That article states:



And they can't find an suitable replacement? Granted, it does take some expertise, but can't they hire somebody?

Yes, the last news item shows the smaller truth. Not a closure, but a cutback, and again, possibly motivated by a cash flow problem.

And yes, probably a rude surprise to those laid off, right at the holiday season, and right when they probably thought the high traffic numbers from 2016 meant their jobs were safe.

I love that sculpture at the entrance (see the last news item). Quite the modern art piece.

Not every railroad is the Strasburg Rail Road.

Attention Everybody: Please raise your hand if you have done work for Iowa Pacific (or sold/leased equipment) and had trouble getting paid...

That organization has had cash flow trouble since day one. That is not an attack or a flame...that is a fact.

T7

Removed by writer

Iowa Pacific has earned the nickname, IOU Pacific for lots of reasons!

Comment in one of the linked news articles:
"I am one of the shop mechanics let go. there is approximately 30 people laid off, including shop people, track maintenance, office staff. The fact that they shut down like this every year is total BS! I've been there for over 3 years and this is the first time that it's happened to me. Iowa Pacific has been having payroll issues for over 6 months, canceling our direct deposit, and going back to paper checks which we could not cash until AFTER 430 pm on our paydays. I was given a letter of termination along with my paycheck at 430 pm today. That was the first I had heard of any termination. I was told to contact the Railroad Retirement Board asap to sign up for unemployment benefits. -Mickey R. Johnson, shop mechanic"

Yep something more going on than just the usual winter shutdown. If it were, you don't just unceremoniously fire your staff then expect them to reapply for rehiring in the spring. You do it in an orderly manner as to not create animosity and minimize the pain to the people you depend on.

I have plenty of friends that worked for Iowa Pacific at the start of the week and now they aren't anymore.

This is a company wide situation not limited to Texas State.

Message never intended for public viewing.

Not the first time. This news item from 2013 describes cash flow problems.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/zz/20130803/NEWS/130807647

I spent the first few years of my career in the steam railroad business being laid off in the winter. It was a sad fact of life in Chama NM in the 1980's that there was not enough cash generated to keep the operating employees employed. It was, the way it was. WE knew we would have jobs in the spring.

The big difference I see here is we were "laid off, subject to recall".

I keep reading the word "terminated" here. As in "go away, you won't be coming back".

That is a big deal.

When I was running the TSR, Jan-Feb were very busy times. We had annual inspections to do on the locomotives in Rusk, while all the passenger cars were sent to Palestine for their annual inspections. All this had to be accomplished by March. The entire full-time staff (of about 40) was fully employed.

By "terminating" all the employees, they will lose good trained workers that know how the equipment works and how it needs to be maintained and operated.

From a number of postings here and on other forums it's clear that IPH is going through a tough period.

As the industry's clear leader in innovative thinking I sure hope they're able to weather the storm.

Happy New Year to all. Ross Rowland

This is 2012 all over again. I was cut, as well as everyone else in the passenger car departments. I foolishly went back, then found something better in 14.

While I did enjoy most of my time there, their long term plan was not very sound in my opinion. Once they sold the railroads in Texas and New Mexico, it was only a matter of time before things went south, again.

Hi,

In my opinion (that might be wrong), I think this is a comedy of errors.

I think the lady who sent out the closure notice was working in good faith about letting others who she worked with know that TSR was shutting down "for the season." She made a poor word choice and assumed that everyone knew she was meaning the winter "stand-down" and not a closiing of the railroad. The "for the season" was implied when it should have been explicitly stated.

Others in the communication chain who did not understand the implied "for the season" assumed that railroad was closing permanently.

It spiraled out of control from there.

wikipedia:


This truism has stood the test of time having been one of the first dates associated with it is 1774. The stupidity here is the implied "for the season" should have been spelled out. Understanding how it might have happened without malice does not make the actions of the fired person acceptable - if it is understood and actions taken to prevent it from reoccurring, then progress is made.

Doug vV

Am I the only reader who is more concerned abut the results likely to happen after abandoning special event programming that debating the seasonal layoffs wisdom? I think if you want to make your market smaller, losing event programming is a great way to do so - which only makes good sense if you were either losing money producing such events, or having less income rom than than making use of the track and rolling stock in other ways.