How to draw more people to Deshler, Ohio?

My name is John Sager and I live in Deshler Ohio. I am the President of the Deshler Development Committee and we are working on getting more business in Deshler. One main thing we want to do is ask the Rail community what Deshler can do to draw more people to Deshler? We used to be the cross roads of the B&O Rail and we do have a railroad park but what more can we do? What can Deshler do to make you comming to Deshler more enjoyable?
Any comments and suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank You!

John, you might benefit from taking a look at what Palmer, Massachusetts is doing. The town also has a railroad heritage and they recently built a new library that features railroad themes and has a railroad reference room. The new building also has a very nicely finished large meeting room and they are using it to host events in conjunction with historical societies, and setting up a speaker program on railroad topics. The new Palmer library is very close to the "Steaming Tender" restaurant in the restored train station, and in combination the two provide the town with an excellent attraction for supporting railroad oriented events.

the attraction to Strasburg RR in Lancaster PA is that they let you ride the historic steam train on a scenic round trip through the country. they do holiday express runs.

Here's a few suggestions- make it easy to find:

- Food

- Gas

- Coffee

- FILM (and not "consumer" grade film either. Slide films are preferred, though a selection of disposable cameras couldn't hurt for the passer-by)

- BATTERIES (for our scanners, for our cameras)

- FLASH MEMORY CARDS (for the digital camera crowd)

- Motels and Hotels

That will make your town a railroad hotspot!

-otto-