the same order of subsidy that Don Phillips of Trains Magazine calculated years ago that the Federal subsidy of Amtrak cost each American. (I assume that figure is about the same today or less, adjusted for inflation.)

OK, but what does that mean? That Amtrak's subsidy is too high? WMSRR's too low? That Maryland can afford to do what Washington does? I see the stat, Sandy, but don't know what meaning you attach to it...

>Discontinuing trains to Frostburg would prevent trail users and trains >from having to share the 914-foot Brush Tunnel.

Yes, this is a very serious issue...avoiding a once-a-day-in-each-direction train. What in God's dear name are they going to do when they get to downtown Cumberland and have to cross streets with cars and trucks on them? Who will push the "walk" light button for them? Maybe they should ban cars and trucks from main street, too!!!

Oh, I forgot, they did that years ago. Whew!!! I was really worried about that for a minute there!!!

> probably amounts to somewhere on the order of $10 per passenger per year

Why is it that people only start calculating cost per participant per year when the subject is trains, railroad museums, and tourist railroads? I wonder what the cost per hiker per year is for the renovation of Big Savage, Borden and Brush Tunnels? I wonder what the cost per hiker per year was when they made Salisbury Viaduct a pedestrian right-of-way? I wonder what the cost per hiker per year was for the reallignment of Keystone Viaduct?

And better yet, I wonder what the total cost per hiker per year for the "trail" will be when the rails-to-trails anarchists can finally put on their spandex and walk all the way from Pittsburgh to Georgetown? I wonder if anyone even cares.

I get sick to the point of puking every time I hear that rationale used. There seems to be and endless supply of $$$ for the people that conceive these kinds of projects.

If you took the time to read all of the article from the Cumberland Times-News, you would have noticed that the meeting where all of this was debated and decided upon took place behind closed doors. Is this the way you spend public funds?

They say that politicians and baby diapers have one thing in common, and for this reason should both be changed regularly.

Cumberland is not the industrial city it used to be, and tourism is part of the economic plan at this point. Cumberland does not have white sandy beaches of Ocean City and tourist are more or less families for single days, weekends, and long weekends. The railroad, canal museum, canal, rail trail, camping, are all part of the package. WMSR is part of a tourism package put together to bring people out to the Cumberland area and spend money. The money put out by the taxpayers needs to be viewed as part of the economic impact of the total tourism package. There are public monies spent on many parts of the overall tourism package and the people of the area need to decide where they get the most bang for the tax dollar. It is the local economy that will live and die on how many tourists come to Cumberland. They must get the families to show up in SUVs and minivans spending money on food, hotels, camping, activities, and services. The people who do live there have a lot more riding on tourism in the Cumberland area than most of us. It is not about cost per rider or cost per hiker or trail against railroad, it is about the people and economy of the Cumberland area.

Because the comparisons are not direct.

Assume that the agency coughs up, say, $10 million to overhaul the trail--or, for that matter, build an Interstate bridge, acquire X number of acres for parkland or green space, etc. Once that expenditure is done, the state/county/people have a fixed asset in public hands with tangible benefits, available to all, with *relatively* low maintenance costs (one assumes that money is set aside for storm damage repair, grass-mowing, replacement of a worn-out bridge, repaving, etc.--but of course it never is).

In the case of Amtrak, the WMSR, Steamtown, etc., although the benefits are perceived to be available to all, it is still a direct payment of operating costs, which one then confronts again the next year, and the next, and the next, and...... (And, yes, we could carry this line of thinking all the way to the military, the National Park Service, the federal Department of [Fill In the Blank], etc. if we so chose.)

I am not attempting to debate the relative merits--or lack thereof--of such subsidy of such tourist attractions. My own personal gripe is that we as a population have seen, time after time after time, fancy consultants' studies attempting to extrapolate the relative economic return to the "local economy" of such things as sports stadiums, amusement parks, parkland, convention centers, rail trails, snowmobile trails, marinas, and the like, typically to make a case for direct or indirect public subsidy of these industries. Increasingly--especially with the case of municipal sports arenas and hotels--said studies are riddled with "black magic" and wishful thinking at best, and outright fraud at worst.

Certainly, as a frequent rider of Carl Franz's photo charters on the WMSR and a hardcore rail enthusiast who considers a Franz photo charter there one of the pinnacles of the American railroad experience to be had in the 21st century, I'm not going to complain about the few paltry cents of my tax bill diverted to the operation of the WMSR. But if I'm going to kvetch endlessly about such "pork-barrel" corporate subsidy as Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Ravens stadium, I have to be consistent and allow criticism of the same given to the WMSR, and in a side-by-side cost-benefit comparison the WMSR doesn't come off looking that good. Lest you forget, there's probably more support for the stadiums attending one single game than riding the WMSR all year--to say nothing of the people watching at home.

Let's be honest and ask this much: If the WMSR were ever in the situation to operate as a private, for-profit operation like the Strasburg or Grand Canyon RR, would it succeed?

The first year that steam ran out of Cumberland, it was under the name Allegany (sp?)Central. In 4 months it hauled in the neighborhood of 40,000 passengers. Ran at least 2 twice a day on a sensible schedual and marketing was done for areas such as Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburg etc etc. The next year the contract changed, the owners controled the schedual and the marketing and the operator was just told when and where to run his train. 2 years of this and the operator left. Maybe not for better things in the long run but you can see his frustration.

The more I look at it, I wonder. Has Cumberland out grown it's steam train? Has the end of the WMSR started? I wouldn't be so quick to blame the trail etc. I think the real answer may lie in mulitipule political bodies wanting it all and haveing little or no forcite for the greater plan of tourism in Cumberland.

I understand that subsidies are a sensitive issue these days, but someone should be able to do an honest assessment of return to the community on their "investment." The $225,000 quoted seems remarkably small, when one factors in the money spent by railroad riders. A single Carl Franz photo weekend probably brings in excess of $14,000 in hotel revenue alone (assuming double occupancy, two night stay). If you add in meals, gas, the extra nights Carl's crew spends preparing, the total take is in the neighborhood of $20,000. Times two for most years, and this is just the "gravy" on top of a full season of regular riders.

I can't believe the stupidity of the entire idea.

1.) If they aren't going to run to Frostburg and have indicated that this would eliminate the entire rail/trail conflict, where are they going to run? The half mile from the Cumberland station to City Junction isn't going to inspire much enthusiasm for return visits!

2.) Does anyone seriously expect that bike riders are going to arrive in numbers even close to that of train riders?

3.) Does anyone expect that hotel, restaurant, gas and gift shop revenues and taxes from bike riders will even come close to that of the train riders?

4.) How many employees does the railroad have, all of whom pay taxes? The bike path? Does zero sound about right?

I could go on, but when you have "public servants" talking to themselves in closed session, this is what you get!

Michael Allen

They say that politicians and baby diapers have one thing in common, and for this reason should both be changed regularly.


I thought it was two things: location and content. Point well taken!

Reading the WM Yahoo Group site it appears work has stopped on the relocation of the last 3 plus miles of the line into Frostburg. If the relocation were completed the money would have been spent for only one year of operation. Obviously if this is true the last train has alread run to Frostburg. WMSR has truely become another railroad to nowhere.

It was also noted that the trail people estimate 400,000 people will come to Cumberland when the whole thing is completed. Of course 400,000 is closer to the number of people going over Cumberland on 68 than will come on the trail. With the railroad gone there will be even less reason for any of them to stop and spend a dime in Cumberland. The only thing the citizens of Cumberland will get from these folks is the pollution from their cars.

John Bohon

I was in the area this past fall. My son pointed out to me a political billboard on the road into town. Seems like there was a local election coming up in November. On the poster were two candidates for local office wearing Western Maryland Scenic golf-style shirts and matching hats.

Seems like the politico's are tuned into this operation which surely deserves the necessary funding. Like someone else pointed out, this doesn't seem to be a prohibitive amount.

Surely someone can obtain this funding, or else, like someone mentioned, yet another good thing will be gone.