From the York (Pa.) Dispatch via TrainOrders:

Md. man has train, will travel
Railroad buff wants to run freight, passenger service on Rail Trail
By JACK SHOLL Dispatch/Sunday News

It's the perfect fit as far as railroad buff James Riffin is concerned: York County has tracks, but no trains; he has a train, but no tracks.

The 60-year-old Timonium, Md., man wants to restart commercial and passenger service on the former Penn Central tracks that follow the Heritage Rail Trail through the southern part of the county.

Riffin made his pitch yesterday during a meeting with the county commissioners.

"I'm not doing it strictly for profit," he said afterward. "I'm looking for a place to run my train. You guys have got a track, and I need to fix it up a little bit so I can drive my train."

Right of way: The Heritage Rail Trail is managed by the York County Parks Department, but the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation owns the right of way.

More than 250,000 people annually walk or ride bicycles along the 22-mile trail, which opened in 1999. One of York County's largest tourist attractions, it includes several historic bridges and the hand-dug Howard Tunnel, which opened in 1838.

Plans to extend the Heritage Rail Trail north of York City and construct a similar trail to Hanover have been under consideration.

Love of trains: Riffin, who described himself as a former teacher of business and business law at Towson University in Maryland, explained in a phone interview that he "fell in love" with trains two years ago when he visited an exhibition of private luxury railway cars from all over the country at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore.

He said he believes he can run a train service profitably over time on the old Penn Central line if he can get a significant amount of freight to carry. He has his eye on recapturing customers who once used the train to haul materials such as lumber and bricks.

But Riffin said he's just as much interested in driving what would amount to his own full-scale model railroad.

According to Riffin, he has a lot of the rolling stock assembled. He said he already owns some freight cars and two vintage 1954 passenger cars in excellent shape.

Riffin suggested to the commissioners that he would lease the line, which is in need of repair, for $1 a year and then restore it.

The commissioners directed county Solicitor David Craun to spell out for Riffin the basic conditions that would need to be met.

Craun said he expected to have the list, along with questions for Riffin, by the end of the week. He said Riffin's responses would help the commissioners decide if there was a bona fide offer.

One absolute condition would be that the trail part of the rail-trail continue in operation, Craun said. Also, the state would need to be consulted about any lease arrangements.

The state lease obligates the county to upgrade the line and accommodate freight service "if an operator decides to provide freight service on that rail," County Administrator/Chief Clerk Chuck Noll said. Riffin said he would repair the line himself, absolving the county of what Noll said could be "an extremely large financial obligation."

Repairs: If his plan is accepted, Riffin said he initially would replace the worn wooden ties on the track.

"I will fix the track at no expense to York County or the state of Pennsylvania. I have a complete set of equipment with the track layers, graders, et cetera, and know how to operate it."

Riffin said he has enough money from investments to initiate the work, and he might rely on loans, investors and volunteers down the road.

Long history: The rail line has a long history of service through the county, the last being a passenger excursion service that folded in 2002.

It's the second-oldest rail line in America, started after the Baltimore & Ohio, Riffin said. It began as the Northern Central Railway, completed from Baltimore to York in 1838, and the only railroad going north and south. In 1911 Pennsylvania Railroad leased the assets of Northern Central, which eventually merged with New York Central to become Penn Central. Penn Central abandoned the line in the 1970s after Hurricane Agnes.

The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad/York Rail operated the line until 1990, and then from 1998 to 2001 an excursion train with dining facilities ran from New Freedom, sometimes as far as York.

In shuttering the excursion railroad in 2001, company president Kenneth Bitten cited low sales and financial considerations as the primary reasons. However, he also noted that issues with New Freedom borough, the train's base, were instrumental. Residents and borough officials had complained about noise and unsightly storage. The company's assets were to be auctioned off when service ended.

Riffin said he was aware that some communities had had problems with trains in the past. "We don't want to be where we're not welcome," he said. "We will listen to what the concerns are -- if they have a valid base, we won't do it, like running a train at 2 a.m."

Riffin said he would not use New Freedom as a base of operations. Rather, he said, his preference would be in Maryland or somewhere near York.



LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

"I'm looking for a place to run my train. You guys have got a track, and I need to fix it up a little bit so I can drive my train."

"But Riffin said he's just as much interested in driving what would amount to his own full-scale model railroad".

Those two above quotes make me wonder. This the sort of sentimant that always makes me somewhat suspicious.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net

Plus it makes his cause sound very professional...

> "I'm looking for a place to run my
> train. You guys have got a track, and I need
> to fix it up a little bit so I can drive my
> train."

> "But Riffin said he's just as much
> interested in driving what would amount to
> his own full-scale model railroad".

> Those two above quotes make me wonder. This
> the sort of sentimant that always makes me
> somewhat suspicious.

> Dave Crosby


Heartland Railroad Historical Society
hrrhs@aol.com

Are we sure this do not start on April 1st?


pls1632@hotmail.com

STB regulations require proof of verifiable rail service demand before reactivating a rail-banked route. Absent this showing, my bet is that hikers and bicyclists are safe for quite some time.

amiller@rtms-movietrains.com

The proposal is somewhat unbelievable.

First, the Stewartstown Railroad was the DO of the York-New Freedom line for several years after it reopened following major rebuilding due to flood damage. (In addition to track repairs, several bridges needed to be rebuilt.)

Second, many of the businesses that had initially indicated they would ship via the NCRY, if it were rebuilt, didn't. The lack of freight traffic and the prospect of much higher insurance costs due to the then-in-planning rail trail adjacent to the active track caused the Stewartstown to withdraw as the DO in the early 1990s.

Ray Reter
---------------------

> From the York (Pa.) Dispatch via
> TrainOrders:

> Md. man has train, will travel
> Railroad buff wants to run freight,
> passenger service on Rail Trail
> By JACK SHOLL Dispatch/Sunday News

> It's the perfect fit as far as railroad buff
> James Riffin is concerned: York County has
> tracks, but no trains; he has a train, but
> no tracks.

> The 60-year-old Timonium, Md., man wants to
> restart commercial and passenger service on
> the former Penn Central tracks that follow
> the Heritage Rail Trail through the southern
> part of the county.

> Riffin made his pitch yesterday during a
> meeting with the county commissioners.

> "I'm not doing it strictly for
> profit," he said afterward. "I'm
> looking for a place to run my train. You
> guys have got a track, and I need to fix it
> up a little bit so I can drive my
> train."

> Right of way: The Heritage Rail Trail is
> managed by the York County Parks Department,
> but the Pennsylvania Department of
> Transportation owns the right of way.

> More than 250,000 people annually walk or
> ride bicycles along the 22-mile trail, which
> opened in 1999. One of York County's largest
> tourist attractions, it includes several
> historic bridges and the hand-dug Howard
> Tunnel, which opened in 1838.

> Plans to extend the Heritage Rail Trail
> north of York City and construct a similar
> trail to Hanover have been under
> consideration.

> Love of trains: Riffin, who described
> himself as a former teacher of business and
> business law at Towson University in
> Maryland, explained in a phone interview
> that he "fell in love" with trains
> two years ago when he visited an exhibition
> of private luxury railway cars from all over
> the country at the Baltimore and Ohio
> Railroad Museum in Baltimore.

> He said he believes he can run a train
> service profitably over time on the old Penn
> Central line if he can get a significant
> amount of freight to carry. He has his eye
> on recapturing customers who once used the
> train to haul materials such as lumber and
> bricks.

> But Riffin said he's just as much interested
> in driving what would amount to his own
> full-scale model railroad.

> According to Riffin, he has a lot of the
> rolling stock assembled. He said he already
> owns some freight cars and two vintage 1954
> passenger cars in excellent shape.

> Riffin suggested to the commissioners that
> he would lease the line, which is in need of
> repair, for $1 a year and then restore it.

> The commissioners directed county Solicitor
> David Craun to spell out for Riffin the
> basic conditions that would need to be met.

> Craun said he expected to have the list,
> along with questions for Riffin, by the end
> of the week. He said Riffin's responses
> would help the commissioners decide if there
> was a bona fide offer.

> One absolute condition would be that the
> trail part of the rail-trail continue in
> operation, Craun said. Also, the state would
> need to be consulted about any lease
> arrangements.

> The state lease obligates the county to
> upgrade the line and accommodate freight
> service "if an operator decides to
> provide freight service on that rail,"
> County Administrator/Chief Clerk Chuck Noll
> said. Riffin said he would repair the line
> himself, absolving the county of what Noll
> said could be "an extremely large
> financial obligation."

> Repairs: If his plan is accepted, Riffin
> said he initially would replace the worn
> wooden ties on the track.

> "I will fix the track at no expense to
> York County or the state of Pennsylvania. I
> have a complete set of equipment with the
> track layers, graders, et cetera, and know
> how to operate it."

> Riffin said he has enough money from
> investments to initiate the work, and he
> might rely on loans, investors and
> volunteers down the road.

> Long history: The rail line has a long
> history of service through the county, the
> last being a passenger excursion service
> that folded in 2002.

> It's the second-oldest rail line in America,
> started after the Baltimore & Ohio,
> Riffin said. It began as the Northern
> Central Railway, completed from Baltimore to
> York in 1838, and the only railroad going
> north and south. In 1911 Pennsylvania
> Railroad leased the assets of Northern
> Central, which eventually merged with New
> York Central to become Penn Central. Penn
> Central abandoned the line in the 1970s
> after Hurricane Agnes.

> The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad/York
> Rail operated the line until 1990, and then
> from 1998 to 2001 an excursion train with
> dining facilities ran from New Freedom,
> sometimes as far as York.

> In shuttering the excursion railroad in
> 2001, company president Kenneth Bitten cited
> low sales and financial considerations as
> the primary reasons. However, he also noted
> that issues with New Freedom borough, the
> train's base, were instrumental. Residents
> and borough officials had complained about
> noise and unsightly storage. The company's
> assets were to be auctioned off when service
> ended.

> Riffin said he was aware that some
> communities had had problems with trains in
> the past. "We don't want to be where
> we're not welcome," he said. "We
> will listen to what the concerns are -- if
> they have a valid base, we won't do it, like
> running a train at 2 a.m."

> Riffin said he would not use New Freedom as
> a base of operations. Rather, he said, his
> preference would be in Maryland or somewhere
> near York.


raymondreter@aol.com