Saratoga & North Creek Railway has scrapped plans to run a winter snow train to North Creek with sleeper cars after ticket sales languished, and the company is laying off its seasonal staff.

The decision to pull the plug on the overnight trips also comes after the company was the subject of complaints that at least some of the people who worked on its seasonal Polar Express trains weren’t paid promptly. The company’s manager said Thursday that all have been paid.

And furthermore...nobody is going to want that circus equipment. That stuff is just a lot of shells and random parts. Nothing historical there at all...we are talking old commuter coaches and baggage cars tubed out to the walls. So do not fret about he market being flooded with cars that museums will want or need.
T7

More Iowa Pacific news:

Hoosier State Trains 850 and 851 Transitions to Amtrak Equipment

The Hoosier State, which operates four days per week between Indianapolis and Chicago, will transition to railcars, locomotives and on-board services supplied by Amtrak beginning Wednesday, March 1, 2017. No action is required from ticketed customers.

The Indiana Department of Transportation and communities along the route will continue to fund the service, which will include Wi-Fi and Business Class seating. Once contracts with Amtrak are amended, Amtrak will advise booked customers of available on-board services prior to their travel date. Indiana is one of 18 states that contract with Amtrak to provide short-distance, intercity passenger rail services.

Under the amended agreements, Amtrak will continue to provide train crews, ticketing and reservation services, and also coordinate with the private freight railroads that own the tracks over which the Hoosier State operates. Intermediate stops will continue to be Crawfordsville, Dyer, Lafayette and Rensselaer.

Train 851 will continue to run north on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, with Train 850 operating south on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. On the other days, the communities along the route will be served by the Cardinal (Trains 50 and 51), which operates between New York City and Chicago. Together, the Hoosier State and the Cardinal provide daily Amtrak service between the important Midwestern cities of Indianapolis and Chicago.

We appreciate your patronage. For reservations and information, visit Amtrak.com, use our free mobile apps, speak with station personnel or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

Thank you for choosing Amtrak.

PSN 0117-05

Rumors are that IPH will shrink...a lot. I still do not see it as relevant to this board. But...whatever.
T7

Amtrak and Iowa Pacific signed separate contracts with INDOT. Amtrak would bill the state for fixed operating costs plus “estimated third party costs,” that included maintenance of way charges and “performance incentives” paid to CSX for running the train on time.

INDOT paid Iowa Pacific the difference between what it paid Amtrak and a fixed monthly amount, some $254,000, that the state budgeted for the rail service, according to spokesman Will Wingfield.

...Iowa Pacific’s CEO says a quirk in the contracts between his company, INDOT and Amtrak doomed the partnership.

Ed Ellis says his firm’s compensation from the deal decreased each time on-time performance improved.

“The way the contracts worked, we ended up getting less money as the train ran more on time,” Ellis says.

That’s due in part to a contract stipulation that INDOT paid Amtrak before Iowa Pacific when there was any profit. It meant Amtrak got deposits totaling almost $4 million in 2016, but Iowa Pacific got just $500,000.

The problem this time is there is nothing left to sell to raise cash. Out of all the remaining railroads they have left, CTM would be the only one that might be worth something. There is no Arizona Eastern left to sell to raise cash.

I have been to or worked on all of these except the MS operations. It's going to get real tough if the rumors are true.

Jason