Passenger Trains > Game of Trains

https://www.abqjournal.com/1456291/working-on-the-railroad-ex-trio-plans-to-revive-train-service-between-santa-fe-and-lamy.html

Paywall.

No paywall for me -

The long and short of it is "Novelist and screenwriter George R.R. Martin, Violet Crown Cinema owner Bill Banowsky and arts philanthropist Catherine Oppenheimer now own the Santa Fe Southern Railway Inc." and they plan to restore service.

I was able to read the article without encountering a paywall or sign-up.  The new owners have a lot of work to do with the physical plant -- especially tie replacement, drainage repairs, and lots of weed abatement.  Each time we took LArail's pv equipment up there, we had a terrific time.  It's a truly beautiful line.  Train crews were very professional and their 2 mechanical/electrical guys in Santa Fe could not have been more friendly and accommodating.  It was quite a strain for the rebuilt geep to pull 3 railcars up the grade from Lamy but after a couple of 20 minute breaks on the northbound grade (high engine temp), she wheezed into the Capital about 2 hours later.  Lots of great food and entertainment in the Railyard area so please go visit and support the new operation.

-John

Paywall only if you have an ad blocker on your browser

RevRandy Wrote:
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> Paywall only if you have an ad blocker on your
> browser
Ah.  That explains it.  Thanks!
 

Those ZW transformers were great - had one back in the '50's.

No idea what happened to Michael Gross, however.

 

wzd Wrote:
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> Those ZW transformers were great - had one back in
> the '50's.
>
> No idea what happened to Michael Gross, however.
>
>  

Still around. His Wikipedia entry mentions his railfan passion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gross_(actor)

dtoeppen Wrote:
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> What ever happened to actor Michael Gross (father
> on Family Ties) owning this railroad? Did his ZW
> transformer blow out and cause him to play
> elsewhere?

The railroad has gone through a number of owners over the years and I think Michael Gross only had a minority stake in SFS.  Back in the early 2000s a group of investors owned the railroad mainly for real estate purposes. Once Railrunner came onto the scene they sold off much of the real estate.

AfterRailrunner began running, people looking for a train ride took that instead and there wasn't demand for excursion rides.  I don't know what has changed that will enable tourism trains to flourish again. 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dtoeppen Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What ever happened to actor Michael Gross
> (father
> > on Family Ties) owning this railroad? Did his
> ZW
> > transformer blow out and cause him to play
> > elsewhere?
>
> The railroad has gone through a number of owners
> over the years and I think Michael Gross only had
> a minority stake in SFS.  Back in the early 2000s
> a group of investors owned the railroad mainly for
> real estate purposes. Once Railrunner came onto
> the scene they sold off much of the real estate.
>
> AfterRailrunner began running, people looking for
> a train ride took that instead and there wasn't
> demand for excursion rides.  I don't know what
> has changed that will enable tourism trains to
> flourish again. 

The Railrunner is a commuter train and sure, there are people that will ride it for kicks.  The Santa Fe Southern runs through some beautiful country between Santa Fe and Lamy.  Lamy is becoming a destination, not only to connect with Amtrak, but the caretakers of the Lamy Station have brought in Chile Line Brewing and have live music in the park very often.  OK, not currently, but under normal times.  The Legal Tender will become a viable destination for diners once the pandemic is over.  
Santa Fe is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and an 18 mile excursion train through history would make one more reason to go there.  

the free weekly "Santa Fe Reporter"'s story:
George RR Martin and friends buy Santa Fe Southern

As of Friday, the Santa Fe Southern Railway has new owners, and they have big—albeit stalled—plans for the popular train that has historically ferried riders between Santa Fe and Lamy. Game of Thrones author and Jean Cocteau Cinema owner George RR Martin, Violet Crown Cinema owner Bill Banowsky and New Mexico School for the Arts co-founder and Board Chair Catherine Oppenheimer have sealed the deal and plan to revitalize the train with theme rides, interactive experiences and more.

The trio's proximity in the Railyard led to the friendship, which led to a fateful dinner with margaritas and the birth of Santa Fe and Lamy Railroad Partners LLC. COVID-19 has delayed plans until 2022, but Martin personally has visions of using the train in film productions and staging interactive events on board for passengers, such as a murder mystery event called “Murder on the Lamy Express.”

“We don’t want this to be a shabby railroad on its last legs,” Martin told the Albuquerque Journal. “We want this to be a real jewel.”

...
a tourtist destination town like santa fe is large enough to make support for an excursion line a doable proposition. the town's tourist footprint certainly has grown in this century; and it's not like the RR wil be undercapitalized or underadvertised. although nobody knows how the tourist industry is going to revive after the plague, the new SF&L RR gives santa fe one more item in its attractions arsenal. competition from the toltec & cumbres and the durango & silverton lines could be minimal as they are both several hours away.

Jamie Yeager
Santa Fe, NM

KimHeusel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wzd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Those ZW transformers were great - had one back
> in
> > the '50's.
> >
> > No idea what happened to Michael Gross,
> however.
> >
> >  
>
> Still around. His Wikipedia entry mentions his
> railfan passion.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gross_(actor
> )

Mr. Gross has been very active in model railroading over the past several years.   I was fortunate enough to participate in an ops session with him in Bakersfield a few years ago.