Hamilton County, Fishers and Noblesville, which own the Nickel Plate, are considering turing the rail into a trail, but not everyone's on board.
Rail enthusiasts say the Nickel Plate is a part of the area's heritage and should be preserved. They also say why not rail and trail?
As it turns out, the Nickel Plate hasn't been used in more than a year. Hamilton county officials sidelined the State Fair Train last summer because of concerns about the safety of the tracks. They estimate the cost of repairs at up to $6 million.
Leah McGrath, deputy mayor of Fishers, said they've "hit a crossroads" as to its future and now see turning the seldom-used rail into a trail from Noblesville to Fishers as a better use.
"We looked at the asset and realized the opportunities we have to revitalize it, make it a year-round (attraction) for people for all ages and a way to connect our community," she said.
The railroad runs through the heart of Fishers downtown, which has undergone a huge transformation in the last couple of years, with new housing, restaurants and businesses going up along 116th Street.
"In terms of returning (the Nickel Plate) to a corridor where people use it everyday...we see a lot of opportunity," McGrath said.
But others see the loss of an important part of history.
Logan Day said there's a lot for the community to "lose if they proceed in the direction they have been."
Day is a self-described rail enthusiast who began an online petition not just to preserve the Nickel Plate, but to expand service.
He and others have talked about making the train a year-round attraction by providing service from Noblesville to downtown Indianapolis.
As of Monday morning, Day said the petition was approaching 4,200 signatures from people as far away as Australia. He said close to a third were from Noblesville and Fishers.
"They're saying this is a piece of the heritage, my family loves to ride the State Fair Train every year and this is a great opportunity that makes our community great and it's a shame to destroy it," he said.
Day said it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition.
"It's more a question of, 'Why not rails next to rails?'" he said, noting that rails and trails co-exist in many other U.S. cities.
McGrath said city planners and engineers did look into that possibility. The issue? She said best practices require a minimum of 125-feet of right-of-way.
"Ours is from 50 feet or less to about 70 feet, so there's not enough right-of-way in the corridor to safely do a rail next to a trail," without acquiring private property, she said.
Day counters that other cities have made it work with much less setback.
The Fishers YMCA is adjacent to the tracks. Several people working out Monday afternoon said they loved the idea of converting the tracks into a trail.
While Fishers has many trails, they're not very long or well-connected. This would be a continuous 9-mile trail, which Jackie Hall said would help as she trains for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon.
"When I heard that, I was super-pumped," she said. "It's perfect. Going down (the trail) and coming back will make it easier than weaving in and out of the neighborhoods."
Carolina Sandlin said, "It will give residents a chance to get their kids out on bikes, on foot and roller-blades" especially as "we look to the future and toward a healthier community."
But Larry Pontius said he saw both sides.
"I'm torn," he said. "I'm 50-50. I love the trails and being out on bikes and stuff, but there's something about the train that makes it unique...and if they put the trail in and take out the tracks, they're not going to be able to put it back in that location. That's a loss of history, I think, but that's progress."
McGrath said the approach they're seeking through the Federal Surface Transportation Board would allow them "to set aside and rail bank the corridor so in the future, they will have the ability to" revert back to a rail line.
She said the cost of turning the rail into a trail is estimated at $9.3 million, which would be paid for by the three entities that own it - Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County.
There are two meetings on the proposal scheduled this week. The first is 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Fishers City Hall. The other is 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Noblesville City Hall.
