Indeed, and shows good governance by the Board, IMO. Even though IPH offered $500K to be allowed to stay, I think the Board had seen enough not to be swayed by a "new investor" after hearing that song and dance before.

As for Western, well, I'm mixed on that-- they should be flush with cash after selling off the Cimarron Valley and Southwestern Railroad freight operations. That said, their history on the Southwestern wasn't very good. They had a fatal runaway a few years ago on the Whitewater operation in which the crew left the anglecock closed between the engine and cars and then a fatal head-on (although the crewmember was killed after jumping) on the Carlsbad operation after a conductor left a mainline switch open after tying down for the day. That and other issues led BNSF to evict the SW as operator of the Carlsbad line at the beginning of this year. An FRA man once said the Southwestern was the most egregious operation he had ever seen.

I haven't really heard anything bad about the Verde Canyon, and I would be hopeful with liability of having the public onboard the trains, that is a tighter operation.



Ground Swell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Saw this coming a mile away. What's the word on
> the Western Group?
>
> [www.ktre.com]
> lroad-board-approves-tentative-contract-with-arizo
> na-company