RAILWAY, CHAMBER SEEK WAYS TO SAVE THE TRAIN

Ten years after the struggling St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway considered moving to St. Charles, the popular tourist line is again facing an uncertain future.

Stockholders will meet early this month to decide the fate of the railroad which brings some 20,000 visitors to Cape Girardeau County each year.

While the operation has been overly profitable itself, it has been a Godsend to the local economy.

"The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway brings in 20,000 visitors a year to Jackson," said Ken Parrett, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. "Those visitors that come in pay for a hotel room, buy a meal, visit other sites, buy a tank of gas, etc. They provide a lot of revenue for the community and the business owners."

Parrett thinks Jackson residents and business owners need to realize what the vintage trains mean to the community.

"The train is so important to the community. The residents need to look at it and realize what it's doing for the community," he said. "I know most residents in the community may not realize that. It would be a travesty if that thing shut down. We definitely need to get behind it."

The railroad was founded in 1985, making its first run April 18, 1986, with the late Bill Emerson, 8th District representative, shoveling in coal at the beginning of the Jackson to Gordonville run.

The venture has been an expensive one from the beginning. The Iron Mountain's parent company, SEMO Steam Railroad, obtained a 1946 H.K. Porter 2-4-2 steal locomotive and two vintage 1920s railroad cars from Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad Co. Named the "Shelby Brown," the 100,000-pound locomotive has required continuous maintenance and restoration over the years.

A circa 1950 diesel locomotive was added in recent years, to take some of the pressure off the Shelby Brown.

In Sept., 1989 the St. Charles Tourism Commisison approached the group about possibly moving the operation to St. Charles. At the time the potential move was listed as an estimated loss of $1,350,000 to county.

Requests for funding help from the Cape Girardeau Convention and Tourism Bureau that fall was turned down and the St. Charles move again looked like a strong possibility.

The railroad opted to stay put and even talked about moving two replicated western villages from Black Forest to the Gordonville Park in 1990.

It has become a local institution over the years.

"What that train is doing is getting them here," Parrett said. "It's like the 'If you build it, they will come' phrase. It's already built and they're already coming. We just need to keep them coming. The only way to do that is to keep that train viable."

The operation costs some $200,000 a year.

Keeping the operation going, though, is something Parrett feels is vital to the community's economy.

"If business owners and residents think about it, they would realize how much the tourists leave in the community when they go back home and how much that additional sales tax can do for our community."

All is certainly not lost for the railroad. Parrett indicated that the chamber is doing all it can to help its own.

"We're working with several different options with things we can do with the train," Parrett said, noting that the Iron Mountain is a chamber member. "We're trying to put them with some resources, to speak to them and see what they can do about different corporate strategies."

"We want to put ato fix the problem. There needs to be a long-term solution. We can't just give them a Band-Aid. That's what the stockholders are working on right now -- to try to figure out what needs to be done. We're doing everything we can to help because we understand the importance."