[04/10/01] A derailment in Vicksburg two weeks ago may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the city’s tourist industry.

On March 26, a Kansas City Southern locomotive pulling cars of the American Orient Express jumped the track near the tunnel under Washington Street. No one was hurt, but the train, which had been making half-day stops, no longer comes to Vicksburg. Instead, it stops in Jackson, and 100 or more passengers are bused to Vicksburg for a full day of touring and shopping.

The American Orient Express is a 1950s style, luxury passenger train from which passengers had been touring the Vicksburg National Military Park since March 9.

With the schedule change, said Lenore Barkley, executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, “they are really spending more time in Vicksburg.

“This is actually a plus for us,” she said. “We are not unhappy at all.”

Tuesday, in addition to the park tour, the 92 passengers in two buses had lunch at Cedar Grove Mansion, she said.

In addition, Barkley said, the passengers have the option of visiting the Gray and Blue Naval Museum and the Old Court House Museum.

“It is our understanding it is (the company’s) intention to do this with the rest of the visits,” she said, adding there should be several more visits by passengers on the train for its run between New Orleans and Washington, D.C.

Barkley said she understands the decision not to bring the American Orient Express was made by Amtrak because of the March 26 derailment. Officials from Amtrak and American Orient Express could not be reached for comment.

Amtrak officials announced in February they plan to begin a passenger service on its Crescent Star between Meridian and Fort Worth, Texas, with stops in Vicksburg.

In addition to the passengers from American Orient Express, Vicksburg was filled today with passengers from the American Queen and the River Explorer barge excursion that are docked at City Front.

“We’ve got a town full of people,” Barkley said. “It should be a really big day for the merchants.”