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Operators hope to broaden the railroad’s market by taking adult riders back to the 1940s when commuters around the country relaxed with a drink while riding a train.
“It’s sort of a throwback to the glory days of passenger rail,” said Will Gawin, general manager for the non-profit Cincinnati Scenic Railway. “Being able to relax with a drink while the train rolled along was a big part of it.”
Currently the railroad caters to families and children and serves no alcoholic beverages on any rides.
“This allows us to do something that is geared to adults,” Gawin said. “It kind of expands who we are able to preach railroad history to.”
In December 2014, the railroad and Lebanon City Council signed an eight-year contract to continue tourist services along the line running between the three cities. The plan anticipated a return to freight service into Lebanon.
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While this has yet to materialize, tour train operators have reorganized and pushed forward with plans for new rides designed to bring more customers and revenue to the train service and downtown Lebanon, where passengers climb on and are encouraged to visit after the ride.
“That’s a good idea,” Stephen Kaiser, a city councilman with a business downtown, said. “I think it would increase their ridership and maybe bring more people into the city of Lebanon.”
Gawin’s organization provides the engineers, leases the trains and operates the station in Lebanon.
The for-profit Cincinnati Railroad owns the trains. It recently signed a lease allowing it to operate from an office in an old gas station along the line in downtown Lebanon.
The railroad follows trains that run out of Lorain and Peninsula in Ohio, as well as other tourist locations around the country and world, and serve drinks to passengers.
If the permit is issued, at first, drinks would be served on rides featuring wine and beer tastings.
Later this year, the railway plans to bring in first-class, air-conditioned cars for the adult riders.
The jury is out on whether to extend the alcoholic beverage service to murder mystery trains, which currently board customers as young as 18 years old.
“We don’t want to damage the family atmosphere,” Gawin said.
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