The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 86

0 THE BOSTON SUNDAY Ut.OBE OCTOBER 6, 1985 'M v. Rail service to Cape reports a good year m. jmv- I -A ill Residents watching talks on Squaw Mt. SgUAW MOUNTAIN Continued from Page 83 The group's proposal for the 11.012-acre resort has been accepted by the state pending final agreement on a $1.83 million package of purchase conditions. Duane Lander, who has leased and operated the resort since it was given to the state, was the only other bidder.

He and state officials agree that because he had no equity under the lease, he couldn't get the financing necessary to keep the resort competitive. Any equipment he installed became state property under that lease. Anyone with an interest in Squaw is haunted by the Evergreen Valley debacle where dreams for a similar year-round resort in East Stoneham collapsed in a series of defaults and foreclosures, leaving the tiny western Maine town in a state loan guarantee agency with a costly white elephant. Conditions mast be met To avoid a repeat experience, state officials insisted that the new Squaw Mountain resort owner, in addition to paying some $300,000 for the resort and another $650,000 to Lander for the remainder of his lease, his inventory and good will, meet other conditions including: The immediate installation of a $500,000 triple chair lift to replace the main T-bar and the deposit of $300,000 in escrow for materials for an immediate $650,000 repair effort. Making sure restricted timber harvesting and guarantees that the ski area will always be available for the general public.

Wallem and the state are also discussing an option on another 11,000 acres on the other side of the mountain for more ski trails and real estate development. "We're putting what we think -1 LttjMjtM parlor car. the "Nobska." with mahogony dining tables forj40 and a smoking section with leather swivel chairs. He also bought a 1926 "presidential" car. build for the president of the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, a near-duplicate of the train Harry Truman used on his whistlestop campaign for president.

Upon arrival in Hyannis, passengers can walk to rental cars, tour most of Hyannis on foot, or make connections to the ferries bound for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Or, they can be picked up at the station by friends and relatives. 3 The next step in the project, Coogan said, is to open up passenger service between the Cape and Attleboro. where connectionktian be made with Amtrak trains coming from New York and Washington. Rail service between Cape Cod and greater Boston was restored in June 1984 after a quarter-century lapse brought on by the construction of Route 3.

That highway has since become so crowded that transporation planners -began looking for alternatives. q-r Under terms of an offer by the state, which owns the railbed. many railroads were invited tatry operating the passenger line on an experimental basis, with no public subsidy. Two railroads responded, and was selected. The company has done a good job in proving the project's feasibility.

Coogan said, but that does not guarantee Snider an inside track when the state makes a long-term commitment next year. The state spent several hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrading the line, fixing signals and arranging insurance. But during the test phase, there was no public subsidy on fares, which are $15.50 for an adult round trip between Braintree and Hyannis. In the future, that will change and the price should drop "It will be the policy of the commonwealth to subsidize this intercity service the same way, for example, we subsidize service from Boston to Fitchburg today," Coogan said. -VI -It Fichtner was to be a member of an 8-member voting trust or board of directors that would have overseen the Lander plan.

Hartman vehemently denies, any political considerations influenced the decision, saying politics were never discussed during talks with the bidders or in deliberations about their proposals. He terms the charge "malicious sour grapes." Wallem, a Greenville summer resident, says he stepped in as a "catalyst" because of his concern for the Maine town and hopes his managers can buy him. A ski operation alone is risky, Wallem explains, but related real estate development could provide the profits his management team needs to increase their shareholdings. Ruth Cool Devlin and James Devlin, owners of a lakeside restaurant launched with similar Wallem financing, would be, re-pectively, business manager and restaurant-customer relations manager of the resort. Nelson 4 A These are some of the people who will run the Squaw Mountain ski resort in Greenville, Maine.

From left: Nelson Goodwin, Jake Morrell, Ruth Cool Devlin and James Devlin. globe photo by merry farnum sures the public will be served," says Hubert Hartman, director of the state Bureau of Parks and Recreation. Hartman calls the Wallem proposal "a wonderful deal" but emphasizes it won't be sealed until final details are hammered out. Proposal speculative Lander's proposal was "extremely speculative" because it relied almost entirely on the future sale of planned condominium developments to finance the resort improvements, Hartman adds. But Lander claims that unlike Wallem, he had no chance to negotiate proposal alterations with the state.

His supporters charge that a "political undercurrent" influenced the state's decision. "Lander is a Republican State Representative from Piscataquis County and we are in a Democratic administration," Dr. Paul Fichtner says, referring to Gov. Joseph Brennan who ultimately gave the nod to the Wallem group. By Christopher B.

Daly Associated Press Two years after the revival of passenger rail service between Boston and Cape Cod on a trial basis, the experiment has been judged a success, and state planners now hope to expand the service. "We're basically there with the conclusion that this is a good public investment," Matt Coogan, an assistant state secretary of transportation, said Friday. More than 19,000 paying passengers apparently agree! And Mark A. Snider, president of the Cape Cod Hyannis Railroad, which successfully competed for the franchise, has no doubts. "This year was great, a very positive, good season," he said in a recent interview.

In 1984, the line carried 8,000 passengers between Braintree and Cape Cod. This year, the figure was 19,000 as of Labor Day, and the season hasn't ended. Snider attributed the increase to several factors: greater public awareness, improved on-time performance, a drop in travel time to 2'2 hours and scheduling changes giving customers more time on the Cape. The railroad is hoping for a big boost in late-season traffic with a new promotion geared to fall foliage and cranberry harvesting. Snider said he would not be able to say whether he had made a profit until the end of the month.

Nevertheless, Coogan said the transportation department had learned some important things from the two-year experiment: there is a market for passenger rail service to Cape Cod, but it is for day-trippers and vacationers rather thari commuters. So trains now run Friday through Monday only. Snider said he searched the United States and Canada to find his rolling stock, which he says has "the longest bar car in the world." built in the 1950s for the Canadian National Railroad. From the Pennsylvania Rail road, Snider picked up a Pullman 251 Union St. 848-5997 Brockton 2 Memorial Dr.

586-4580 810 Brockton Ave. 588-7886 642 Main St. 583-7765 Cape Cod 510 Main St. 548-8744 40 Holt Rd. 759-9424 BrackettRd.

255-6961 Barnstable Rd. Center St. 778-6218 1 Commercial St. 487-0557- Dedham 22 Bridge St. 326-8636 Kingston Route 3 A 585-9965 Medfield 270 E.

Main St. 359-5177 V- Urn LUTZWALLEN Resort plan pending GLOBE STAFF PHOTO BY JANET KNOTT Goodwin, a Southwest Harbor businessman and ski club leader, would manage the resort and Jake Morrell. local restaurateur, would handle engineering and maintenance. Explaining that his motives aren't entirely altruistic, Wallem says, "You make more money by making management partners and giving them the chance to buy you out." Salem 741-0323 745-5400 Saugus 231-0515 Somerville 628-0500 623-3360 South Boston 269-8000 Stoneham 438-8700 Wakefield 245-6560 Waltham 894-0693 890-3360 Watertown 926-6026 Wilmington 658-2584 Woburn 933-5975 Braintree 115 Wood Rd. 848-5050 are prudent and reasonable conditions on the property which as- uuulujlqji iiujv'pcioi (maraud MAKE YOUR MOVE.

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