Amtrak Mexico connections?

electricron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 1:41 pm It's a shame the UP railroad is not facing bankruptcy so they can buy the railroad corridor cheaply.

Now, now, Ron!!!
disclaimer: author holds long position UNP

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:06 pm

electricron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 1:41 pm It's a shame the UP railroad is not facing bankruptcy so they can buy the railroad corridor cheaply.

Now, now, Ron!!!
disclaimer: author holds long position UNP

Just to remind everyone how cheaply Fort Worth and Dallas got the TRE railroad corridor and started the TRE service using their respected transit agencies. DART bought refurbished RDC-1s from Montreal originating from VIA because there were no other rail cars available ready for immediate service they could buy. Trinity Metro bought used F59PH locomotives and Hawker-Siddeley BiLevel cars from GO a few years later when they extended the TRE trains to Fort Worth. The TRE was not built luxuriously. Upgrading the corridor and trains have been a slow process. They have sold the RDC-1s, but are still running the F59PH locomotives and Hawker-Siddeley cars.

Yup, just like Nashville and Utah planned to start up service with refurbished Metra cars. I believe TriRail also got it's start using surplussed GO equipment, and possibly Metrolink as well.

Loved those RDCs... rode them up until 2006 when we moved away.

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That and we know that some Mexican service is running using retired Budd equipment, which tell you that "Budd don't break" is a very true statement.

There’s this one itty bitty problem with any Americans traveling in Mexico.

It consists of two words: Drug Cartels. Anyone American who thinks he’s safe outside of a very limited set of areas takes his life in his hands.

electricron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 1:41 pm It's a shame the UP railroad is not facing bankruptcy so they can buy the railroad corridor cheaply.

Whoa man it would be cheaper to build a single track along UP than buy it out of bankruptcy, don't wish bankruptcy on a major national carrier like that. It would have serious economic repercussions (like the port strike)! Keep in mind how much it cost to rebuild the NEC after the Penn Central collapse, just because you have the track doesn't mean it's ready to run trains at 79 or 125.

Also, this link to Monterrey is nuts. It's a 9 hour drive to DFW, which means the train is proably 12-15 plus border control time. If the study writers really want a spot south of Houston and San Antonio, why not Corpus? Padre? Is there really that much DFW traffic to Monterrey? I worked in Forth Worth for years and now have a big customer in Houston. I'm there a lot. You don't hear a lot about folks going to Monterrey. Certainly not like you hear NYC folks commuting to Albany for state business.