Re: NNG - Cass Climax in Jeopardy?

I also attended the May Railfan Weekend and had an interesting conversation with John Smith, the owner of the new operating company. The state of West Virginia had apparently lost $1.6 million the prior year and was either going to shut Cass down or turn it over to a private operator. The railroad portion of the park was turned over to the West Virginia Rail Authority. John Smith operates the West Virginia Central as a designated operator for the rail authority. He was given a 30 year contract to operate Cass, by amending his current contract with the state. He told me he received no additional subsidy for assuming the Cass operation, so to me that means he either needs to figure out how to increase revenue or somehow squeeze $1.6 million in savings out of the operation, or some combination of the two.

He seemed to be sincerely interested in making Cass a success, but clearly the financial realities are going to present some difficulties. His plans for using the Cass shop as his regular maintenance base for his other operations may be why he was not willing to let volunteers work within the shop. He may also want full control over all aspects of the operation, which probably means some toes got stepped on. Cass resident friends of mine that know John were positive about him taking over. Like Tom says, keep your fingers crossed.

Michael Allen