Chugging Along

Feeling so blessed as we wrap up our first year of giving train rides. 2013 has been full of blessings and reasons to celebrate. We are so incredibly grateful for all of our customers and supporters. Desert Express Train would not be successful if it weren't for you!

Every smile, every compliment, every satisfying experience, and even every suggestion for improvement, are the driving force behind Desert Express Train. Thank you for keeping us going, and laying down the "tracks" for our future!

We are excited about the New Year and all the experiences it will bring. Please look for new event and birthday packages, additional services, sponsorship opportunities, and specials that are coming in 2014.

May your dreams come true in the New Year and may you be surrounded by joy and happiness! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! ~ The Myers Family

Christmas Caroling

Busy weekend ahead! We hope everyone has some fun things planned with the family. Our next stops include Johnson Ranch Community Festival, Carebear Preschool, Eduprize Schools,Polarfest and a few birthday parties. If you're interested in Caroling on the train during week nights, please contact us - this year we have our own sound system, so singing along should be easy! Not into Caroling, how about just looking at lights and listening to music instead?

Thank You!

Super Expo at WestWorld of Scottsdale

This was a bittersweet event as we were missing the very person that made it possible for us to be there. Leanne Hunt, the owner of Everything Kids Fest, tragically passed away just a day before this event. Jyl Steinback, the owner of the Shape Up US, a non-profit organization, Leanne's assistant Julie, and all the vendors did their best to make sure the event was a success.

Here are the highlights from us:

Engineer Nick helps Princesses and Mrs. Potts set up their tent.

Yeah, their costumes win!

Rapunzel and Snow White ride the train.

Kaitlyn is enjoying the time with a wonderful princess.

Learning the dance steps for Shape Up US commercial filming.
The clown next to me is "Tickles".

Howler teaching me the clapping steps,

I had a hard time paying attention :)

"Just Clap for Life!"

Heaven has a new Angel

We have been looking forward to this weekend's event for months now. Ever since we were contacted by the owner of two kid centered companies and were invited to participate in upcoming events. Unfortunately, instead of celebrating her success in putting such grand events together, we will be celebrating her life instead.

A beautiful soul of a hardworking mom with a bright future ahead is no longer with us. After a horrific accident, she was in a coma for a week. Her first major event went on without her, but she was still alive then and we all had hope. All hope was lost today, when she passed away.

We've only known her for a short time, about 7 months. However, that was long enough to show us what she was about. She was driven, enthusiastic, hardworking and supportive of others. She has touched our lives and became a friend almost instantly.

We are starting this weekend with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes. With the feelings of sorrow for the tremendous loss for her friends, family, and especially her 3 year old daughter. Rest in peace beautiful Leanne. Thank you for touching so many lives with your kind and love-loving nature!You will not be forgotten!

Busiest Week Ever...

It has been one of the busiest weeks for Desert Express Train. It started with a Ribbon Cutting on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 where we gave rides in honor of the event. Feeling grateful to have a group of wonderful people supporting us as we grow!

Greater San Tan Chamber of Commerce
Desert Express Train
Ribbon Cutting

Friday, October 24th, we started out our first of three nights at the South Mountain Park. Haunted Hayrides happen every year at the end of October for the last 33 years! It's so popular that the visitors come early to get their tickets and get on the waiting list for the ride. The wait can be pretty long, but DJ Koko of Koko Enterprises, LLC makes it so much fun! Everyone gathers on the dance floor, from young to young at heart, and just dances! We loved being there all three nights!

Haunted Hayrides and Train Rides at South Mountain Park

Thanks to Everything Kids Fest and Shape Up U.S., we also had the privilege to be a part of Mayor's Play Day Event at Tumbleweed Park in Chandler. Engineer Nick had no break at all, from 9am-1pm. For the first time in the history of Desert Express Train, we ran out of gas during the event and had to refuel! That's A LOT of rides :)

Train Rides at Tumbleweed Park

This week is going to be just as busy! It will start with a Harvest Festival located on Coolidge Performing Arts Center parking lot on October 30th. November 1st and 3rd will be spent at WestWorld of Scottsdale with Everything Kids Fest and Shape Up U.S. during Super EXPO. November 2nd we'll be in Pioneer Park in Mesa giving rides during a car show. The Car show event will benefit City of Mesa in preserving the locomotive that is displayed at the park.

Couldn't be more thrilled for the opportunity to participate in such great events! Hope we'll see you there!

Thriller Ride

  Homecoming Parade Coolidge High

CHS Dance and Drama

Dance Crew Getting Ready to Dance Thriller

All Aboard and Ready to Go!

Let the Fun Begin!

Zombies are not afraid to take risks...
it's not like they're going to die - again.

Walking in front of a train operated by a Zombie is never
a good idea, even if you're a Zombie yourself!

Handsome Zombie/Train Engineer
The Nurse and Her Patient seem calm during the ride.

Grrrrrrrr!

Alice in Zombie Wonderland!

You can hide, but you can't run!

The hardest working student
She kept the music alive all through the parade!

Highlight of the Parade
Giving Elementary School Kids High Fives!

Just a Quick note to say thank you...

...to Coolidge Performing Arts and Coolidge High School for giving us the opportunity to give rides and help raise some money for the CHS dancers during the first football game of the season.

...to Golf Club of Oasis for having us join their monthly Burgers, Brats, and Beer/Beverage Event. Saw some familiar faces and met some new ones as well.

Shrinking the World One Party at Time

No, no. Don't worry, we are not going to talk about the shrinking practices of Jivaroan Tribes from northwestern region of the Amazon rainforest. We're also not going to talk about any scientific discoveries or even magic. Although, Engineer Nick does have the power to stop downpours right before it's time to give rides - he does not possess the power to change the physical size of our beautiful planet...at least not yet.

Instead, as the time goes on and we have more and more train events, we are starting to "run" into (again, not physically) some familiar faces. For instance, today we enjoyed giving rides at a 3rd birthday party where we knew six of the guests, and they had no idea we were going to be there. Also found out that the hosts of the party already had the chance to ride our train at a school function, so we have met them previously as well.

People who have previously met us are starting to accidentally find us through social media, google search or the signs on our vehicles.

The icing on the cake has to be a phone call we received on October 6th. Unfortunately, we didn't have the date they wanted available, after which the mom said "but he only likes your train and would have nothing to do with any other trackless trains. When he sees a colorful plastic train he says that they're for babies." Of course, I had to ask how old he is and mom's answer was "he's turning 5 at the end of the month". Apparently our train is for big boys and girls ;)

Hopefully, we can work out a date that would work for both of us. For now, we are feeling incredibly honored to have such impact on the kids' we meet. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for letting us know what makes us different and special.

If you're reading this post, chances are great that we'll "bump" into you soon, in the virtual or physical world, that's luckily not shrinking any time soon! Unfortunately, we can't say the same about the heads of the enemies of certain ancient tribes.

How much does it cost?

If we had to choose the most frequently asked question, undoubtedly "How much is it?" would be it! As consumers, we would probably all agree that the prices of goods and services are as important as the goods and services themselves, if not more. Personally, we would never sign up for anything without knowing the price.

So, without further ado (or adieu if you prefer), we now offer birthday packages complete with prices :)

Please feel free to email, message or call for a quote for any other events. Thank you for all of your support and feedback. It is greatly appreciated. We won't be who we are without you!

Public Events

Did you know that we give free rides at many different public events? To find the events, please check out our Facebook Page events tab or Public Events page on our website. We are very excited to have a few events scheduled and confirmed, as well as a few more that are coming up. If you are hosting a public event or know of one that might want a train, please let us know. We offer a variety of packages for different events, including for fundraisers, school events, and vendor fairs.

Here is our first public event of the season. We hope you join us!

Are we having any fun?

When we started our new business adventure we expected for it to be fun. What's not fun about trackless trains? Our goal was to integrate our family time into our business. We like to do everything together, so we needed a  business that would allow us to work as a family for many years. What we didn't plan for is getting integrated into our community and receiving love and support not only from our families and close friends, but from everyone we talked to about our business. We are able to do everything from making a child's birthday party into a memorable and fun experience to being a part of large events and helping local schools and charities.

The path has been amazing! Our friendly customers, our local chambers of commerce, our local non-profit organizations that serve our community and our local family owned businesses give more substance to our business experience. Are we still having fun? If you had met us or worked with us you already know the answer to this question. If we haven't met yet, we hope we do soon. For now, here are some photos from our most recent event, where once again we had the privilege of meeting new customers, a local family owned and operated business, and a non-profit organization.

Desert Express Train now gives splash pad train rides!

Engineer Nick makes even the most shy riders wave and smile.

Is he having any fun?

You bet he is!

His smile says it all!

The non-profit Rockstar Rescue discovered that some dogs go crazy for balloons!

Daddy gets to spend time with his little girls in between giving rides. The youngest, Zoe, is pictured here

Eduprize Spring Spectacular 2013

To find out how we can help YOUR school at fundraising events, please call us today 602-888-3719.

How it All Got Started

"How did you start this business?" is our most frequently asked question. The answer almost always starts with a grin...we love sharing our story! How many businesses start with: "We were looking for a tractor on Craigslist..."

Well, at least one does...OURS!

We were looking for a tractor for our 2.6 acre yard when Nick stumbled across the trackless train ad.  It just so happens the engine was built on a "lawn tractor" so of course it popped up in the search.  He immediately motioned to Katerina to come check it out. How often do you find a trackless train for sale? In unison our reaction was: "Oh my gosh, this is so cool!"

After a quick email exchange, we had arrangments to go take a look at it the next day.  It was only a 25 minute drive away.
When we got there we saw the train looked extremely "cute".  Even better than the ad pictures!  The seller seemed very open and honest which we appreciate, and he even agreed to take us on a quick ride. Our firstborn, Kaitlyn asked if we could buy it right now! Xenia chimed in after her, and without a doubt, all the rest of the family was thinking the same thing, including the one-year-old Zoe who didn't stop smiling the entire time during the ride.

The original look

We promised the seller to get back to him after discussing it. We didn't even make it back to the car before we both looked at each other knowing exactly what the other one was thinking. After talking each other's ears off and listening to the kids' excitement on the drive home, we stopped to get dinner and chatted about it with more intensity.  By the end of the dinner we had a company name picked out, and already had a call back to the seller with a full offer!

Knowing what a trackless train costs typically, and given the reason for the seller to actually sell the train(unexpected medical expenses), we knew this was the right thing for us and for them, so we didn't even haggle on the price.

Two days later, we were able to go and pick up our new purchase. The timing worked out that was the same night we were going to donate our truck and trailer to a homeschooling group of our nephew and niece, and take them Christmas caroling around the neighborhood. It is funny how things work out...we had the train that night instead! Before even taking the train home, we took it to Nick's sister's neighborhood. That night we had all the confirmation that this train was what we've been searching for. Everyone enjoyed the rides, people came out of their homes to see us, cars stopped and rolled down windows, and a few of them honked and waived...even though our caroling was nowhere near in sync! Okay, okay, we weren't even singing the same song most of the time.

Two days after Christmas, on our way to the Polar Express in Williams AZ, we stopped by the Secretary of State's office and registered a new DBA for Myers Holdings LLC.

After the fortuitous, incidental and wonderful time with the Polar Express train, we came back home and since have had a blast making modifications to the train, getting the business up and running, and most of all, watching hundreds of kids enjoy the rides!  We are just getting started and this business is already busier than we ever imagined.  People love the personality, enthusiasm, and fun that Nick and Katerina bring as "Engineer Nick" and "Conductor Katerina".  Stay tuned as the saga of Desert Express Train continues to unfold!

The updated look

Boarding Passes

Our new beautiful Boarding Passes created by Signing Arizona. Here's the sneak peek!

Desert Express Train Boarding Pass

YMCA Healthy Kids Day

As at any event, Desert Express Train received much attention at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day. There was a constant flow of passengers, and adults loved it as much as the kids did. The new canopies proved to be very effective, we didn't

 even need the seat covers. As a matter of fact, some people kept riding the train to stay shaded and cool!

The train weaved in and out of vendor booths, passed the dunk tank, by the skateboard ramp, through the bounce houses area,  and around the rock climbing wall. We had definite fans among vendors, the most enthusiastic being The Dance Spot booth!

Giving rides, meeting new people, making new fans, and having a great time – yep, we love our job!  Next stop, Eduprize Schools Spring Spectacular on May 3, 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.