Amtrak trains will be hosting the Trails and Rails program of the National Park Service this summer.
The program features volunteer guides offering commentary and one-on-one discussions with passengers aboard regional and long-distance Amtrak trains.
New to the program this year will be commentary provided aboard the Chicago-New York Cardinal between Charleston, West Virginia, and Clifton Forge, Virginia. That includes the train’s route through the New River Gorge.
The days that guides will ride the tri-weekly Cardinal will depend on guide availability, but Fridays are seen as most likely.
One guide will provide narration while another guide will mingle with passengers. Guides have ridden the Cardinal in previous years although not of late.
The volunteer guides may ride as far east as Staunton, Virginia, if the Cardinal is operating on time.
Route segments are designed so guides can make a round trip in one day.
No other Amtrak routes serving Ohio or neighboring states are slated to have guides aboard this summer.
Amtrak is bringing back its Trails and Rails program but no Amtrak trains passing through Ohio will be part of the program this year.
On select routes, dates and segments, National Park Service volunteers provide commentary about historic sites and the regions the trains pass through.
Last year volunteers rode the Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited between Cumberland, Maryland, and Washington. But that program is not returning this year.
Amtrak said it will offer its Trails and Rails commentary program about the culture, history and geography of regions a train is traversing on 11 route this year.
The commentary is provided by volunteers sponsored by the National Park Service and has been ongoing since 2000.
Typically, a volunteer rides a train one way and does a same-day return to his or her point of origin, thus providing commentary aboard two trains a day.
A drawing commissioned by Cleveland Metroparks shows the proposed Solon trail bridge over the Chagrin River.
Brushing aside NIMBY opposition the Solon City Council this week unanimously approved a project to convert a former Wheeling & Lake Erie right of way into a $4.25 million recreational trail.
The council approved an agreement with Cleveland Metroparks to develop the 2.1 trail on the right of way that once was a W&LE branch from Falls Junction in Glenwillow to Chagrin Falls.
The city purchased the portion of the right of way that runs through Solon in 1992 with the intent of converting it to recreational use.
Last week several Solon residents whose homes abut or are near the proposed trail attended a public hearing to demand the city not build the trail.
They cited a number of concerns, including safety and privacy. Some said they didn’t want trail users looking into their backyards while others expressed fears for the safety of their children.
Among the fears expressed during the hearing was that the trail would be used by drug dealers, voyeurs, burglars and pedophiles.
Solon Police Chief Solon’s police chief Richard Tonelli countered that there was no evidence that hiking and biking trails lead to an increase in crime in adjacent neighborhoods.
Metropark officials reiterated that point and also said studies have found that recreational trails do not lower the value of adjoining homes as some trail opponents had claimed could happen.
Cleveland Metroparks will design, build and manage the trail. Park officials said it will extend from the northeast corner of Solon to Bentleyville to connect with an existing trail on the same railroad right of way that already extends into Chagrin Falls.
Plans are for a bridge to be constructed over the Chagrin River in Bentleyville. Metroparks also will develop a 1,500-foot section of trail there to connect with the trail into Chagrin Falls.
Once completed, the trail will be four miles from Solon to Chagrin Falls.
During the council meeting, the council member who represents the area of the city where the trail will be built said he didn’t see a safety issue and believed the vast majority of Solon residents favored the trail.
“I don’t think pedophiles and drug dealers, and rapists are coming to the trails after they’re built,” said Jeremy Zelwin.
“We can get this stuff done,’’ said Solon Mayor Edward Kraus. “A few naysayers can’t block progress. The not-in-my-backyard mentality has kept so many communities from achieving what they need to achieve for their residents, their businesses, their future.’’
Kraus said residents are probably safer with a trail than an abandoned rail line.”
City and parks officials said they would address privacy matters along the trail by putting up fences along the route.
The Solon trail is seen as a component in the Cuyahoga County Greenways network, which when completed will have 815 miles of trails connecting 59 communities. The network will reach into downtown Cleveland and to Lake Erie.
Supporters of the trails network have described it as an effort to introduce alternative transportation to suburban communities designed with automobiles as the primary mode of transportation.
The Trails and Rails volunteer program of the National Park Service has been canceled on five Amtrak trains and will operate on a reduced schedule on three others.
The cutbacks followed an Amtrak decision to cease offering complimentary food and overnight lodging expense payments for the volunteers.
Trains losing the programs include City of New Orleans, New Orleans-Greenwood, Mississippi; Sunset Limited, New Orleans-Beaumont, Texas; California Zephyr, Denver-Grand Junction, Colorado; Texas Eagle, Fort Worth-San Antonio, Texas; Maple Leaf , Albany/Rensselaer-Utica, New York.
An abbreviated version of the program will be offered on the Empire Builder: Seattle-Wenatchee, Washington; Crescent, Atlanta-Birmingham, Alabama; and the Southwest Chief: La Junta, Colorado-Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Unaffected by the cutbacks are Trails and Rails programs aboard the following trains: New York-Washington; (Northeast Regional); New York-Albany/Rensselaer, New York (Adirondack, Empire Service); Saratoga Springs-Westport, New York (Adirondack); Chicago-St. Louis (Lincoln Service and Texas Eagle); Chicago-Niles, Michigan. (Wolverine Service and Blue Water); Seattle-Portland, Oregon (Coast Starlight); Santa Barbara-San Jose, California. (Coast Starlight and Pacific Surfliner); Washington-Cumberland, Maryland (Capitol Limited); Los Angeles-San Diego (Pacific Surfliner); Oklahoma City-Fort Worth, Texas. (Heartland Flyer).
Some programs operate daily between May and Labor Day, although most have specific days of operation and café car lecturers won’t be on every departure or every segment.
A listing of the dates that the programs are offered can be found at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/amtraktrailsandrails/trains.htm
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