Santa Fe Southern makes a go of it - new operators of Santa Fe Southern Railway

Railway Age, June, 1992 by Gus Welty

Somehow, you get a kind of vicarious thrill when you read news from a private group that has just bought a piece of railroad. The former owner couldn't make a go of it, but the new owners have enthusiasm and plans and hopes, and....

So it is when reading about the people who have acquired what they are calling the Santa Fe Southern Railway, formerly the Santa Fe Railway's line between Lamy, N.M., and the state capital at Santa Fe.

The main traffic inbound to Santa Fe, has been beer. The main outbound traffic has been landscape rock. But the new owners think there's freight potential, with a service they say will operate at least twice a week. They've identified, they say, at least six more businesses that could save by shipping by rail, "and anytime we have a shipper who needs anything moved by rail, we'll move it."

The new owners are looking toward expanding to commuter service, passenger service connecting to Amtrak at Lamy, and excursion service.

They have a rebuilt GP7 (newly painted in red and yellow), a business car acquired from Southern Pacific for use as the railroad's office, and a caboose.

Santa Fe Southern says it could start passenger service with Amtrak connections in 1993, but the more immediate expansion of its service may be a commuter operation using RDC-type equipment. It would start small, but "eight roundtrips daily are conceivable." The new road already has an equipment source pegged for its RDCs: VIA Rail.

Catellus Development Corp., a spinoff in the restructuring of Santa Fe Pacific Corp., acquired 41 acres in downtown Santa Fe from the railway, including a 35-acre rail yard, and it plans redevelopment of the property.

The president of Santa Fe Southern is Bryan R. R. Whipple. Vice President Neil Carter has been "a train fan since childhood in Indiana."