Diners will get a 2 1/2- hour ride to Byron on the 10 scheduled runs
Friday, May 19, 2006
BY TOM TOLEN
News Staff Reporter
Until now, local residents seeking a dinner-train experience had to go to Walled Lake for the Star Clipper Dinner Train or to Blissfield near the Ohio border for the Murder Mystery Dinner Train. Or, if one doesn't mind a four-hour drive, the scenic Grand Traverse Dinner Train in Traverse City.
Beginning Saturday, Livingston County will have its very own dinner train.
Former Pinckney resident Jim Holton, who has had a successful dinner train for three years in Mount Pleasant, is launching "The Mountain Town Ltd. Dinner Train'' from Howell to Byron and back. It's a 2 1/2-hour ride with 10 runs slated for 2006. They are scheduled for May 20, June 10 and 17, July 1 and 8, Aug. 19, Sept. 9 and 16, and Nov. 4 and 11.
The first run will coincide with Howell History Days on Saturday and Sunday, although Holton said that happened by serendipity.
After graduating from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Holton, who is 35, decided the town (pop. 25,546) needed a restaurant and brewpub. He obtained the needed financing and the enterprise has been going strong for 10 years. Three years ago, he got the idea of expanding the operation to include a dinner train.
The 1989 Pinckney High School graduate got the idea for a similar dinner train in Livingston County because of his origins here (his parents, Jim and Camille, now live in Brighton). "We knew there was a depot in (Howell); that was the key,'' he said.
The setup will be different in Howell, because the depot is owned by the Howell Historical Society. Holton will use the train platform for his enterprise, but the society will open the depot so passengers can shop while they are waiting to board. Riders will be able to board the train beginning at 5:30 p.m. and they will leave at 6:15 p.m., returning at 8:30 p.m.
Because he does not have a restaurant in Howell, Holton will transport the food in refrigerated containers from Mount Pleasant.
The tracks in Howell are owned by the same railroad, the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay, a plus factor for Holton. "They've been real generous with us,'' he said, adding that "everybody's been wonderful in Howell, the city, the DDA, they're exited.''
"We're very pleased to have (the dinner train) downtown,'' said Howell Downtown Development Authority Director Amy Connolly. "We feel it was important to launch it downtown,'' she said. "We think it will have a very large economic impact, particularly in shopping, and getting people to downtown who have never come downtown before.''
Initially, Holton will bring his own staff from Mount Pleasant, but eventually he hopes to hire a separate staff. He will be taking along five staffers for the first trip: two culinary staff, two waiters and the train manager.
The dinner train has a capacity of 90 passengers, but for its initial run Holton is limiting it to 40 seats. They quickly sold out.
Holton typically puts in an 80-hour work week but doesn't mind it. "I enjoy what I do,'' he said. He added that might have to change soon. He and his wife are expecting their first child "about the same time'' as the first Howell dinner train, which could pose a problem.
"We'll either have our baby in Mount Pleasant or Howell,'' he jokes.
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