Officials with Rail Events Inc. say in a recent news release that they decided not to license the event at railroads owned by Iowa Pacific due to an inability to negotiate an agreement to pay royalties from the 2016 season.
“We worked hard to be a good partner with Ed Ellis and Iowa Pacific for three years,” Al Harper, founder of American Heritage Railways, which owns Rail Events, tells Trains News Wire.
Warner Brothers owns the rights to Polar Express merchandise and events flowing from its production of the 2004 animated film of the same name and based on Chris Van Allsburg’s 1986 children’s book, “The Polar Express.” Warner Brothers licenses the right to sell Polar Express merchandise and develop themed train rides around the world to Rail Events, which contracts with tourist and shortline railroads, such as Iowa Pacific, to put on shows and sell related items.
Rail Events filed a lawsuit in January 2017 to recover $3 million the company claims it is owed. The two entities have been in negotiations but failed to reach a settlement in time for the 2017 Christmas season.
“Actually, it was our decision not to run the trains,” Ed Ellis, Iowa Pacific founder and president, tells Trains News Wire. “We ended 2016 owing some money to [Rail Events.] We shook hands on a deal to repay it, but they backed out and came out with something we couldn’t live with, and we decided to do the trains ourselves.”
Ellis says excursion trains Iowa Pacific will operate this year are called “The Train to Christmas Town.” The name and the train excursion are based on an illustrated book of the same name written by Ellis’ wife, Peggy. Iowa Pacific was once a significant contractor for Rail Events regarding Polar Express trains throughout the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
The decision by the two companies will affect Polar Express trains planned for the Cape Cod Central Railroad in Massachusetts; the Eastern Flyer in central Oklahoma; the Grenada Railway in Mississippi; Oregon’s Mount Hood Railroad; the Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway in California; the Saratoga & North Creek Railway in New York; the West Texas & Lubbock Railroad in Texas; and the Dartmoor Railway and Weardale Railway in the United Kingdom.
Polar Express trains will return to the Texas State Railroad, which Iowa Pacific ceased to manage in early 2017 after the Texas State Railroad Authority Board decided not to renew the operating contract.
Rail Events says that Polar Express trains will still operate at 45 other properties throughout the United States.
Someone told me last month that it costs $1,000.00 to use the Polar Express name. Can anyone back that up?
Why not call it a “Christmas Train” since Christmas is the Holiday being observed? The train staff could greet the passengers with “Merry Christmas” when they get on board.
I agree with Bob Withorn. If Warner Brothers wants too much money to call it a Polar Express, just call it something else. The kids don’t care, really.
Your title seems to be taking the side of the Polar Express group. Kind of passes over the fact that the trains are still running just with other names on many railroads that can’t or aren’t willing to pay for a “name”. Even the train that was used to make the movie, 1225 in Michigan was hit with licensing isues and now uses a different name. Most are not willing to pay the price. This should not sound like an anti Ellis article.
Ed – so call it a “Holiday Train” and move on. No licensing fees, and you can probably offer cheaper fares. Just don’t forget to use a portion of those proceeds to pay RailEvents the money you owe them from last year.
Still waiting for TRAINS to do an in-depth article on Iowa Pacific – but that will probably never happen. Ed still has too many friends at Kalmbach Publishing.
So when is Trains going to do an in-depth examination of the ever growing problems with Iowa Pacific and golden boy Ed Ellis. The man is starting to look and sound like an EHH mini me…