Funding Restored To Texas State Railroad, For Now Some good economic news for East Texas – the Texas State Railroad in Rusk will keep going down the tracks at least into next summer. It had been faced with closure on New Year’s Eve. A budget crunch at the state level continues to threaten the future of the tourist attraction, but the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says another $2.2 million has been made available for state parks, and that will help keep the railroad running through August 31st. “Why should we give away an iconic piece of property that belongs to the people of Texas? Why can’t we just do the right thing and keep it in the Texas state parks system? This is what the people want,” says railroad proponent and Parks and Wildlife Commissioner John Parker. It’s hoped the Legislature will restore long-term funding for the railroad when it meets next year.
Excellent news. Even if the long term plan isn’t to keep it within the park system, at least this provides more time to get a private operator on board.
It’s neat little road. I hope they can keep it going.
Regards
Ed
I had better put a ride in my travel plans for the near future.
IIRC they have been doing some serious track upgrades - part of the reason they appear to be losing money. In private enterprise, that would be considered a capital investment and depreciated over 20 to 40 years (I can’t remember the exact rule) but in government accounting it is an expense against current year income.
dd