The cities of Noblesville, IN and Fishers, IN are planning to "rip out the rails" of the historic Nickel Plate Road rail line from Noblesville through Fishers, IN and replace them with a walking and biking trail.

YOUR SIGNATURE AND SUPPORT COULD HELP TO SAVE A PIECE OF RAILROAD HISTORY; WHICH IS NOT ONLY RARE TO INDIANA, BUT RARE IN THE UNITED STATES!

Since the 1990's, the Indiana Transportation Museum (ITM) has been operating a variety of excursions and events along 34 miles of the Nickel Plate Road. Until recently, this included the highly-popular State Fair Train; which transports passengers from Fishers, IN to the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the heart of Indianapolis. ITM has operated historic rail equipment along this line for over 30 years; but some organizational challenges brought operations to a halt in the hopes to evaluate and improve safety.

During the lull of rail activity, politicians and city leaders from Noblesville and Fishers created a plan which proposed a "rails to trails" conversion which would remove the entire rail line from Noblesville to Fishers. This removal would eliminate ANY possibility of ever running a State Fair Train, Polar Bear Express, or other excursion trains along this line again. The plan would cost taxpayers upwards of $9.3 million! (Compared to the total cost to make ALL of the safety upgrades to the ENTIRE rail line which are only estimated at $5 million...and this doesn't require tax payer dollars) Also keep in mind, the proposed trail would generate NO REVENUE OR OUTSIDE TOURIST ACTIVITY INTEREST.

The Nickel Plate Road boasts a variety of highly-unique and RARE qualities, which combined, make it a one-of-a-kind experience. Some of the rare qualities include:

Active passenger tourist rail service into the heart of a State capitol

Rail service traveling through 3 dense urban centers (Noblesville, Fishers, and Indianapolis) which generates outside $$$ for those and other surrounding communities.

*VERY RARE Street Running segment of track where the train tracks run directly through the middle of the street.

Attracts 40,000+ visitors and tourists to the area each year

*The railroad already shares the road with cars. Why can't we SHARE the right-of-way with pedestrians and bikes instead of GIVE UP the land ; causing us ALL to LOSE AN INVALUABLE PIECE OF HISTORY!

WE ARE ASKING TO SAVE THE RAILS, DON'T RIP THEM UP!

#SavetheNickelPlate

Please help support this cause by:

Signing this petition to #SavetheNickelPlate Taking 5 minutes to contact the city officials below and ask them to #SavetheNickelPlate rails between Noblesville and Indianapolis. (You can use the sample text below to email each of the officials OR share your own reasons for saving the Nickel Plate Road.)

" Hello! My name is {ENTER YOUR NAME} and I am a concerned community member writing to you today to ask that you please strongly reconsider any plans to remove a significant segment of the historic Nickel Plate Road rails, between Noblesville, IN and Indianapolis, IN.

The opportunity to build a pedestrian and bike pathway BESIDE the railroad is an preferable alternative that would allow our communities to preserve an irreplaceable piece of our history while also strengthening the connections between them with a walk/bike way.

Again, I urge you to reconsider any removal of the rails so that we can continue to benefit from the historical significance and tourist activity that an active railroad provides to our linked communities.

Sincerely,

{ENTER YOUR NAME/SIGNATURE} "



Contact:

Hamilton County Commissioners:

Honorable Steven Dillinger

stevencdillinger@aol.com

Honorable Christine Altman

christine.altman@hamiltoncounty.in.gov

Honorable Mark Heirbrandt

mark.heirbrandt@hamiltoncounty.in.gov

City Mayors:

Mayor of Fishers, IN

Honorable Scott Fadness

mayorfadness@fishers.in.us

Mayor of Noblesville, IN

Honorable John Ditslear

jditslear@noblesville.in.us