SCENE IN PASSING
MARIE WHITEHEAD herald@mediactr.com
A sigh of relief was felt around the room as committee members ended discussion and approved a motion to recommend negotiations with American Heritage Railways for the operation of the Texas State Railroad. This happened in Palestine at 5:15 p.m. Thursday. The meeting had begun at 8 a.m. It has been a privilege to be a part of this group organized to prevent the death of our beloved steam-driven, historical train. Because I was blessed to be one of many who struggled to give birth to our tourism train, I really had no choice but to put my shoulder to the wheel with new faces, equally determined to serve in the preservation of history, not to mention service to the economic growth and development available to this area through support of tourism. So many have done so much. One of the strongest links in this chain is the Friends of Texas State Railroad. Here is a group of citizens from Cherokee and Anderson counties who organized years ago to lend their help in the train's operation. As I reflect on their service, I wonder if they had never been, as a support force, would we possibly have faced closure much earlier? I think that we would have.

How long can you treat a broken leg with a band aid? These thoughts are intended to help any of you who may feel we should have held out longer against Texas Parks and Wildlife people, and the 31 senators and 150 house members who have not been able to provide adequate funding since 1993. The necessary dollars had been approved in 1991 through a bill that put a tax on sporting goods and this tax was dedicated to the use of parks through TPWD. More than $100 million. The 1993 session of the legislature placed a $32 million cap on the tax. Some even suggested that TPWD didn't know how to use that much money to best benefit. As time passed the TPWD saw even less than that amount budgeted for park use in Texas. They got just over $21 million last session.

All of this is said to remind us of how long our state park system has struggled with inadequate funding. For the last 16 years, the Texas State Railroad has received stepchild treatment, along with all of the state's parks. Some are just as historical to their own area as the train is to us.

Acknowledging that every two years the legislature has the opportunity to change in composition, will we benefit from more friendly faces or hostile opponents? Perhaps the opponents are correct. Perhaps the state has no business to be in business. If elected officials and state employees believe that the train should show a profit, and the state's method of operation since 1976 has not shown a profit, then let's move on to another plan for operation that will, at least, maintain itself. Call that pie in the sky dreaming. Maybe so. But what I do know for sure is that if every two years a group must be put through what we have experienced the past 14 months to seek more funds to operate TSR, then it's time to look at an alternative method of operation.

Many times I have stated that "we must look to the past to appreciate the present and plan for the future." Perhaps I am a little closer to the past and remember it better than others and it clouds my vision. What happened when the state established iron ore furnaces at Rusk to provide work for the inmates of Texas Department of Corrections? Thanks to mismanagement, the blast furnaces ceased to blast and TDC went back to Huntsville. But we were fortunate to have men with vision in positions of leadership in the early 1900s. The state left a small legacy in the form of its short line train from Rusk to Palestine. It never died totally, just limped along until 1969 when a Rusk Chamber of Commerce manager, Leon I. Edwards, had a dream. He wanted to revive the state railroad. It didn't happen, of course. But he tried. Instead, he had given birth to a dream. The dream was meant to be fulfilled; the railway was destined to be resuscitated and allowed to live under the umbrella of the state. So now, as in our past history, the state has dropped us off its radar, saying they can't afford us.

Should the state alter its position? We would have their help for how long? Another two years when they decide enough is enough and they want the funds used somewhere else? This scenario happens all the time. History repeats itself, and we can only expect more of the same. Here's another thing about the state operation of TSR, just one or two really, that has bugged so many. Proceeds from the film industry to do a movie here were not deposited to a TSR account but went into the general fund. Proceeds from the TSR's highly successful gift shop also go into the general fund. This is not playing fair and square.

To digress a moment, it was our late friend V. J. Long who first expressed this wisdom: "If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade." When the state moved the prison in about 1912, they left a fine, big facility first called a prison. That era's leaders jumped on the opportunity to find a new use for it. And it became the present Rusk State Hospital. It opened in July 1919. Maybe everything happens for a reason. Maybe the state's position of "no more money" today is going to force us to make a glass of lemonade through the acceptance of new ideas, new money, new blood and an admission to a mission of "preserve all things historical."

This has been a very serious task which has not been the typical "win, win" goal. It has been a "save, save" goal. It seems dumb to throw out the baby when it's time to dump the bath water. The leader of American Heritage, Al Harper, said this Thursday in Palestine, "This is a mission I'm on. It involves history, community, ownership. History is important to our nation. It forms our character, makes us who we are, and it is the road map to our future." In so many words, Mr. Harper gave us his assurance for total commitment to saving the train. It will not be developed, promoted and sold for profit-making to another company. And if you missed the earlier fine print, when and if we bring together a contract for the private operation of TSR, it will function under a lease agreement for a specified number of years before any kind of ownership can be considered.

Much to my frustration, I will not live forever. The world will have to go on without me. But while I am here, it is my God given privilege to serve to the best of my ability and help light the way for all those who are yet to come. And I hope that all people everywhere will pause to look to the past to help them understand the present and plan for the future. If you know what happened before, you should be able to recognize it when you see it coming.

Here again, it's "if and when." To give you a small amount of hard news in this space, you will be glad to learn that among the licensed feature rides are "The Little Engine That Could," "A Day Out with Thomas, the Tank Engine" and "The Polar Express." These are properties that are expected to bring huge publicity for TSR. American Heritage marketing consultant, Christi Cohen, is putting the plans in place already. The targeted market will be within a Texas sized triangle: from Dallas to Shreveport to Houston. That's a few million people. And we don't have to get all of them here, just some of them.

I am willing to say what was once a dirty word in my vocabulary, "privatization," is now a welcome word. Static display sticks in my craw, as we say in East Texas. How many folks today are willing to take a firm stand for free enterprise? Capitalism? It is time to say down with fear and up with courage. And to remember that the only thing that's constant is change. Credit that as first heard by me from the late S.L.R. Cartlidge. And yes, do keep smiling?