TUCSON, Ariz. — The parent company of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is set to broaden its interests by taking over Old Tucson Studios, a tourist attraction which closed in 2020.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that Pima County, Ariz., has recommended that American Heritage Railways receive an operating agreement for Old Tucson. The county board will vote on the agreement at an April 5 meeting.
The operating agreement would pay Pima County $60,000 in annual rent plus 4% of its gross operating revenue, which the county says will go to capital maintenance and expansion of the facility, which has been the setting of more than 400 feature films and TV shows. It closed when the COVID-19 pandemic halted live events at the site.
The agreement includes a five-year lease, along with two possible 10-year extensions and a 25-year extension.
In addition to the Durango & Silverton, American Heritage Railways operates the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in North Carolina, and through subsidiary Rail Events Inc., licenses Polar Express train rides and rail events involving the comic strip “Peanuts.” It also operates a hotel in Silverton, Colo.
The company closed another rail operation, Washington state’s Mount Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum, in 2020. The company said at the time it would seek a new owner, but the operation has not reopened.
Info on any rail operation at Old Tucson would be nice. Especially for a magazine called “Trains.”