Choo-Choo News : Lone Star Times

Choo-Choo News

by David Benzion · 06/11/2007 6:22 am

Unsettling and disturbing news this morning:

For 50 years, it’s been one place in Houston where the destination is the journey.

The 35-horsepower locomotive of the Hermann Park train pulls its little open-air cars through a dark tunnel, weaves under tall pine and live oak trees, winds past playgrounds and ponds, goes over a bridge and chugs back into the station.

All of that could change in September, when the Slusky family’s “Buffalo Rides” concession at Hermann Park comes to its final stop.

[h/t: Houston Chronicle for text and photo]

Thankfully, it appears that the non-profit Hermann Park Conservancy will be stepping up (by paying all capital costs, btw) to install and operate an upgraded train. Good for them and us.

We couldn’t help be disturbed, however, by the following caption to the above photograph (emphasis’ in bold and italics added by LST).

An end of an era looms for the little Hermann Park choo-choo train that’s been operated by the Slusky family for 50 years. A proposal would update the train with a route that would include more stops and a link to Metro Rail.

Um, given some of METRO’s difficulties of late, are we certain linking up a choo-choo full of children to the rail-line is really such a good idea?

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Comments

9 Responses to “Choo-Choo News”

MadDog on June 11th, 2007 at 6:46 am

I think I can. I think I can…..
jphilb on June 11th, 2007 at 7:14 am

Why can’t the city just buy the train that is already there?
This is going to cost us $20 mil by the time this is done.
Can’t imagine Hermann Park without the train.
I.P.A.Bill on June 11th, 2007 at 7:22 am

We are in danger of becomeing a one “toy train” town.

Mornin Folks
Royko on June 11th, 2007 at 7:44 am

One wonders if METRO will turn the little cho cho train into another extension of their wasteful, unsafe, unreliable, and underutilized boondoggle, where they can add these “boardings” to the dubious monthly estimates for the glorious Utopian “Transit Backbone?”
Zippy_Slug on June 11th, 2007 at 8:22 am

It’s a just natural progression in toy trains..

Metro Rail that goes nowhere to toy train in the park which goes nowhere.

2) Profit!!
mrygill2 on June 11th, 2007 at 11:21 am

One of my earliest happy memories after moving to Houston is riding that little train at the age of 5 around and around the park. I didn’t want to get off.

Glad there will still be a little engine that could.
texpat on June 11th, 2007 at 11:47 am

Fifty years ago, I rode that train.
trl3 on June 11th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

The difference in the Hermann Park toy train and the Metro toy train is the Hermann Park toy train came closer to paying the expenses than Metro.

Ridership for Metro’s toy train does not even come close to paying for operating expenses, much less the initial cost to construct it.
GriffithLea on June 11th, 2007 at 11:29 pm

Let me tell you about my experience riding the Metro rail for the first time last week.

I had a training class to attend for work down at Rice. I live up on the NW side, near Willowbrook, so I took the 212 Park and Ride bus downtown as I always did when I was working downtown up until recently. I got off at Milam and Prairie, and walked a couple of blocks east to get on the train.

I bought a round trip ticket from the little kiosk at the station, and a few minutes later the train pulled up. Everyone on the platform piled on. It was pretty crowded - a lot of people were standing, though maybe that was out of habit, since there were a few empty seats still. Not many, though.

Well, I kept looking around to see if someone was going to punch my ticket, or run it through some sort of reader (there was a magnetic strip on it), but I rode the entire trip down to Rice and I never saw a single Metro employee on the train, except for the driver (who of course does not come out of the front of the train at all).

The return trip in the afternoon was the same, except that the train was absolutely jam-packed. It was standing-room-only, and there was precious little of that.

So, how does Metro rail pay for itself, if they don’t actually check to see if the people riding it have paid a fare?

Wait, don’t answer that.