Working train attraction green-lighted for Craig Ranch Regional Park

By April Corbin

Friday, May 5, 2017 | 2 a.m.

North Las Vegas hopes to add a miniature working train to the offerings at Craig Ranch Regional Park.

The City Council on Wednesday night gave staff the green light to pursue specific plans and a contract for the project, which organizers hope to have up and running sometime next year.

The Las Vegas Railroad Society would fund the installation and initial operation of the train, which would travel a 1-mile track through the 170-acre park. An accompanying educational center also is planned.

Revenue from fares would be shared with the city to offset operational and supplemental park improvements. Additionally, the society would put up a bond to cover the cost of removal, should that become necessary.

Las Vegas Railroad Society President Bruno Platzer, who founded the nonprofit organization in 1999 with his wife, Trudy, says council approval gives them the momentum they need to start the fundraising process. The initial cost to get the mini-train and educational center up and running is $2.5 million, but the group hopes to raise $8 million over several phases for additional amenities.

Platzer plans to meet that goal through sponsorships and selling name rights. He declined to say how much the society has already raised.

The society sees the project as an entertaining educational tool that would help keep the history of Las Vegas alive. In the early 1900s, it was little more than a watering hole for locomotives traveling between Utah and California.

“Here, hotels get old and we tear them down,” said Platzer. “We are not for that. … People need to know how important trains are to greater Las Vegas.”

Several council members expressed their support of the train project and joked about wanting to be honorary conductors.

“This is another quirky project that will be unique in Southern Nevada,” said Councilman Isaac Barron, praising the originality of the concept.

Added Councilman Richard Cherchio, “I think it’s going to be a positive addition to that park, which is really becoming a central hub.”

Craig Ranch Regional Park is a former golf course at the northeast corner of Craig Road and Commerce Street in North Las Vegas. Current features include a 65,000-square-foot skate park, three dog parks, various sporting facilities, community gardens and an amphitheater that seats 8,000.