Passenger Trains > X Train to operate Santa Fe Southern passenger services

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/X-Train-Holdings-Reaches-Agreement-Operate-Santa-Fe-Southern-Railroad-Excursion-OTCQB-XTRN-1902504.htm

So this is their high-speed, luxury service to Las Vegas, NV? Ah-hah.

I'm all in,nowhere to go but up,sky's the limit!
http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/xtrn/s?t=XTRN

Good. This season??

Wow!!!!! Santa Fe to Lamay. I can not wait for the luxury trips. Any body want to know how long this will last? Didn't Santa Fe not want train service? And I was wondering how soon the LA to LV trips were going to start.....

Posted from iPhone

Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm all in,nowhere to go but up,sky's the limit!
> http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/xtrn/s?t=XTRN

Couldn't have said it better!

rombout137 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm all in,nowhere to go but up,sky's the
> limit!
> >
> http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/xtrn/s?t=XTRN
>
> Couldn't have said it better!


And a little of room to short it.....

You're 23 days too late ..... and besides, didn't Todd impose a "No April Fools joke" rule this year ??

Seriously though, I was under the impression that the Santa Fe Southern had shut down as their online freight service had dried up. The BNSF Albuquerque to Lamy local switcher (M-LMYLMY) hasn't gone past Bernalillo in at least a year.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/14 19:47 by 3rd_Raton.

Hey, maybe XTrain will get to Las Vegas after all.... Las Vegas, New Mexico, that is!

Barry Draper

The article had some very well-spun puffery.
What else could possibly be required?
...Lorenzo

This X Train Ponzi thing will be going the way of Bernie Madoff one of these days.

CPRR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> And I was wondering how soon the LA to LV trips
> were going to start.....

There has been absolutely nothing to indicate that they will EVER run LA to LV trips. It's a pipe dream.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CPRR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > And I was wondering how soon the LA to LV trips
> > were going to start.....
>
> There has been absolutely nothing to indicate that
> they will EVER run LA to LV trips. It's a pipe
> dream.

More like a wet dream!

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

Brings to mind some of those "pop-up" ads for "Get Rich with Penny Stocks" schemes, which are usually illustrated with an attractive young woman wearing not to terribly much. XTRN is down around 23 cents a share, having seen a peak of $1.40 a share in July 2012. Not exactly a safe haven for widows and orphans.

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/X-Train-H
> oldings-Reaches-Agreement-Operate-Santa-Fe-Souther
> n-Railroad-Excursion-OTCQB-XTRN-1902504.htm
>
> So this is their high-speed, luxury service to Las
> Vegas, NV? Ah-hah.

From the above referenced press release:

"While SFSR will not receive any immediate cash from this transaction, it provides a way to restore a vital and living part of history, the rail service from the connection with AMTRAK, America's national passenger railway, to the historic capital of the southwest, Santa Fe. This has been the central goal of SFSR since its inception in 1992, and this contract provides the best way to offer the service on a sustainable, attractive basis," said Karl Ziebarth, Chairman and CEO of the SFSR.

No immediate cash to SFSR? How about no cash, period? Kinda says it all. Maybe they should start luxury train service in the Cayman Islands or some such place, closer to where their capital most likely resides.

The railroad was featured recently in the AMC TV series Breaking Bad season 5.

I watched that episode. Drug lord Walter White comes up with a creative way to acquire a chemical used in making meth. In the story, SFS carries a regularly scheduled tank car shipment of the chemical so the bad guys plan to hoist part of the load. They enlist a friend in a large truck to break down at a RR crossing that requires a heavy tow truck to remove. While waiting, the tank car is on a trestle and they attach a hose to drain several hundred gallons into a buried tank under the trestle. They then hook the hose to a pump from a second buried tank and pump water back into the car so the volume remains the same. They finish just as the tow truck takes the disabled truck from the crossing and the train begins to move. As they are congratulating themselves on their accomplishment, a young boy on an ATV is noticed watching. The episode ends with White or one of his men shooting the boy multiple times and killing him.

567Chant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The article had some very well-spun puffery.
> What else could possibly be required?
> ...Lorenzo

I don't see them taking train passengers from Lamy to Santa Fe. After traveling on Amtrak, most just want to get to their destination hotels and the regularly scheduled van shuttle service that takes only 20 minutes performs that quite nicely. The 18 mile trip on the 15 mph SFS will take an 1:15 hours minimum.

barrydraper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey, maybe XTrain will get to Las Vegas after
> all.... Las Vegas, New Mexico, that is!
>
> Barry Draper

Except for Amtrak, there are no trains from Lamy to Las Vegas. That segment is among the most scenic on the Southwest Chief's route. Starting east from Lamy, there is Apache Canyon, the climb to Glorieta, the view of Sange's from Rowe, the Pecos River crossing, the S-curves, etc. East of LV, you are on the flat plains with the mountains receding in the distance. In a few years, assuming that segment survives the likely SW Chief rerouting, a day train from Santa Fe to Las Vegas with lunch or an overnight at the remodeled, reopened Castaneda Hotel might be an attraction for some with time to kill and money to spend.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 567Chant Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The article had some very well-spun puffery.
> > What else could possibly be required?
> > ...Lorenzo
>
> I don't see them taking train passengers from Lamy
> to Santa Fe. After traveling on Amtrak, most just
> want to get to their destination hotels and the
> regularly scheduled van shuttle service that takes
> only 20 minutes performs that quite nicely. The 18
> mile trip on the 15 mph SFS will take an 1:15
> hours minimum.

The SFS was never intended to operate as a connection to Amtrak; its business was as a tourist round trip from Santa Fe.

It is interesting, and perhaps typical of XTrain's convoluted history and penchant for questionable press releases, that the local media in New Mexico have not chosen to pick up on this story. The Santa Fe New Mexican in particular is very tuned to passenger rail news, and has nothing.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/14 11:02 by Ptolemy.

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cumbresfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 567Chant Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The article had some very well-spun puffery.
> > > What else could possibly be required?
> > > ...Lorenzo
> >
> > I don't see them taking train passengers from
> Lamy
> > to Santa Fe. After traveling on Amtrak, most
> just
> > want to get to their destination hotels and the
> > regularly scheduled van shuttle service that
> takes
> > only 20 minutes performs that quite nicely. The
> 18
> > mile trip on the 15 mph SFS will take an 1:15
> > hours minimum.
>
> The SFS was never intended to operate as a
> connection to Amtrak; its business was as a
> tourist round trip from Santa Fe.
>
> It is interesting, and perhaps typical of XTrains
> convoluted history and penchant for questionable
> press releases, that the local media in New Mexico
> have not chosen to pick up on this story. The
> Santa Fe New Mexican, in particular is very tuned
> to passenger rail news, and has nothing.

You are correct on both counts. I looked in the New Mexican and didn't see anything; probably didn't notify the locals.

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cumbresfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 567Chant Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The article had some very well-spun puffery.
> > > What else could possibly be required?
> > > ...Lorenzo
> >
> > I don't see them taking train passengers from
> Lamy
> > to Santa Fe. After traveling on Amtrak, most
> just
> > want to get to their destination hotels and the
> > regularly scheduled van shuttle service that
> takes
> > only 20 minutes performs that quite nicely. The
> 18
> > mile trip on the 15 mph SFS will take an 1:15
> > hours minimum.
>
> The SFS was never intended to operate as a
> connection to Amtrak; its business was as a
> tourist round trip from Santa Fe.
>
> It is interesting, and perhaps typical of XTrain's
> convoluted history and penchant for questionable
> press releases, that the local media in New Mexico
> have not chosen to pick up on this story. The
> Santa Fe New Mexican in particular is very tuned
> to passenger rail news, and has nothing.

The New Mexican has it now:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3391093