Ohio Rail Experience coming to town

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The Ohio Rail Experience (ORE), a part of the 501 (c)(3) Cincinnati Scenic Railway, will be coming to town to take ticket holders on a unique one-day trip.

According to its website — www.ohiorailexperience.com — Ohio Rail Experience excursions are operated in partnership with local historical societies, the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad, and the Cincinnati Railway Company, and bring unique trips to experience the golden age of rail in a local setting.

Passengers will ride in vintage rail cars pulled by a historic diesel electric locomotive. ORE trains will feature open window coaches from the 1930s, and climate-controlled deluxe coaches from the 1940s and 50s will also be offered at a higher fare. Passengers can additionally enjoy the breeze from one of the two open air baggage cars, and a small selection of food and drink, including alcoholic beverages, will be available in the tavern car.

“This is kind of a new brand of Cincinnati Scenic Railway based in Lebanon,” Ray Kammer, president of Cincinnati Scenic Railway, said. “We created this new brand because we have the ability to do these excursions once and a while throughout the year on the freight railroads. So we created a brand called Ohio Rail Experience this year and last weekend was our debut out in Springfield. It was a sell-out and was a tremendous event.”

On May 26 and 27, the Ohio Rail Experience is encouraging the community to join them for the first passenger excursion along the old New York Central Railroad to Urbana in 10 years. The day-trip will board near the old train at Eyman Park and will consist of an eight-hour journey to Urbana to spend the day there before being returned directly to Washington C.H. This portion of railroad is what remains of the former Detroit Toledo and Ironton Railroad.

“We will be boarding next to the city park and we will leave at 9 a.m., and we will be dropping them off right around 5 p.m.,” Kammer said. “It is definitely a unique experience. If it goes well we plan on doing more in the fall, so this is kind of a test run. The more response we get out of this, the more we will be inclined to do in the fall. We have been working with Travel and Tourism, Jolinda (Van Dyke) and the City of Washington Court House has been extremely helpful working with us and I want to give them some credit. They have been very accommodating for us to do this.”

With only a limited number of tickets for the event left, prices are $45 for adults, $40 for seniors (62 and older), $25 for kids (2 to 17-years-old) and for an additional $20, a ticket can be upgraded to deluxe class. To purchase tickets visit www.ohiorailexperience.com/2018-tour-schedule/ and look for the Spirit of Urbana event.

For more information, visit the website or call (513) 933-8022.

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By Martin Graham

[email protected]

Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy

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