Bay Coast RR is tracking to improvement

New locomotive, newly painted cars part of plan

As seen in Eastern Shore News – 03-31-2006

By Ceri Larson Danes

CAPE CHARLES — The railroad is open for business and the new operator said he expects all planned improvements to be made by the end of this year.

Dickie Foster, who last fall signed a 30-year lease operating agreement with the Accomack Northampton Transportation Commission, owner of the Eastern Shore Railroad, was required in the terms to change its name. The newly refurbished line will feature a new locomotive and spruced up cars -- all done up in the fresh new colors and logo of Bay Coast Railroad.

Foster has purchased the new locomotive and the restored engine should arrive some time this month. The railroad has historically qualified for funding through the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation, but lately the match for those funds was raised due to the short line's outstanding debt.

Foster will infuse 25 percent more cash into the railroad than the previous match to get the state funding. He said all improvements should be made to the line by the end of the year. The result will be an upgrade from Class III to Class II of the entire line, increasing the allowable speed and allowing passengers to travel the planned excursion lines. The shortline was Class II 15 years ago.

In May, Foster plans to pull out for repairs a car-float barge that carries freight across the Chesapeake Bay to the Little Creek terminus. Foster met with all the current customers who use the line about a week ago. "I told them to go back to their respective towns, if they have a good plan or see something to make the railroad better in their town, come and tell me," he said. "Anything we can do to bring new life to the railroad that will help the towns and the railroad, we're all for it." Bringing new life means new customers, too. "I'm confident we're going to have more business. I think you'll see an increase in traffic before too long," Foster said.

His top priority, he has said all along, is to support the freight line. The excursion line should serve a dual purpose of bringing new revenue to the railroad as well as to the towns where it operates, and bringing in people who will spend more money in the towns. The appearance of the railyard in town has bothered Foster for years. Now the place is cleaned up and pine trees have been temporarily planted along the Mason Avenue. Foster said those trees will be moved once the permanent changes have been made.

"My first thoughts were about how would I landscape to allow for the railroad, because it has always been a freight line," he said. "But what I found myself doing one day, I asked myself: 'Why are you trying to take something as idyllic as a railroad and cover it up?' So I decided my landscaping will be railroad cars." As residents and visitors travel the business district, or ride an excursion car down to the car float, they'll see the cars that Foster plans to use for landscaping. They'll be fixed up, painted and essentially create a backdrop for a working yard -- "a visual buffer," he said. Along the way also, on the harbor side of Mason Avenue at Peach Street, Foster will build a railroad office that will reflect the original 19th century stations in Parksley and Greenwood, DE.

In addition to a central rail station on U.S. Route 13 that will provide ample parking and also shops, restaurants and other diversions, visitors will be able to catch the train to one of several stops in Cape Charles or other possible town destinations. Once in Cape Charles, visitors can explore several train stops. Foster plans a stop on the southside of the harbor, by the boat building facility. Another attraction is the car float. Foster is convinced people will want to stop and watch the cars being loaded onto the barge.

He also envisions a farmers' market in the area, one he likens to New Orleans' French Market, where shoppers can find booths of fresh seafood and produce and other local fare. "That's why you've got to have people walking," he said. And perhaps the greatest attraction of all, the station stop at the hump, which Foster hopes to convert to pedestrian-only traffic. Foster has already announced plans to move the Onancock Carnival equipment to this site, once the equipment and buildings have been refurbished. He also plans to place his Shore-specific custom-made carousel here, too.

If plans for the pedestrian overpass prove successful, he envisions banners all across the span and plenty of food carts and vendors along the way. "If you can make it pedestrian-friendly," he said, "my goal has always been to keep people out of cars." Foster has a lot of goals. "It is only 4,400 feet from the hump to the fun pier (at the town's waterfront). You can stroll it; it's less than a mile," he said. Also from this point visitors will be able to take a horse and buggy ride and rent bikes or golf carts.

"You can go to the museum (several are planned and the Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse is complete and serving as home for a collection of all things nautical and antique) or go to the beach club (one of his next projects) and take a water taxi to the marina, with its shops and restaurants. "You can go downtown and get back on the train," he said, adding there will be plenty of attractions for kids. "You've got to take care of the kids, or else the parents and grandparents won't come back." "If we make it fun, people will come," he said, in a twist on the 'Field of Dreams' philosophy.

Foster has been shopping for special railroad cars on the Internet. He's in the market for self-motorized cars and he has some interesting possibilities: a circus car (great for parties, he said); a double decker passenger car ("Isn't that neat?" he said); and a sleeper car, for those who want to take their time getting to Parksley someday. "This time next year," Foster said, "I'll be riding down the track in the dinner car."

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