The ever-changing railroad business took another turn last Saturday with the unveiling of "the country's first night club on rails" in Gowanda.

The New York and Lake Erie Railroad and toronto-based Larry Zaidlin Productions - collaborators on the popular murder mystery dinner trains on the third Saturday of every month - have struck again with Ham Trax, a four-hour train trip from Gowanda to cherry Creek featuring dinner and a cavalcade of national performers. Last Sturday, more than 60 people attended the train's inaugural voyage. Among the crowd were Metro Weekend, WBEN's Bill Lacy and Peter Trybus, host of the cable-access entertainment show "2 Much Fun."

The premiere run of Ham Trax was mostly a comedic affair, featuring the comedy stylings of host Timm Zemanek; Ray Salah and Ralph Tetta, two Rochester comedians with national credits, and Men in Tights, a Toronto-based improvisational duo with a hysterical rendition of the tale of Camelot and the search for the Holy Grail.

The show opened just after dinner with the appearance of Art Nefsky. Nefsky, who started his career as a comical "Igor" hosting a weekly monster movie show on Canadian TV, is president of Showoffs Studios in Toronto, a company that coaches young performers. He uses Karaoke as a method to help people overcome stage fright and occasionally does Karaoke shows for celebrity parties. Nefsky warmed up the crowd with a few requests and coaxed several "superstars" to perform, including Lacy, who performed part of a musical duet.

Nefsky was followed by host Zemanek, a veteran of television and the Yuk Yuk's comedy club chain, and writer of the Zaidlin murder mysteries. Zemanek, Salah and Tetta then treated the audience to their own humorous views of the world, discussing everything from baldness to Catholic parents to dating to Bingo.

"Irv Weinstein is the only man I know whose electric shaver has four-wheel drive." host Zemanek said in his opening monologue.

The hit of the show came from a pair of veteran improvisational performers known as Men in Tights. Dressed as medieval knave/minstrels, Rick Kunst and Pierre Trudel adopted English accents and told the story of King Arthur their way, complete with actors from the audience and modern day referencces to the likes of Leo Buscaglia (for a quick group hug after the climactic "war" scene).

While Kunst narrated, Trudel scouted the audience for "talent" to play the roles of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Queen Guinevere and the Couple of Infinite Wisdom, two people who read "Questions of Heaven and Earth" off the front of Trivial Pursuit cards. The play was high-energy fun with something for everyone, including battles with great curved balloon swords. The "Grail" itself turned out to be an obscure sugar bowl on a table somewhere near the center of the car, and when it was found there was much rejoicing. The audience at least in our little Daniel Webster car, was totally into the performance, which featured the much picked-on Lacy from WBEN as Sir Galahad, who gets killed in a duel with the infamous "Green Knight."

According to Kunst and Trudel, the key to having a successful show is being able to pick the right audience members for the parts in the play. The "actor" must be someone who physically comes close to the visual conception of the role and be comfortable enough to roll with the rhythm of what's happening around them. Kunst as the narrator is a perfect ringmaster, and Trudel keeps the action going over any potential rough spots. The pair, who have worked as a team for about eight months, are veterans of Renaissance fairs and festivals around the world.

While of an adult nature, the humor was by no means offensive, Larry Zaidlin, president of Zaidlin Productions, and railroad officials were careful to feature performers who could cater to what amounts to a captive audience without being raunchy or over-blown. In future months, Zaidlin plans to bring in musical acts and other types of performers, but a comedy train idea was a good way to get things rolling.

The train runs the first Saturday of every month, and though the fare is $44.95 (covering dinner, railfare and entertainment), it's well worth the price, and it's a great change of pace for birthdays or anniversaries. the train makes a half-hour stop in Cherry Creek, allowing patrons a chance to stretch their legs and tour the souvenir shop.

The Ham Trax train departs at 4:00 p.m. and returns at 8 p.m. in April. From May to December, the departure time is 6:30 p.m. tickets can be bought by reservation only. For more information, contact the New York & Lake Erie Railroad at 532-5716.