| Peninsula, OH … Cuyahoga
Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR) is disappointed to have to announce that there will be no
train service to Canton for the balance of 2003. "We actively explored scheduling
trains over a several weekend period, but only if the track repair work between Peninsula
and Akron was completed in time. But, numerous factors forced us to decide that adding
Canton trains into the schedule this year, would be extremely risky" said Doug
Cooper, CVSR’s President. |
As reported, the floods in July washed out sections of CVSR’s track between
Independence and Akron, making the tracks impassible and forcing the Railroad to suspend
operations. The National Park Service, |
 |
| owners of that portion of track,
was able to quickly repair the track between Rockside Road in Independence and Peninsula
by Saturday, August 9, as they were not as badly damaged as the south portion of the
track. |
Since the track damage south of Peninsula was more
extensive and costly, the Park Service had to work very hard to find the funding for the
repairs, and the re-construction of the track began Monday September 22. "The work is
scheduled to be done by the second week in October, according to the contractor. However,
the earliest date operations could begin to Akron and Canton can’t be predicted with
enough certainty to permit us to do the necessary marketing to build ridership for new
excursions", said CVSR’s Marketing Director, Sue Round.
Other factors weighed on the Railroad’s decision not to send trains to Canton:
"Newly restored tracks will be subject to "slow-orders" when trains resume
in order to assure safety, and therefore create a timing issue for arrivals and
departures" noted Brian Allan, CVSR’s Director of Operations.
In addition, CVSR learned on September 19th, that The City of Canton would
begin construction on the Canton Lincoln Highway Station’s parking lot paving project
around October 6th. Even though the City’s work will accommodate walk-up
traffic, there will be no the convenient parking available to passengers board at the
Lincoln Highway Station, located on West Tuscarawas and Brown. Also, Canton-bound riders
will have obstacles to overcome in order to walk to the SARTA shuttle bus to visit the
venues. "With these uncertainties and only a few weekends to choose from, CVSR has
chosen to focus its efforts in developing the Canton Service for the 2004 season. The
decision to concentrate on expanding the service to Canton in 2004 include increasing
weekend service next summer and adding a few special events, such as a wine-tasting and
maybe a Murder Mystery Train", said Sue Round.
Subject to completion of the tracks, CVSR will run its previously scheduled excursions
between the Rockside Station in Independence and the Akron Northside Station beginning on
Thursday, October 9, 2003, beginning with the new "Hartville Connection". In
addition, CVSR will run its classic Polar Express Christmas trains out of both
Akron/Northside and Rockside Station/Independence.
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is a 501(c)3, private-sector, not-for-profit
organization that runs historic, educational and recreational train excursions through
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, between Independence (Greater Cleveland Area), downtown
Akron, and downtown Canton. For more information and reservations please call
1-800-468-4070 or visit our web site at
