by John Isley, Guest Contributor
Boonville meeting outlines the possibilities for area economies and tourism
The Tug Hill Commission and Northern Oneida County Council of Governments met with representatives of the Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society (ARPS) on Tuesday, November 20 to discuss the future of the railroad.
The meeting was held at the Boonville Municipal Building and was prompted by the recently announced plan by Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC to start Pullman Car rail service from New York City to Lake Placid via the Adirondack Railway—a plan that Bill Branson of the Adirondack Railway Society has called “a game changer” for the region. Sixty people were in attendance.
Kate Fish of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) opened the meeting with a slide presentation of the current train promotions and the economic impact that the new “Pullman agreement” could provide. Fish stated a “brew train” sponsored by Saranac, an artist palette train associated with the state-of-the-art “View” art center in Old Forge, a Maple Express sponsoring the maple industry, dinner trains to Forestport’s Buffalo Head Restaurant and a 100 percent increase in the bike and paddling ridership are some of the current ways that the Railway is impacting the local economy.
Branson reported that some 14,000 passengers are booked for this year’s Polar Express trains, and that 1.2 million passengers have been transported on the 70 miles of operating tract. John K Bartow, Executive Director of the NYS Tug Hill Commission said that negotiations with the Iowa train company started in June and have moved into the partnership phase. Continue reading