Licensing Expo 2013

Rail Events, Inc. attended the Licensing Expo 2013 in the month of June at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The expo is the world's largest and most influential entertainment, brand and art licensing industry event. There were more than 15,000 in attendance from around the globe.

We met with our current licensor representatives to discuss marketing initiatives, product line, and additional opportunities for Rail Events and ultimately our railroad partners. Jim Henson had a wonderful booth with the Dinosaur Train™

prominently displayed and Warner Brothers impressed us with their stellar representation of The Polar Express™.

We also met with instrumental contacts for future projects, licensed brand growth and product development. "We learned even more about the value of nationally recognized branded rail events at the licensing expo," said David Schranck, General Manager of Rail Events, Inc. The high quality of the events results in increased ridership, great passenger satisfaction, and enhanced retail sales compared to the creative non-branded events that some operators choose to hold. In practical terms, royalties paid to the intellectual property owner are more than offset by efficiency of set-up and operation following an established plan and the greater revenues based on retail lines that are well recognized, appropriately higher fares, and national marketing of the brands. The potential for railroad branded events is exceptional!

             

Warner Bros. Studios,  the French Lick Scenic Railway and the people of French Lick, Indiana made a 5 year-old boy's wish come true....to ride the Polar Express.... in July!

We are so grateful and proud of our partner and licensor for being able to orchestrate such a magical event in just three weeks.

Knowing that Kaleb was able to ride The Polar Express fills our hearts with warmth and reminds us to always BELIEVE.

To read the full story, please click here.

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad held a Benefit Train for the 19 fallen firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew on July 14th at the D&SNGRR depot.

Crews lined down the platform in uniform to welcome guests and the train rode under a breathtaking archway which was created with two ladder trucks and a large American flag. Part of the ceremony was having the locomotive blow 19 whistles for the 19 men who lost their lives. After the ceremony in Durango, the train departed and traveled along the Animas River up to Silverton, where it was welcomed by more emergency response crews. The railroad as well as the Durango Fire Department, Upper Pine Fire Department, Silverton Fire Department, Ouray Fire Department, San Juan Sheriff's Office, Columbine Hotshot Crew, La Plata County Sheriff's Office, La Plata County Mounted Patrol, Colorado Mounted Rangers, and the Durango Police Department worked together in creating this memorizing event. 

The D&SNGRR had about a week to organize and set up the event, but with help from various surrounding emergency response agencies and the community, the train had about 600 guests and over 11 different emergency response agencies in attendance with their uniforms and vehicles to honor these fallen men. Tickets for the Benefit Train were sold at regular price and a substantial portion of each ticket went to the firefighters' families.  All donations received were sent to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation who will then disperse the money raised between the 19 families.  

"We decided to host this benefit for many reasons. To begin, the loss of these 19 fallen hotshots has been the largest tragedy for firefighters since 2001. This tragedy has struck close to home with us and the community because we had a wildfire in 2002 that destroyed 71,739 acres and took the lives of two men. While the wildfire in Durango was going on, we received help from so many different people and agencies that we felt we should do the same in return. It could happen to anyone and we support our emergency response crews for everything they do," said organizer of the event, John Harper, who is also an accredited Wildland Firefighter, works for the Silverton Fire Department and is the Business Development Officer for the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. "The Benefit Train was an opportunity to come together as a community and honor these 19 heroes and their families. It also reminded us how grateful we are for our D&SNG Maintenance of Way and Fire Mitigation crew," said Harper. The railroad is appreciative for its crew who works especially hard during the dry season, as well as the 16 fire stations in Durango. The railroad has a patrolman and a water wagon behind each train; each are about 2 miles apart. Every train also has firefighting capabilities and the railroad has also contracted a helicopter which flies the line three times a day and is on constant standby as a precaution.