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Centre Daily Times August 6 2005
Bellefonte railroad getting back on track
By Pete Bosak; pbosak@centredaily.com
"The Bellefonte Historical Railroad may not have taken its last trip after all.
While the volunteer-driven railroad is still in negotiations with North Shore Railroad for a new contract that would allow its weekly tourist excursions to resume, officials at the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society say they hope to be back on track in September.
Last month, the situation was so bleak -- the nonprofit Bellefonte railroad owes the rail lines' controller, North Shore Railroad and its subsidiary, Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad, almost $30,000 in outstanding track-inspection fees -- that history buffs feared the trains made their last runs.
"We're making, I think, some excellent progress toward negotiating a settlement with the North Shore Railroad," said Cecil Giscombe, a member of Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society's board of directors on Friday. "Things are looking up, better than they have in a long time."
The trains, two 1950s-era self-propelled diesel cars, have sat idle since December. The outstanding inspection fees, a shortage of volunteers and the inability to reach a new deal with the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad prevented the railroad society from offering tourist trips during what would have been its peak season.
But it appears an arrangement with Nittany & Bald Eagle is close, said Brooks Parker, the railroad society's treasurer.
"I'm optimistic," Parker said. "It's close to being an environment in which we can operate again."
But last month, Parker conceded, it looked like the end of the line.
The society's fee of $12 per person per outing in the two 88-passenger cars does not cover operational costs if trains are not full.
The Federal Railroad Administration mandates that tracks be inspected each time the train carries passengers. Those inspections can cost more than $400 per trip, helping dig the $30,000 hole the society is trying to negotiate its way out of.
All along, Bellefonte Historical Railroad leaders have said the trains have to be operating to make any money, making talks with North Shore Railroad and its subsidiary all the more critical.
Giscombe said state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and state Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-College Township, are helping in the negotiations. Corman's chief of staff, Jim Eckert, also got involved to facilitate dialogue between both sides.
Corman also is looking for state grant funding for the Bellefonte Historical Railroad, Eckert said.
With a financial arrangement apparently near, railroad society leaders also are excited by a groundswell of public support they have received since their problems were detailed last month in the CDT.
"The second key to the puzzle is getting some new blood, some new volunteers," Parker said.
So far, the society has received calls from about 12 people who want to help.
Also, Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association has offered to co-sponsor Bellefonte Railroad events, Giscombe said.
"We're in the process of taking them up on that offer," he said."
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