Steam & Excursion > Everett RR; how to start a tourist RR

Thanks to a recent (6/4/19) article by the Heritage Rail Alliance (heritagerail.org) some insight is now available into the Everett RR's success since their start in late 2015 in Hollidaysburg,PA..
To summarize a few key statements by Jason Lamb, general manager of EVRR since 2013:
EVRR President Alan Maples was determined to start a tourist operation featuring steam and he did not want to fail, meticulous planning, equipment acqusition, and infrastructure improvement were all important.
Engine #11 took 9 years of restoration, utilizing 2 shops.
Ridership has elevated each of the 3 full years the RR has operated;
2016 - 12,000
2017 - 16,000
2018 -  almost 20,000
The Santa trains made up almost half of total ridership in 2018, with Pumpkin trains in Oct. contributing 3,000 customers and Easter trains another 2000 patrons.
With these "event" trains making up 3/4 of paying customers, the other 1/4 was from excursions to Brookes Mills, Roaring Springs, and Martinsburg Jct.
It should be noted that the spring and fall excursions are the shortest with their destination being Kladder station aka Monastery RD.
EVRR considers itself at capacity with their present schedule of tourist trains, any increase in operations would require more staff, the passenger service in 2018 was able to break even, and EVRR is still improving the infrastructure, i.e. Everett now owns 10 passenger cars plus a business car. Everett utilizes all paid staff, except for volunteer car hosts from Horseshoe Curve Chapter,NRHS.
Steam engine #11 had 40 scheduled days of operation last year on the various excursions, usually working multiple trips, there were also several charter trains and 4 scheduled diesel-powered excursions.
Mr. Lamb concluded that having the parent freight operation's profits, equipment, and resources have been instrumental in the success of the passenger operation.
Certainly the Everett has been a success, and also benefits from being in a region rich in railroad history and a vibrant operation to the current day.
The operation seems to have developed a stable base of customers, both local and otherwise, one cannot say how much EVRR's ridership has been affected by the troubles of the WMSR 1 hour to the south.
I have greatly enjoyed my encounters with the Everett the last 4 years, IMO the ride up to Roaring Spring is a hidden jewel, with over 3 miles of 1.5%+ that get #11 a workout.


 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/19 09:43 by warren1977.

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Where is Everett? Washington? Virginia? Please mention location in your posts.

 

It's in Pennsylvania... It's near Altoona...
Maybe it's Hollidaysburg...

John.

https://everettrailroad.com/

PA.

wjpyper Wrote:
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> Where is Everett? Washington? Virginia? Please
> mention location in your posts.
>
The Everett Railroad is in Pennsylvania.  My only comment is that I hope that their management is putting some of the money that they are making into a fund for repairs to the equipment and eventually to the rebuild of the steam engine.  Tourist trains and especially dinner trains have to haul a lot of passengers to be able to make money and maintain the equipment.  Too many of these operations have not succeeded over the years due to the fact that their management did not put away the money to maintain the equipment long-term.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

wjpyper Wrote:
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> Where is Everett? Washington? Virginia? Please
> mention location in your posts.
>
>  
What a surprise, take 2 hours to hammer out what you hope will be an informative post, and wham, you get nailed because you forgot the gd state.
Then again, you could have just linked to the heritagerail.org site and read the whole article, which was my original intent, guess I'll know better next time.

warren1977 Wrote:
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> wjpyper Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Where is Everett? Washington? Virginia? Please
> > mention location in your posts.
> >
> >  
> What a surprise, take 2 hours to hammer out what
> you hope will be an informative post, and wham,
> you get nailed because you forgot the gd state.
> Then again, you could have just linked to the
> heritagerail.org site and read the whole article,
> which was my original intent, guess I'll know
> better next time.

Your first sentence of your original post says Holidaysburg, PA.  I guess your critic didn't bother to read the first sentence.

birdman Wrote:
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> warren1977 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > wjpyper Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Where is Everett? Washington? Virginia?
> Please
> > > mention location in your posts.
> > >
> > >  
> > What a surprise, take 2 hours to hammer out
> what
> > you hope will be an informative post, and
> wham,
> > you get nailed because you forgot the gd state.
> > Then again, you could have just linked to the
> > heritagerail.org site and read the whole
> article,
> > which was my original intent, guess I'll know
> > better next time.
>
> Your first sentence of your original post says
> Holidaysburg, PA.  I guess your critic didn't
> bother to read the first sentence.

Note that the original poster edited his post, twice,  then added the "Holidaysburg, PA" information later. I had no idea where the Everett Railroad was either, but I Googled it. No big deal, but it is nice when posters offer explanation as to: dates, locations, and actual name of a railroad (not just obscure initials).