Even though the sorry remnants of the Bay Coast RR, formerly the Eastern Shore RR and before that the Va. & Maryland RR, are foundering with no freight traffic to be had, the local officials of the Cape Charles, Va. area and the two-county rail agency that actually owns the track/ROW are still pursuing long-term planning that could include, among other things, a tourist operation:

https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/ ... 557286002/

A five-question survey is linked in the article, and here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1en2BnV ... ested=true

Buried in the other details here and there:

One of the two former ICG GP10s run by the RR, 2001, the one that sat on cribbing minus a truck for a decade or more in the Cape Charles yard, finally got scrapped last month.

The four-track car float that formerly sat at Cape Charles, the former PRR car ferry Capt. Edward Richardson, has been sold and removed from the waterfront--new owner/destination not reported.

The local historical society is planning to preserve, off site, the other GP10 (#2000), a couple cars (including one shell of a heavyweight passenger car), and the pilot house to the rail ferry/barge Nandua/ Capt. Edward Richardson--that is, if enough funds can be raised. I believe the equipment in question has been donated, but the property that formerly housed the yard is being redeveloped.

The Cape Charles Museum and Visitors Welcome Center includes the relocated Bloxom, Va. PRR depot, and an RF&P baggage car and NKP(?!) caboose. Golf resorts and high-end vacation houses are popping up in that section of the Peninsula.

Photo of 2001 being scrapped from FB account of CC Museum & Welcome Center.

I would think that a Cape Charles tourist could work well, especially being so close to Norfolk, however I still believe that a tourist railroad near or on the way to the resort of Ocean City would do a much better job of attracting customers. Despite that, there is some SERIOUS potential in Cape Charles to tell the great story of the Chesapeake railroads, the marriage of ferries and trains. Essex Steam Train anybody?

In other news on the shore, Eastern Shore Scenic Railroad started work on a speeder a few months ago. There is a video up on Facebook. Not sure what their status is in regards to getting the Hurlock - Preston line yet.

Meanwhile over here at the Queen Anne’s Railroad Society, our freight station project in Centreville is moving smoothly. We have a completed set of concept drawings done by a local architect company and are in constant talks with county officials. I hope to get those concept drawings out to the public soon...

The barge was acquired by a company called Iron Planet. See:

https://www.ironplanet.com/for-sale/Bar ... ia/1708342

Here are related articles:

http://www.easternshorepost.com/2018/12 ... n-secrecy/

https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/ ... 239728002/

As for the benefits of being close to the beach and hoping to draw in some of that tourist traffic, Mark Jordan had this to say on RYPN in May 2014: "My stint as GM of Queen Anne's RR 1992-1997 is enough to know that it is a challenge to compete with the beach. Folks come to that area for the beach, and everything else is secondary. That secondary market is flooded with everything from miniature golf to seafood restaurants. Getting people to board an antique train to watch trees go past their windows is a daunting task, and expensive advertising. The OCRR didn't survive, and neither did QARR."

There's a point to consider, however: they DON'T necessarily "come. . . for the beach".

The nearest "beaches" to Cape Charles are Virginia Beach (way across the mouth of the Chesapeake) and Chincoteague/Assateague Parks--Ocean City, Md. if you need mini-golf, restaurants, t-shirt shops, etc. The Eastern Shore of Va. has been described to me as "the last undeveloped major stretch of the U.S. Atlantic Coast," and there's good reason for that as well, as a look at the maps will tell.

The development being pursued around Cape Charles is that of bayside resorts, pro-level golf courses, and country-club living, not family seaside vacationing. Agriculture is still the major economic driver in that region, for now. Casting aside the question of whether rail tourism in this odd location is a good idea for now, I'm simply observing that the usual measures of tourist train operation may not apply here. On the other hand, I'm one of the very few here or elsewhere that can say he's ridden a train all the way from Pocomoke City into Cape Charles Yard, and it ain't no Verde Canyon, Heber Valley, Conway Scenic, etc......

First, let me say that I helped get QARR running back in 1990-91, I love railroading, riding trains, railroad history, and small town America. Second, let me say the tracks in the vicinity of Cape Charles nearly straight and flat with a mostly uninteresting view that is about the same as you see from your car, and a good portion of the line is right next to the road you used to drive there upon. I want trains running on all the tracks and I would love to ride it but I just don't think it can ever be a sustainable business. If you're from the Easter Shore please don't hate me, train rides at the beach are a tough sell.