Minnesota Zephyr: One last run

As the old year passes tonight, so too will a Stillwater tourism icon. The Minnesota Zephyr, a dinner train that has carried more than a million passengers while cruising back and forth along a 6-mile route, will make its final run for New Year's Eve before going out of business. With the loss of the Zephyr, the historic river city now faces a major challenge -- how to maintain its status as a top destination without one of its premier attractions. Every year, the Zephyr brought tens of thousands of visitors from all over the country to Stillwater. It also helped market the city as ads for the train appeared in newspapers across the region and were broadcast over radio and television.

The just-announced Stillwater Marathon and the new Stillwater & Oak Park Heights Convention and Visitors Bureau were designed to attract more visitors, and could help fill the void created by the departing Zephyr.

Some of the new ads promoting Stillwater tourism already have started airing on television and on YouTube.

"Hopefully we'll be able to continue marketing the Stillwater name and drawing people in with the other attractions in the area," said Steve Roll, president of the Stillwater & Oak Park Heights Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"The nice thing about the train was it was year-round. The riverboats and the river attractions are seasonal," Roll said.

Though the Zephyr has been on the brink of closing before, this time it really is the end of the line, insists owner David Paradeau, who jokes that times are so tough for him right now that he's using dental floss twice.

He says a combination of factors, including high fuel prices earlier this year and the economic meltdown, have led him to hang up his conductor's hat after 23 years.

Last week, he also closed the Stillwater Grill, a restaurant that operates out of the station in downtown Stillwater where the Zephyr will remain parked after Thursday.

Paradeau had been talking with state officials about selling the rail line and turning it into a public trail, but there has been no deal. Some city leaders predict the plan to connect Stillwater to the state's Gateway Trail System won't happen soon, because the state is struggling with a whopping deficit.

In its heyday, the Zephyr spread its success to other local businesses.

"There were a lot of bed and breakfasts that benefitted from that business, a lot of restaurants, a lot of Main Street stores as well," said Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki. "If it has to go away, hopefully, we can get the bicycle trail going and replace it with a different set of tourists."

The Zephyr runs behind the wooded lot where Harycki and his family have lived for 12 years.

Whatever comes next, it will be hard to replace such a distinctive attraction, Stillwater leaders say.

"I'm sad to see it go, because it's been such a unique business for Stillwater. It truly made Stillwater unique," Harycki said. "It's one of the things that put us on the map."