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I know the Amtrak plan has been derailed more times than Casey Jones but I remember reading some months ago that not one but TWO private companies were planning to start up some sort of service to LV from LA or Southern California.
In true American fashion I also remember reading that the two companies promptly took each other to court (I swear, if I had been born American I would have become a lawyer!!!) but I haven't seen/heard anything in the rail news section for a while, so did they knock each other out or is something ever going to happen?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Well, Mr. Williams, at least the websites for either of these proposals are "flashy":
Of course, website and reality are two different things.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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I tried to grab some articles for you from the Las Vegas Review Journal online edition, but to search beyond a certain date they make you pay $$$ for it. I frequent Vegas (about once a month for the last 5 years), and the LVRJ has had a few articles about the new train service. They treat this stuff seriously as if it's actually going to happen. I hate to be skeptical, but I just don't see it happening. I would love to be wrong, because some of the artist renderings of the new service looks pretty cool. And anyone who has attempted to drive on I-15 southbound from Vegas on a Sunday afternoon knows the hell you have to go through. During the summer, it's not uncommon to be sitting in stop and go traffic at 5 to 10 MPH in 115 degree heat for a few HOURS. People run out of gas, and cars overheat.
Because of this, I no longer travel to Vegas on a weekend any more---I absolutely refuse to do it. And I fly there now, but the weekend crowds in Vegas are ridiculous. You get a HUGE Los Angeles crowd, lots of gang members, and lots of people who are there to just get drunk and be loud. Weekdays are much more civilized.
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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How many times have I said it?
For LA-Vegas to be viable, it has to:
- Be much more than 1/day service.
- Originate throughout the megalopolis. LAUPT is not "convenient" as are the myriad of LA airports Southwest serves.
- Be price economical with SWA (full tariff is ~170)
10 54 seat cars + food service + lounge haul 540 pax per trip.
OBTW, you need new station facilities in LV. The UP station is long, long gone.
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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Maybe it's better that the UP's LV station's gone; it looked to be of the worst of Art Deco rather than the best, bordering on "before its time" Amshack-like banality. Resembled a bus station more than a rail station.
Tanner929 Member # 3720
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Hey in a lame duck congress and if the polls stay as they are perhaps Harry Reid will print up the funds needed to complete this project with of course the Senator Harry Reid Train Terminal don't no what it will look like but it will have to be bigger then NJ's Senator Frank Lautenberg's monument to himself.
Railroad Bob Member # 3508
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Thanks for posting that vintage postcard, Mr. IC! I've never seen that view-- location-wise, I'd guess it was sitting in the same spot the Amshack was; that served the gone-but-fondly-remembered Desert Wind? And those early-vintage UP diesels-- give them an "A" for industrial design!
Along with some other members here, I think the prognosis for the LAX- Las Vegas train is, well, on the gloomy side for a number of reasons. Even the logistics for last week's Kelso Flyer were expensive and complex, and that was a one-time thing. However, if certain parameters were met like Mr. PullmanCo suggests, it could work. OK, taking off my rose-colored glasses now.
Bob
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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The station was located at the foot of Freemont St, or where the Union Plaza Hotel is today.
Actually I have set foot in the structure the first time I went near The Meadows in this life - October 1968, having arrived on UP103 from SLC.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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If you haven't been back to Vegas in several years, you would be highly disappointed to see the Union Plaza hotel today. It is a complete and utter dump. I walked through there once, and once was enough. I felt like I was walking through a state parole office. Dirty, filthy, stinky, run-down, prostitutes, dope dealers, gang-bangers....you name it. That place should be imploded.
On the positive side of things, in the last ~10 years, The Strip has changed for the better----dramatically. Some of the best restaurants in the world are located on one street (Las Vegas Blvd; aka: The Strip).
For the future Las Vegas passenger train service (if it ever happens!), thank God they will not be using the old Amtrak location behind the Union Plaza!! They have a spot picked out that is just west of I-15, and south of The Rio hotel. It puts you roughly in the middle of The Strip, albeit on the other side of the freeway. That is an excellent location.....if it ever happens.
mr williams Member # 1928
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Thanks folks. Neither of them appear to have any idea of a proposed start date ("The Twelfth of Never" maybe?) so I won't hold my breath.
mr williams Member # 1928
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Almost three and a half years later, and we still seem to be no nearer?
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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There was going to be a private train - they even got approval to run on UP's tracks. However, that seems to have died a death as well.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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X-Train is a bunch of lying scammers in my opinion. They have been posting Facebook updates all week of their "new" passenger cars in Las Vegas. FRAUD!!!
First of all, all they've been talking about for the last few years are the double-decker, fancy-pants passenger cars with flat-screen TVs, bars, booth seating, nice carpeting, nice lighting, etc, etc. They have also been hyping that they have their own locomotives now also, and they will be used to pull these bi-level cars.
So what have they been posting this week?? Pictures of TWO private cars that are leased from Mid-America Railcar. One is the Mohave, and I can't find the name of the other one. But they are 1950's-built Pullmans, and they're just leasing them. They slapped a big red "X" on the side to show that "These are OUR cars!". But they're not. They have all of these pictures of the two cars arriving in Las Vegas a few days ago, being pulled by a UP locomotive. They are hyping "Los Angeles to Las Vegas!!", which again, is a complete and total fraud. There is no such service, and there will be no such service. I found out that the only reason those cars are in Vegas is because there is a spur track where they have placed the cars for a Vegas-based company to work on the interiors. I guess they are paying someone to fix up the interiors a bit. But for them to say it's for LA-LV service is so incredibly fraudulent. I wouldn't trust these people with anything!
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