GREENVILLE – Local businesses and officials were surprised and dismayed to learn Thursday that Acadian Railway had suspended its operations for this summer and fall.

Randy Parten, owner-operator of the upscale excursion train, announced this week he was suspending operations through Montreal and Maine in 2003 for a variety of reasons, including the poor economy. The Acadian Railway Train and its 10 posh, streamlined Victorian railroad cars rolled into Greenville for the first time in June 2002.

Rather than take a loss because of the SARS virus, mad cow disease and the vilification by U.S. residents of everything French, all of which will result in fewer people traveling this year to Canada, Parten decided to suspend operations for a year.

“I believe Randy and his business partners have made a sound business decision, and I respect his forthright announcement,” Greenville Town Manager John Simko said in a prepared statement Thursday. Simko praised the company, which asked for no financial help from the region and worked to make it a success.

Local business owners were disappointed with the news. “Everyone had very high hopes for its impact on the area,” Ruth McLaughlin, owner of Blair Hill Inn, said Thursday. She said the travel writers Parten brought to the region last year helped market the area. “It was something helping to bring notice back to the Moosehead Lake region.”

“I’m really disappointed,” Lisa Harris, owner of The Corner Shop and Moosin’ Around ME, said Thursday. She said her shops benefited from the foot traffic from the rail excursions last year.

Harris said some of the orders she had placed for the shop were with the rail passengers in mind. She said she had been under the impression, like others, that the excursions would resume this year.

Bruce Hamilton, owner of The Lodge at Moosehead, was hoping the excursions would take off this year after the train’s maiden trips last year. He, like McLaughlin, had hoped to reap the benefits from the travel stories published worldwide after last year’s excursions. While some residents speculate Parten will never resume the train rides, Hamilton believes otherwise. He said Parten and his associates have made a huge investment in the region, purchasing and renovating the Iron Horse Restaurant and investing in Squaw Mountain Lodge. They have invested a lot in the community, he explained.

Simko believes Parten will resume the train trips, and in more favorable economic conditions, he will succeed.

“Acadian showed us a glimpse of what is possible for large scale, sophisticated excursion travel touring through our region,” Simko said.