JACKSON TRAIN: RAILWAY TO PURSUE NONPROFIT STATUS

JACKSON -- Stockholders in the financially ailing St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway decided Monday night to seek status as a nonprofit corporation.

Approximately 15 of the tourist line's 25 stockholders met at the train station to make a decision about the future of the train, which currently is three months behind on its loan.

Nonprofit status would enable people to write off donations made to the train and for the train to qualify for federal and state tourism grants, including federal transportation grants that only recently became available.

The stockholders listened to a presentation about the advantages of becoming a nonprofit corporation from Ken Parrett, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

"The stockholders present almost unanimously agreed they would be willing to forfeit their stock in the profit corporation to facilitate creation of the nonprofit," said Sam Drusch, a lawyer and stockholder in the railway.

Becoming a nonprofit takes almost no time, but acquiring grants could be another matter.

Asked if the train can continue to operate until that happens, Drusch said, "That's a good question.

"To use a pun, There will have to be some light at the end of the tunnel. There's the enthusiasm for it."

Drusch is pleased that the Jackson Chamber of Commerce has taken an active role in trying to keep the railway's engines from shutting down.

"We always kind of felt we were alone," he said. "Now we're hearing from people who say this can't happen."

Parrett said the estimated 28,000 people who ride the train annually have a sizable impact on the economies of both the city and county, both in sales tax and the ripple effect on other businesses.

He is encouraged by the railway's decision. "There's still a long way to go with it," Parrett said. "These people have been hammered for a while, digging into their own pockets when they knew they weren't going to make anything back."

The annual cost of operating the train is $200,000, with most of the money going toward maintenance. One year the train had $90,000 in maintenance costs and $70,000 another year.

The private railway made its first run to Gordonville in 1986. It at one time considered a move to St. Charles.

Parrett, who became director of the chamber last September, said he wasn't aware of the train's plight until contacted recently.

"It was news to me," he said.

City Administrator Steve Wilson and Mayor Paul Sander said the city cannot help a private enterprise such as the railway. "The city couldn't appropriate any funds even if we wanted to," Wilson said.

The city can help out nonprofits.

Sander said the train is an asset to business. "Obviously, anything that attracts those numbers to the city is a positive thing."