Eastern Adirondack tourist train to shut down over cash woes

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. – The operator of a tourist train in the eastern Adirondacks says he’ll shut down the railway if government agencies don’t buy a stretch of track near the High Peaks Wilderness.

Iowa Pacific Holdings owner Ed Ellis told Warren County officials last week that he needs an investment of about $5 million to keep the train running through the rest of his contract with the county. The contract runs through 2021.

Ellis bought the track in 2011 with hopes of hauling rock from an old mine, but the freight operation didn’t pan out. He tried to raise money by renting track for tanker car storage, but public officials fought that plan.

The Glens Falls Post-Star reports the Saratoga and North Creek Railway says it won’t operate tourist trains after April 7.