Old Colony won't seek injunction for rail access Print
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"We are going to concede defeat," says Peter Martin, a railway volunteer with Old Colony & Newport Railway.


01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 19, 2004

By RICHARD SALIT Journal Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- The next stop for the Old Colony & Newport Railway won't be in court.

A spokesman for the historic train buffs who run the railway said yesterday that the nonprofit group will cease its sightseeing trips instead of challenging the legality of a state mandate that they operate under the auspices of the Newport Dinner Train.

"We are going to concede defeat," said Peter Martin, a railway volunteer. "We have decided that we don't want to go through costly legal expenses for an injunction."

But, said Martin, the railway hasn't given up hope that it will get back on track.

"We are pleading for help from the local community and local community leaders," he said. "We want people to contact the governor's office to bring this issue to the governor's office. We are frustrated."

Governor Carcieri's office was not immediately forthcoming with a response.

"If they want him to step in, they have to ask him. We'd react to the letter once we got it," said spokeswoman Madeline Parmenter. She said she would seek a comment from the governor but did not call back yesterday.

The Department of Transportation gave Old Colony until today to sign an agreement that would permit it to operate on the state-owned Newport Secondary Line, but only under the control of the for-profit Dinner Train.

Old Colony considers the arrangement untenable and won't sign the contract, said Martin. It would no longer have the right to run its turn-of-the-century trains on the 12.4-mile track that runs along the western shoreline of Aquidneck Island.

The 25-year-old organization that runs Old Colony traditionally offers two rides a week, on Sunday afternoons. But a telephone message at the railway yesterday said, "Please note that our trains will not run this Sunday. All trains are canceled until further notice."

By all accounts, relations have been strained for years between the nonprofit museum group that runs Old Colony and the company that owns the slickly marketed and luxurious Dinner Train.

Earlier this month, a lawyer for DOT presented the contract to Old Colony, saying it was the culmination of "years of discussion with no meaningful resolution(s), and several proposed and rejected operating agreements to create an amicable relationship between Dinner Train and Old Colony."

Heidi Cote, a spokeswoman for DOT, said earlier in the week that Old Colony "has been operating without an agreement." She said the agency could not comment further. "We are in the middle of these negotiations. It's not appropriate for us to discuss this."

The contract states that in the event of any conflict over scheduling and operation on the Newport Secondary, the Dinner Train "shall take priority over" Old Colony. Old Colony members are concerned about the potential loss of operating days, including such holidays as Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day, as well the legality of a nonprofit working under a for-profit.

The Dinner Train's contract requires it to maintain the railway and to give a percentage of its revenues to the state. Old Colony has traditionally donated 500 hours of manpower a year to help maintain the line.

On Sunday, said Martin, Old Colony's rolling stock -- including a 1905 coach and an 1895 parlor car, the oldest actively used railroad car in the nation -- will remain idle at its rail-side storage spot near the Navy's Pier 1.

Martin, usually a brakeman on Sundays, said he will be down at the Newport depot "letting people know the railroad is not running."

Reporter Richard Salit can be reached at (401) 277-7467 or by e-mail at rsalitATprojo.com.
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