‘Dinner’ trains head to Oakboro

By Matt Irvin, Staff Writer

Sunday, October 8, 2006 October 09, 2006 08:33 am

— Oakboro has a golden opportunity to return to the glory days of railroading that helped found the town.
Negotiations are under way to bring passenger excursion trains to Oakboro.
Trains would depart from Oakboro for a three-hour trip with a first-class dining cars to accommodate 115.
Right now, the plan is not a definite but things are looking good, according to Bob Barbee, a businessman who is helping to redevelop the town.
“This just came about a week ago when construction on the railroad depot museum started,” Barbee said.
“We were approached by a company that has started successful excursion train companies about the possibility.”
Barbee said the company had looked at Charlotte, but didn’t like the atmosphere of the rail yard there.
“Someone mentioned to them that Oakboro was building a new depot for a museum. Rhey commented that was unusual as many communities are tearing down depots,” Barbee said.
“The company is looking for a place that would be historic and would offer an opportunity for tour bus packages where people wold come to enjoy the dinner and have other activities like parks, shopping and overnight stays.”
Clientele would be attracted from Atlanta to Richmond, according to Barbee.
The company is planning for the trips on Friday evenings through Sundays so not to interfere with the freight operations Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway.
The railroad is a short line that runs from Charlotte to Aberdeen. The railroad’s headquarters are in Star.
“The trains would run from Oakboro, either east or west for an hour and a half and then return,” Barbee said. “Plans are for a kitchen car with four diner cars.”
Bill Bartosh is the general manager of AC& W, which several years ago operated its own “dinner train” out of Aberdeen.
“The operation was a separate company run by us,” Bartosh said. “It was successful, but our freight operations have picked up and we needed to concentrate on our customers.
“We had to make the decision to discontinue the operation.”
Bartosh said the idea is a good fit for Oakboro and the railroad.
“We thought this would be an appropriate thing to do with the scenery around Oakboro,” Bartosh said. “We think it would be a good opportunity with the station being built and put the parties together.”
Bartosh said he is looking at the prospect as a partnership.
“We still run excursions and special trains of our own,” Bartosh said. “We look at this as a complement to our operations.”
Bartosh said the railroad is working on the terms with the excursion company.
“This is going forward in a positive direction,” he said.
“We hope to have some decisions made by late next week.”
The company would base its operations in Oakboro and would bring jobs to the town, according to Barbee
A potential of 460 passengers could make the trip in elegant passenger cars touring scenic Stanly County.
Barbee said an agreement could be completed by the end of the month and excursion could begin by December.