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St. Marys Railroad to Begin Passenger Excursions

September 2013

As a child, Paul Pleasant used to wake up his parents early.

He cried because he couldn't see the L&N train rumble past their backyard in Milton, Fla. They moved his crib over to the window, and the problem was solved, he said.

Now Pleasant, who left the Navy as a master chief, does more than watch. He's at the controls as the general manager and engineer of St. Marys Railroad, which hauls freight for some manufacturers in St. Marys and makes heavy deliveries to Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.

Soon, he'll be hauling passengers when the St. Marys Railroad begins an excursion train service between Theatre by the Trax in St. Marys and a turnaround in the woods to the north. The first excursions are Oct. 5 during the annual Rock Shrimp Festival in St. Marys.

Pleasant admits a lifelong fascination with trains.

"It's an illness,'' he said jokingly. "I've been a fan of trains since I was able to peek over the end of my crib and see the train go by.''

He runs The Trustee, the 1,200-horsepower switch engine that pulls freight cars now and that will be the locomotive for the first couple of scheduled passenger excursions. Soon, a larger locomotive, The Admiral, will pull the train.

Pleasant turned his fascination into a job when he came to work with the railroad in July 2004. About the time Pleasant left the Navy, where he was a chief petty officer in aviation electronics, the former engineer retired and he took over, Pleasant said.

The St. Marys Railroad that many people see runs right beside Georgia 40, but Pleasant and Barbara Ryan, a spokeswoman for St. Marys events, said there are some picturesque spots along the way.

The open passenger cars will pass over the marsh and Dark Entry Creek, past some quaint houses and through the woods. At the western turnaround, deer and wild turkey are common sights, Pleasant said.

"It will stop on the [trestle] so passengers can take pictures,'' Ryan said.

The cars can accommodate 158 people for each 1 1/2-hour trip, Ryan said.

St. Marys Mayor Bill DeLoughy said the train will boost visitation to the area and be a first-time experience for many.

"I'm told that fewer than 6 percent of the population of America have ever ridden a train,'' he said in a release.

DeLoughy said he's looking forward to riding the train with his grandson.

Boatright Companies, which owns the railroad, sees the train as a way of giving back to the community, said Katherine Marsh, a spokeswoman for Boatright.

"The themed train excursions will be something that can be shared by families and, at the same time, will fuel the legacy of one of America's most revered forms of transportation," Marsh said.

The Oct. 5 trips will leave St. Marys at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. On Oct. 12, the train will leave at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults, $11 for ages 3 to 12 and free for ages 2 and younger. Other trips are planned for Christmas, Mardi Gras in March and July 4.

Ryan said she hopes residents along the tracks will decorate their houses for Halloween and Christmas.

Terry Dickson / The Florida Times-Union