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Grand Canyon Railway sets 2016 steam schedule
Prior to 2008 GCRY was a steam railroad that occasionally operated diesels, and the diesels that were operated were grand substitutes because they were vintage ALCOs. GCRY was a desired destination in and of itself, and it also took you to the Grand Canyon.
Now GCRY is a Modern Diesel railroad that rarely runs Steam, just AMTRAK engines. They have lost their appeal as a destination, they are just transportation to the Grand Canyon.
They’ve lost some of their appeal to railfans; the general public pretty much doesn’t care.
@Matthew Simons, I concur. They should NOT have replaced the Alcos with shoebox-on-a-skateboard F40PH’s!
The Grand Canyon branch is in itself historic, along with the Fred Harvey facilities. This railfan still recommends it.
This is a great ride and a good on-board experience. F40’s may not have the appeal of an A-B-A set of MLW cab units or a steamer, but they still do the job right for a fraction of the operating costs.
Yet, on our last visits in the area a few years ago, any attemps to meet and chat with the operating staff or with management revealed an incredible disdain, if not outright hostility towards rail fans in general. We did not feel welcome at all, even after spending a couple hundred of dollars on their trains. Pity.
Mr. Turcotte, you are correct about management and operating staff.
Re: railfan disdain.
It’s shocking how common that attitude is in among “real railroaders”. Even on this website there are those that make disparaging remarks about “foamers” and the like. IMO it’s really just an immature reaction - nothing more than a kid in a schoolyard saying i’m better than you.
Luckily not every place is like that. On a recent visit to TVRM, I bought tickets for myself and a few friends to ride behind 4501. It was amazing as expected, but even more amazing was how engaging the staff was. After a short conversation, I was given a private tour of the shops and got to see 630 which wasn’t on public display at the time. I’m not sure how common that is, but it seemed like everyone involved just couldn’t wait to share their treasures with an admitted “railfan”. I was impressed, but then isn’t that what these sorts of operations are supposed to be about?
With regard to the supposedly “railfan-unfriendly” nature of the railroad, it’s prudent to remind all that the railroad is a professional transportation and entertainment business, and a subsidiary of a much larger one (Xanterra, which operates hospitality concessions at the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone), not a railfan museum or “hey, guys, let’s run steam trains!” enterprise. I happen to know that a couple railroad officials there are “card-carrying railfans,” but they are constrained by the business nature of their jobs. The Strasburg RR isn’t “railfan-friendly” either by that measure–the shop tours are extra-charge, held only while the shop crews are on lunch break. Even some museums like the California State RR Museum or the B&O Railroad Museum are, in some ways, not “railfan-friendly”–there are a lot of places there you won’t get without an appointment.
Perhaps the railfans will be better accommodated by the now-abuilding Arizona State Railroad Museum in Williams?
The whole experience of the Grand Canyon and the train ride seemed almost obsessive about air quality. The car attendant on our ride in 2013 mentioned several times about the reduced visibility over the years of one of our greatest natural wonders. I’m afraid our rail fan obsession with the trains will be secondary to their stewardship of the park. I was quite disappointed not to have the Alco power on our train.
I’ve been to a lot of tourist railroads, and two stand out as far as being “railfan friendly.”
Nevada Northern, in Ely, Nevada, was about as friendly as it could get. I got a private tour of the shops and outbuildings, free with a ticket purchase. Probably private because the other ticket holders weren’t “fans” per se, but mostly just ticking off another railroad. There’s a lesson there. somewhere.
Railtown 1897 is the other. I was able to actually wander around backstage for hours, simply because I knew what a stub switch is. One of the guys started me out on a private tour (I was shooting photos with my DSLR throughout), and I commented on the switch. He said I was the first visitor in over 3 months who knew what it was. After getting a safety lecture, he let me wander around taking pics for a few hours.
There have been others, such as the D&RG shops in Durango, where I got a private tour of the backshops, almost never given without paying for it. (Almost, I said - I’m sure others have gotten them free)
Sadly, I have seen some where the dollar is king; just another way to separate the tourist (who is usually not a fan at all) from his money.