Lebanon keeps train rides

John Barnhill Feb 12, 2009

  1. John Barnhill

    John Barnhill TrainBoard Member

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    Lebanon to keep themed train rides



    By Elaine Trumpey • etrumpey@enquirer.com • February 11, 2009

    LEBANON – Merchants in this city’s historic downtown district can breathe a sigh of relief – the train rides will stay.

    City council approved an agreement Tuesday night that will bring leisure train rides back to Lebanon once repairs are made to city-owned tracks used by LM&M Railroad.

    “This will be a salvation to a lot of small businesses,” said Steve Mullinger, president of Historic Downtown Lebanon Inc., and operator of the Golden Lamb Restaurant.
    Merchants in the historic area are dealing with the recession at the same time they are preparing for disruptions coming this spring when construction begins on a downtown streetscape project.

    “It was no time to turn our backs on an attraction that brings 50,000 visitors to the city,” he said.

    City officials and owners of the Cincinnati Railway Company, LM&M’s parent company, have been involved in sometimes very-heated talks since last fall about whether the city should finance $350,000 in repairs on the five-mile stretch of track used by the train to run themed rides from the Lebanon train depot.

    An engineering inspection revealed deteriorating conditions that required immediate repairs to continue running passengers across several bridges on the line. Tracks were shut down late last year until repairs could be made.

    In addition to the immediate costs, the sides debated how to set up a fund for ongoing maintenance.

    The train company agreed to pay 50 cents a ticket toward long-term maintenance costs beginning in 2010 (Thomas the Tank Engine events are excluded). The city had asked that the fee increase to $1 per ticket in the last two years of the four-year contract.

    LM&M also agreed to pay $175,000 to the city if the train company moves from Lebanon within the first two years of the agreement or $87,500 if it leaves after two years.

    Saying the railroad is getting “one heck of a deal,” Lebanon’s mayor, Amy Brewer, cast the sole “no” vote.

    “This was the hardest process I’ve had to deal with,” Brewer said. “We’re giving a lot of tax dollars away.”

    City officials anticipate repairing the first unsafe bridge on the line in time for the train to begin running rides from Lebanon this summer.

    In the meantime, the railroad plans to run some of its leisure rides from Mason, or possibly from a track near the Montgomery Inn Boathouse in downtown Cincinnati, according to Brian Collins, CEO of Cincinnati Railway Company.

    One new ride – to be called the Cincinnati Dinner Train – could start out of Mason in April or May, he said.
     

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