I must note, it's no suprrise. When the reports of first less than stellar service on Grand Luxe chartered trains arose, followed by last year's Amtrak partnership fiasco, the withdrawal of all GL service before Labor Day, the inability of CRM to attract orders from major mass transit agencies (save Portland's Tri-Met and Florida's Tri-Rail) or Amtrak, and finally the dispute with Tri-Met, it appeared only a matter of time until "the housemother clicked the lights'.
A Bankruptcy petition is apparently inevitable; as noted in the release, the business enterprise will be liquidated. What this likely means is that the Trustees, none of whom know or care about the heritage of passenger rail, will seek an immediate sale of the GL equipment, so absent some responsible interest group stepping forward NOW, they're off to the scrapper - Domes and Sandy Creek included.
Always remember that with a Bankruptcy of a small concern, creditors think "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush'.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Sigh. I think the company pinned much of their hopes on DMU sales, but not much materialized out of that. The Transportation Agency for Monterey County was interested in purchasing some for local service, but their foot-dragging planning system keeps the start-up perpetually five years in the future, hence no sale.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
The demise of Rader Rail Car was confirmed in an email to me from a friend. As of December 31, all employees have been laid off. I'm not sure how (or whether) they will finish the Tri-Met DMU order. The double-deck DMUs in Florida have been stricken with many mechanical difficulties. Now they'll be orphans, so ride them while they're still in service.