By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
FRENCH LICK — It’s the time of year once again when the French Lick Scenic Railway expands its list of destinations to include the North Pole in order to whisk pajama-wearing youngsters and their families on a magical visit to Santa’s Workshop.
Indiana Railway Museum’s journey to French Lick
Since 1978, the French Lick Scenic Railway has operated from the historic limestone depot that once greeted thousands of passengers traveling the Monon or the Southern Railway to “take the waters” and enjoy other diversions.
The parent Indiana Railway Museum’s history goes back almost two decades before its move to French Lick, though. The organization actually got its start way back in 1961 on a single mile of track in Westport, east of Columbus. Back then, the operation consisted of one small steam engine, three passenger cars, and about 20 volunteer staffers. Ridership that first season was estimated at approximately 500 passengers.
The move to French Lick, which followed a stint at Greensburg, gave the museum access to many more miles of track through the scenic Hoosier hills and even a 2,200-foot tunnel that dates back to 1907, and tours have grown to include Wild West-style holdups and other themed events. However, these offerings did little to prepare the organization for the dizzying growth that would follow the rollout of THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Train Ride.
Eleven years of runs to Santa’s Workshop
French Lick Scenic Railway began offering THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Train Ride in 2010. Four weekends were scheduled, giving a maximum capacity of 9,600 riders, and Rick Olsen, the organization’s general manager, said there was guarded optimism.
The public ended up being insatiable. Cars and weekends were added season after season, but tickets were still on the verge of selling out a year in advance. For 2021, THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Train Ride at French Lick got rolling Nov. 5 and will make 62 revenue trips, including several matinee and weekday runs, ahead of its shutdown in the days after Christmas. “This year, we’re going to be just under 47,000,” Olsen reported.
Those strong numbers for 2021, which match pre-COVID levels, are especially encouraging given the fact the attraction didn’t run at all during 2020. Looking back, Olsen said everyone was hopeful during COVID’s appearance in the springtime that things would be back to normal by summer or fall. However, things just didn’t work out that way. The difficult conclusion French Lick Scenic Railway came to is it would be better to shelve THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Train Ride temporarily and offer ticketholders refunds or the opportunity to ride in 2021. The decision was made in September 2020. “Most chose to move to 2021,” Olsen said.
The alternative — trying to work around restrictions that would’ve turned the experience into a mere shadow of what crowds had come to enjoy year after year — simply wasn’t acceptable. “We are about the quality of our show, and it would not have been fair to our guests,” Olsen commented. “… Nobody would’ve liked it.”
An economic driver
Of course, the economic impacts generated by nearly 50,000 riders during what had at one time been sleepy winter months for the resort towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs are by no means limited to the railway itself. Olsen said it’s easy to see the spillover effects, since surrounding lodging facilities and restaurants are awash with children clad in pajamas.
The railroad sees those businesses as partners in the overall experience, too, and has worked with them through the years to coordinate. Olsen said some of the local restaurants have even developed special express menus around ride times to allow families to be fed and head out as quickly as possible.
That close working relationship has been a boon for partners on both sides. However, it also is another reason why the decision to suspend operations for the 2020 season was so difficult. The railroad team knew it would be a painful blow to those businesses, too. “Everybody else had already been hit hard,” Olsen said.
A major production
The attention to detail in THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Train Ride here is one reason Olsen believes it has become a regular tradition for so many families, some of whom drive past similar offerings on other railroads to get here. They mainly come from the Louisville, Evansville/Owensboro and Indianapolis areas, but some folks come Chicago and Saint Louis. One family makes the ride part of an annual holiday visit to the area from California. “There are people this is their 11th year, as well,” Olsen related.
In Olsen’s words, the organization treats the trip as a “full-on theatrical production.” While year-round employees of the museum total 10 full-time workers and another seven or eight part-timers, the number balloons to 100 people for the big event. Casting calls for all the roles are put out, and auditions are held. Rehearsals last about four weeks at Jasper Civic Auditorium. Many of the performers are 16-17 years old, but some of the roles, like the main Hero Boy character, go to even younger actors.
Other offerings
The French Lick Scenic Railway continues to innovate during the rest of the year, too. Besides the traditional excursions visitors have enjoyed for decades, the organization also offers a Dinosaur Adventure Train during the summer. Riders are transported back in time to an adventure camp, and highlights include a live reptile encounter and fossil dig.
Dinner trains and tasting trains — for bourbon and for chocolate — have also been offered through the years. While they were put on hold for COVID, too, the excursions are in the process of being brought back online.
The French Lick Scenic Railway has invested in equipment over time to be able to offer passengers new and better experiences. For example, during 2018 and 2019, support from the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and funds from the railroad itself paid for the transformation of two cars into new first-class cars that are now used for many of the organization’s events.
Hauling freight
In addition to its scenic railway, the non-profit Indiana Railway Museum also operates a for-profit subsidiary called the Dubois County Railroad on the southern end of its line, including Dubois, Jasper and Huntingburg. “It’s got a lot of room for growth,” Olsen commented.
The short-line railroad connects to the Norfolk Southern at Huntingburg, and its primary business at the time being is hauling petroleum products for Jasper-based Ackerman Oil. Olsen explained the “final mile” service offered — getting bulk shipments to a terminal where trucks can then distribute the product out to end users — is a cost-effective solution. In fact, he said every carload the railroad transports is the equivalent of three tractor-trailer loads. He stressed the Dubois County Railroad is eager to do whatever it can to find solutions for its customers. It’s a model he’s hoping will be embraced by more local industries, including the many furniture factories in the local area. “There is opportunity for that,” he said.