Yes, it's supposed to be in Flimsies, but it'll get more attention here.........

Write legislators, scenic railroad supporters urged

By Sam Shawver, Times-News Staff Writer
Saturday, March 5, 2005 9:17 AM EST

CUMBERLAND - If you really want to keep the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad running - start writing, says Vance Ishler, Allegany County administrator.

He said area residents should send letters to Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan, and the District 1 Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, urging state officials to reconsider their decision to cut capital funding for the railroad.

"These people are key to keeping the train and trail," said Ishler. "In Annapolis the first thing they pulled out to show us was charts of the (Allegheny Highlands) trail."

County and scenic railroad officials met with Flanagan and his staff at the annual Mountain Maryland PACE Reception in January. During that meeting the county was told there would be no more state subsidies for the railroad after fiscal 2006, and that state capital improvement funding would no longer be available for the system.

The county has known for some time that the state subsidy, averaging about $225,000 annually in recent years, would be phased out. The final subsidy, for $112,000, will be received in fiscal 2006.
But Flanagan dropped a bomb when he announced that capital funding would end as well, leaving the county to bear the entire cost of an estimated $13.5 million in needed capital improvements to the railroad.

"The county just can't pick up that much capital investment," said Jim Stakem, president of the county commission.

"People may also want to contact their federal representatives about this," he added. "We want to keep the trail and the train, but we're now in the dubious position of trying to find the money to do this."

"We realized that next year the state subsidy would be gone, but we have a plan and could make it year to year without the subsidy by using money we had set aside for capital projects," said Doug Beverage, secretary for the scenic railroad board.

"The railroad is doing well," he said. "We're out of debt and paying our bills, and I'm looking forward to this being our growth year. We're trying to build the train. This isn't about the trail or us, to be successful it has to be a team effort."

On Thursday the commissioners and railroad board agreed to form a committee to come up with a five-year plan to deal with issues facing the 17-year-old tourist attraction, including a recommendation that the scenic railroad stop running trains from Cumberland to Frostburg after 2005.

That suggestion brought a record crowd to the county commission's public work session with the railroad board on Thursday, protesting the end of service to Frostburg.

"We'll do our best to save the railroad, but there are a lot of unknowns at this point, and we don't want to put this burden on the backs of our taxpayers," said commissioner Barbara Roque.

She said an economic impact study should be done to show what effect the scenic railroad has had on the local economy.

"It's also very important to have a study to support our lobbying efforts," said Roque.