After an email sent out to media representatives this morning from the Texas State Railroad, future operations were questioned.

The email from former Texas State Railroad Marketing & Special Events manager Janet Gregg, suggested that the staff had been terminated, and that the railroad was shut down.

KLTV spoke with railroad authority board member, Steve Presley, who said that the rail road is not going out of business.

“This was a record year for the Polar Express,” Presley told KTLV.

The railroad shuts down each year following the Polar Express, and begins operations again the following February. The TSRR is operated by Iowa Pacific. Executive Vice President Marketing, Steve Gregory, explained that the layoffs are seasonal.

"What we're doing is a seasonal closure," Gregory said. "Nothing more than that. We will be operating in March, as we did last year."

Further statements from executives at Iowa Pacific, affirm that the employees will return to their jobs in March, and that the email issued to media this morning is inaccurate.

"I regret this information was distributed," Gregory said. "The person who sent out that release was not authorized and was not accurate," Ellis said.

Below is a video from Tracks Ahead: Great Train Journeys featuring history of The Texas State Railroad, which is a 25 mile (40 km) railroad between Rusk and Palestine.

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