KEEPING TRACK (s)!

     SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27TH., 2019
               KEEPING TRACK (s)!

    Facebook followers who follow my album
posts will know my son, grandson, my wife,
and I made a two hour drive to Strasburg
on Saturday to see Thomas the Tank Engine,
a TV cartoon train that's been brought to life
for public appearances.
     Thousands of other people did too! So
many in was hard to keep "track" of them!
(Get it?)
     It was the same story the last two times
we visited "Thomas and his Friends." Once
a year ago and once about 17 years ago.
      Passenger rail service vanished from
our area many years ago. But not before I,
as a kid, had a chance to ride the rails many
times between my home in Hazleton and
places like New York City, Philadelphia, and
Chicago.
       Excursion train runs are still available
here and there and it is not unusual to see
them sold out when they run!
       A tax dispute currently threatens a
tourist passenger train that has been based
in Jim Thrope for the past 15 years or so.
But the owners are already considering
other base locations because their coaches
are usually packed.
        It makes me think that someone is
missing the boat. Or, in this case, the
train, by not bringing more railroad
excursions to the area.
        I remember doing a TV story about
a proposed run along the Susquehanna
River that never really developed as a
regular attraction.
         Steamtown lost out on what was
its most popular tourist run when the
railroad owning the line that runs over
the Nicholson Viaduct refused to allow
excursions.
          There are also complications
involving freight trains, that literally
own the rails, and tracks here and
there that have been ripped out over
the years. That's just one of the
problems holding up the proposed
restoration of passenger rail service
from New York to Scranton.
             Having seen what I've just
seen I'm convinced somebody should
ffnd a way to bring Thomas to the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.
              There's money to be made
and fun to be had. I know. I saw a lot
of people spending it Saturday and
everybody, me included, was having
a lot of fun!  
               Hope we'll hear "All Aboard"
a little more often and that all your
NEWS is good!