By Ed Smith An agreement to share admissions tax revenues from steam train excursions evenly with the town of Goshen was approved Monday by the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors.
The town had made the request prior to the Board’s July 28 meeting, at which the request was discussed. During the discussion that ensued, all of the supervisors were supportive of sharing the tax proceeds with the town but not everyone was comfortable with it being an even 50-50 split.
Since then, supervisors Dan Lyons and Jay Lewis met with Goshen Mayor Tom McCraw and Vice Mayor Steve Bickley to hash out a revenue-sharing agreement.
Under terms of the agreement that was approved Monday by the supervisors, the proceeds from the admissions tax for the steam train excursions will be split evenly between the county and town. The agreement specifies that Goshen’s share of the proceeds will be applied toward “infrastructure improvements, water system upgrades or for any other lawful governmental purpose, provided that such other lawful governmental purpose is approved by both parties prior to the use of the funds for such purposes.”
Lewis made a motion Monday to approve the agreement that was seconded by Lyons and approved 5-0.
The steam train excursions are returning to Goshen this fall in a joint venture of the Virginia Scenic Railway, the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the Steam Railroading Institute in Michigan, and the Virginia Mechanical Preservation Society in Goshen.
The excursions will once again be pulled by the famed Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 steam locomotive, which pulled the excursions in 2023. The excursions will start and end just south of Goshen at Victoria Station, whose construction was spearheaded by Will Harris in 2023. The excursions this year are scheduled to run on five weekends, starting the last weekend of September.
Steve Powell, president of Virginia Scenic Railways, said Monday that an announcement on when the tickets will go on sale is expected very soon. The tickets will be available on the Virginia Scenic Railways website.
