Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train to "Relocate"

[Bluewaterfan]

October 01, 2008 - On Dec. 31, the whistle will blow as usual for
passengers to climb aboard the Star Clipper Dinner Train in Walled Lake
— but for the last time.

B. Allen Brown, president and CEO of Railmark Holdings, Inc., who owns
the dinner train, has made the business decision to relocate the train
to another location after 24 years in Walled Lake. At the same time, he
has opted to enter into negotiations with Michigan Trails to negotiate a
possible transfer of the railroad property to local communities.

"Our business was successful for many years, but with people's shrinking
disposable income and the decline in tourist buses........

"I plan to move both trains to the tourist destination markets where there is an influx of new buses each day to the area," he said. "Right now I'm exploring moving the scenic excursion train to Traverse City........


http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/Artic ... _Lake.html

[RRTTF]

Gee, I wonder why they didn't mention the fact that their quality had kept going downhill? Probably a big reason why their rideship was "declining."

[GTW6401]

Wait a second, wasn’t there already a dinner train based out of Traverse City? That’s just a bad business sense to not do your homework and realize that another dinner train operation in that area is no longer in business.

[AARR]

You're right, RRTTF, unless they address they're food quality issues they will continue to struggle with patrons. $60 something dollars for below average food is a bad value and not many people will pay for it and fewer will pay for it twice.

[SW]

From this morning's Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... /810040374

The Michigan Star Clipper dinner train is chugging toward its last run from its longtime home in Walled Lake. The train, which has been a cultural fixture in western Oakland County for 24 years, will cease local operation after its New Year's Eve Party run, majority owner Allen Brown confirmed recently.

Brown hopes to move the Star Clipper to what he termed a destination location on the East Coast with a steady stream of tourists, and he's negotiating with Michigan tourism officials to move its sister train, the Walled Lake Express, to the Traverse City area to run scenic wine-tasting and entertainment tours there. The Walled Lake Express features cars dating from the 1920s and offers guests scenic rides and entertainment including strolling musicians.

"It's sad, but that's just the way it is," Brown said. "We're making a business decision."

Michigan also has dinner trains in Mt. Pleasant, the Grand Rapids suburb of Coopersville and Blissfield.

But the Star Clipper, featuring vintage 1950s cars, is one of the oldest dinner train operations in the country and one of the few to offer five-course meals prepared onboard by professional chefs, according to Brown. Brown estimates that more than 1 million folks have taken in murder mysteries, color tours or other special entertainment experiences aboard both trains over the past two and a half decades. But in these tough economic times, there just aren't enough passengers in metro Detroit to keep the engine stoked, Brown said. The Star Clipper seats 245. The Walled Lake Express seats 175.

Last year, about 57,000 people rode both trains. That's down from about 100,000 riders a year from 1998, Brown said. Ridership fell in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and continued to plummet in the past year, while fuel costs soared.

On a Sunday afternoon ride, just 16 passengers were aboard the Star Clipper, including Patti and Ed Wajer of Marine City. The couple celebrated their 10th anniversary on the train.

"We enjoyed it thoroughly," Patti Wajer said, fondly recalling the peach cobbler and the sax player who encouraged her husband to profess his love to her over the train's microphone.

It was the Wajers' second visit to the train in about five years. When told that the train would close in a few weeks, she said, "I guess we'll just have rush out there and do it again."

Brown plans to keep about six employees in Walled Lake to run his track construction and maintenance business, Railmark Track Works Inc., and a freight business called Michigan Airline Railway. He said he is talking with local officials about selling portions of the 9 miles of train track he owns. The track that runs through Walled Lake, West Bloomfield, Commerce Township and Wixom may be converted into a hiking and biking trail.

For now, there are still plenty of seats on trains for the last season in metro Detroit. Offerings include murder mystery dinners, a haunted Halloween train, an overnight bed-and-breakfast option and Brown's version of the Polar Express. The rides last from one hour for the color tour to three hours for the dinner. The trains typically travel 10 to 17 miles.

On a recent Sunday, 3-year-old Sam Linden and his parents, Dave and Teri Linden of Dexter, were among five passengers on a one-hour afternoon family excursion aboard the Walled Lake Express.

"It was great," Dave Linden said. "The conductor gave Sam a whistle and a conductor hat to wear. We had a really good time."

It was the Linden family's first ride on the train. They're hoping to return before the train chugs out of town.

Contact EMILIA ASKARI at 248-351-3298 or easkari@freepress.com.

[RRTTF]

What lies! I once worked one summer at Coe Rail. I quit because the place was so poorly managed and unsafe in most everything they do. Right after I left, CoeRail had a sister train in Texas run into a moving freight train and a couple dozen people ended up in hospitals. The numbers of 50,000 and 100,000 are lies. That would mean that they were hauling 2000 people a week. Rarely did we have a train with more than 30-40 on board, and the train only ran weekends for the most part, even though they advertised that it ran 7 days a week. I guess they must have been counting the rats and the flies, which the kitchen was infested with. They really pushed watered down drinks because that is where they made their profit.

[AARR]

Check the years they're quoting, RRTTF. At one time that was a popular entertainment destination. They had good entertainment and food. Maybe they're numbers for that era are at least in the ballpark.

[J T]

But the Star Clipper, featuring vintage 1950s cars, is one of the oldest dinner train operations in the country and one of the few to offer five-course meals prepared onboard by professional chefs, according to Brown.

The meal my gf and I had tasted like it came from a catering company, prepared beforehand. It was ordinary...nothing special about it.

They really pushed watered down drinks because that is where they made their profit.

THAT I can agree with as well. Expensive drinks (which should have been part of the entire price) that were very bland.

[TrainNut85]

It would be a big mistake for him to put the train in TC. They already had a dinner train there, it failed and the people that owned it sold it off. What makes this guy think he'll get business there.

If the guy wants good business, he should put it somewhere where there is more tourists every time.

[RailCanon]

Read a little closer guys. He doesn't want to relocate the dinner train, but rather the excursion train, the Walled Lake Scenic Railroad (formerly the Coe Rail Family Train), to Traverse City.

[CAT345C]

For those who don't know, the Family train or Walled Lake Scenic train was pulled by the SW switcher.

[RRTTF]

When I worked there, the "chef" on the train was also a mechanic during the week at the Chrysler dealership just up the street. The food all came pre-fab frozen from a company called Sysco and got "nuked" on the train and put on plates. The salad lettuce was bought at the grocery store right up the corner. I was often told to help portion out the salad ahead of time, and I was the brakeman on the train! Nobody even washed their hands or wore gloves before handling the food. The owner would laugh about how people were paying good money for the cheap food he was serving. These are all reasons why I left the place.

[J T]

Wow, that doesn't surprise me at all about how the food was prepped.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

I'm surprised the health department didn't visit and inspect the place. Sounds like they violated quite a few food handling rules...

[BerkshireKid]

Would be interesting to see it operate in TC considering al the track is "excepted" meaning no passenger cars.

[Racer]

.....I guess they must have been counting the rats and the flies, which the kitchen was infested with.

*Gulp , I can't believe I ate on that train a few years ago.

[j32885]

All operations will discontinued December 31 2008 New Year's Eve. So now is the time to get your final videos and pictures of the line before its gone. In the Freep article sounds like the operation will move up to Traverse City for a short while, before the find a new home. The other part of the article has them moving out of state to somewhere out east. Personally, I would to see the equipment stay here in Michigan as part of SRI or Bluewater, but as you know it the owner Allen Brown is in it to make money as a business. Too bad anyway.

[mikerm19]

They should get together with C&M and GRE to make an excursion line from Coopersville to Lowell.

[AARR]

They should get together with C&M and GRE to make an excursion line from Coopersville to Lowell.

In theory this seems like a good idea

[mikerm19]

They should get together with C&M and GRE to make an excursion line from Coopersville to Lowell.

In theory this seems like a good idea

Yeah, probably will never happen, but it would actually make the line kind of interetesting for once, going over the Grand River and all.