Wednesday, March 2, 2005 10:58 AM EST
Cumberland Times-News

"Area railroad buffs and boosters of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad can make their case for preserving the excursion train during tomorrow's 9 a.m. meeting of the Allegany County Commissioners and railroad board.

Last week's announcement that the railroad will cease its run to Frostburg after the upcoming season has generated a tremendous reaction within the national community of railroad enthusiasts known as railfans. Many have registered their concerns through letters to the editor here at the Times-News; letters that touch on both the practical -- the loss of tourism dollars -- and the sentimental, evoking memories of a bygone era of American history.

The letters have arrived from every corner of the country. These folks come to Cumberland and spend a day or two, building their annual trip around a ride on Mountain Thunder. They form the core of a ridership that tops 30,000 each year.

What the visitors may not appreciate, however, is the local tax effort behind the railroad. Each year the county and the cities of Cumberland and Frostburg contribute a combined $250,000 to the railroad. State taxpayers kick in another $240,000, although that figure will be halved this year, and eliminated altogether next year.

Driving the move to abandon the Frostburg run is $25 million in potential upgrade expenses over the next five years, including the possible relocation of the Ridgeley, W.Va. train yard, should CSX sell the property, and $3 million to retrofit Brush Tunnel for combined use of the railroad and the Allegheny Highlands trail. Local government simply cannot afford such an expense.
Much of that bill is uncertain, though. CSX could have sold the Ridgeley property at any time over the past 17 years. And while eliminating the train certainly eases construction of the trail, the two have always been considered complementary.

The railroad has turned the corner in recent years to a promising future. Expenses are down and ridership is consistent. The train is known and appreciated nationwide. It is a tourism asset -- expensive to maintain, to be sure, but nevertheless an established component of the transportation-heritage tourism package that includes the bike trail, National Road and C&O Canal.

After 17 years, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad deserves a full and open debate about its future, and a sincere effort to develop viable alternatives to keep it running. The public can join that debate tomorrow morning. "

Forwarded by Alexander D. Mitchell IV

I just sent the Allegany County Commissioners this email. You can e-mail them yourself at

county_commissioners@allconet.org

If you would like to write to the commission feel free to use my letter to give you ideas for your own. Please do not block-copy from it--nothing offends a legislator more than getting form letters, and they usually do more harm than good. Make your letter your own.

___________________________________________


Dear Allegany County Board of Commissioners:

I regret that my schedule does not permit me to testify before you at your public hearing tomorrow, March 3, concerning the proposed cutbacks in service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.

I am a railroad historian and photographer, a Maryland resident from Rockville. Over the past 8 years I have visited Cumberland nearly every year to attend photographers' events on the WMSRR. On each of these events, 50 photographers come to Cumberland for two days of photography along the WMSRR main line. Each attendee requires two nights of hotel lodging in Cumberland or La Vale, along with two day's worth of meals and sundries--a total of at least 100 person-days of meals and lodging injected into the Allegany County economy. The railroad runs 2 to 5 of these events a year, generating a total economic impact of up to 500 person-days of lodging and meals.

If WMSRR service is cut back from Frostburg as contemplated in the plans which have appeared in the press this week, these kinds of events will no longer be attractive compared with the offerings of competitive steam railroads in Strasburg, New Hope, and Orbisonia Pa, and in eastern Ohio. Those hotel and meal receipts will disappear, never to be regained.

Aside from this strictly economic argument, the WMSRR plays a vital role in preserving and interpreting Maryland's distinguished railroading and industrial history for visitors of all ages and walks of life. This is one of the only places where visitors can experience an old-time steam train ride on a real main line, in real mountain terrain. The experience is invaluable, and is a centerpiece of Cumberland's overall heritage tourism appeal.

I urge you to work with our Maryland state legislators to explore every avenue to maintaining a viable service on the complete WMSRR to Frostburg. I would certainly support making adjustments to the service schedule to reduce costs and maximize revenue--perhaps by running more, shorter trips, with a lower time commitment and price better suited to impulse purchases. It is not necessary or even desirable from a marketing point of view to terminate every run in Frostburg. But maintaining a minimum level of service to Frostburg is critical to preserving WMSRR's overall integrity as a complete transportation history corridor and as a viable attraction for high-paying specialist events.

I will be bringing my young 3-year-old son for his first ride on the WMSRR this summer. I hope very sincerely that it will not be his last. Truncate the service too severely, and you will destroy the market for specialist events like the ones I described above which add so much to the railroad's bottom line. And, if the railroad no longer generates sufficient cash from operations, it will inevitably not be able to afford continued reinvestment and the locomotive and equipment. The entire service will run down, and ultimately have to be terminated, at great loss to the Cumberland economy.

I will communicate this same message to my own Maryland legislators and to Gov. Ehrlich.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best wishes,

Erik Ledbetter

Just emailed minem Erik --- here's hoping it has an impact.

T.J.

I just sent my letter.

Dear Board of Commissioners:

I am writing about the imminent closure of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. I am a resident of Columbia, MD and my wife and I have made numerous trips to the Cumberland area in the last 20 years to ride the trains. It almost always involves an overnight stay, as well as the meals.

Cumberland has done great work in the past 20 years promoting itself as a tourist destination. As you well know, Cumberland was established by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Western Maryland Railway came early in the last century. Railroading is the heart and soul of Cumberland's history. I am sure that the city fathers of London could make much more money demolishing the Tower of London and developing the land for a high-rise office and apartment complex. I am afraid that Allegany County is about to do just that with the Western Maryland Scenic.

Instead of hundreds of people being able to see the beauty of Allegany County accompanied by a symphony of steam, only those people who can afford expensive bicycles and have the physical stamina to ride them will be able to so if the track is replaced by a trail. As for Brush Tunnel, it was built to handle two trains at a time. The cyclists can still use it, and if they don't like the smoke, the train whistle can alert them that it is coming. They can then wait for the train to pass, just like millions of motorists do every day all over the world.

I will definitely be in Cumberland for another trip this summer. I pray that it will not be my last.

Sincerely yours,

Kevin Rand Gillespie
Columbia, MD