Minnesota Zephyr Dinner Train to continue operations in 2008

Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota still hopes to negotiate deal to convert railway to trailway

Minnesota Zephyr Dinner Train owner Dave Paradeau today informed the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota that the popular restaurant on rails would continue operating for a 23rd year – perhaps under new ownership and management. Paradeau had originally announced that he and the Zephyr would be retiring at the end of 2007.

For the past year, the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota has been working with the Zephyr’s owner, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Washington County to preserve the 5.9-mile railway intact so it could be added to the state’s world class park and trail system.

“If the Zephyr Dinner Train does decide to cease operations, the Parks & Trails Council and its public partners remain committed to seeing it become what may be the most popular trail segment in the state,” said Parks & Trails Council Executive Director Dorian Grilley. “The segment would provide a critical link between the state and regional trail systems and it would connect the Gateway State Trail and downtown St. Paul to downtown Stillwater.”

Ongoing efforts to reach agreement on a deal to convert the railway to a trail have been inhibited by a confluence of factors, including uncertainty over state funding for the trail and difficulty in setting a value on this unique railway corridor with an operating dinner train business.

While local and state officials have shown a genuine commitment to the trail concept, they have asked the Parks & Trails Council to provide its leadership in securing the corridor. The DNR demonstrated its commitment to the project by asking and getting the Legislature to authorize the railway as Brown’s Creek Trail in May. But while Washington County was the first to set aside up to $1 million from its Land and Water Legacy program, the remainder of the acquisition funding is likely to come from the Parks & Trails Council’s revolving land fund. The fund would be used to purchase and hold the land while Gov. Pawlenty and the Legislature determine whether or not to appropriate funds for acquisition and development of the trail as part of the state’s 2008 bonding bill.

The Parks & Trails Council is often brought into deals by public agencies that need more time to get their financing in order so they can purchase a parcel that is critical to the integrity of a particular park or trail. The Parks & Trails Council’s Samuel H. Morgan Land Acquisition Fund, which relies on contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations, provides the organization with the flexibility to step in when needed to purchase these strategic parcels and hold them until it can transfer ownership to the public agency.