by Fred Swift
We’ve all heard the old saying about ‘too many chiefs and not
enough Indians.’ But, in the case of the troubled
Nickel Plate Railroad it looks like too many Indians and not
enough chiefs, or maybe no chief at all.
No trains can currently run on the Nickel Plate rails
through Hamilton County. Safety is the concern, and who will
want to pay the cost of making it safe seems to be the problem.
Let’s count the Indians. First there is the
Hoosier Heritage Port Authority which owns
the tracks and has declared the railroad
unsafe. Then, there is the Indiana Transportation
Museum which has operated trains on
the railroad for more than 20 years, but has
little money. Then, we count the City of
Noblesville, the City of Fishers and the
county government which together formed
the port authority in the 1990s to save the
rail line from abandonment. They obviously
have some money.
Add to these the Hamilton County
Tourism Bureau which counts the Nickel
Plate as a tourism asset, and wants to see
trains running, Cicero folks who want a
dinner train to run, the Arcadia Arts group
that wants visitors in Arcadia, the new
Atlanta train market which wants to see real
trains, and the Tipton County Economic
Development group that wants to encourage
business.
So, who is the overall leader, spokesman
or chief in this story? It’s hard to tell. County
commissioners had the subject on their
agenda Monday. “We’re exploring all the
options,” said Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt.
The others involved are presumably
exploring the options too. That’s encouraging,
but someone needs to pull the options
together and come up with a plan to proceed.
But, there are problems besides money.
The railroad runs only to about 18th Street
in Indianapolis on the south because the
interstate cut the line there. The Nickel Plate
runs as far north as Tipton, but does not
connect to the east-west rail line at that
point. So, this limits trains to about 38 miles,
not enough to really go anywhere except for
the local excursion rides like the Fairtrain,
Polar Bear Express or dinner train. But that’s enough to sustain the
popular local excursions and historic interest
in railroading.
It seems too bad after saving the
railroad at a time when trains were vanishing
from the American landscape, that the
Nickel Plate would now disappear. And, it
could. There has been talk of pulling up the
rails and converting the rail bed into a
walking and bike trail. Of course that would
cost money, too. But, this is apparently one
of the options on the table.
It’s been nearly a year since trains have
been able to run. So, for the sake of local
business and the enjoyment of our people
young and old, let’s hope there is positive
action soon to get the Nickel Plate back on
track.