I read yesterday on “Trainorders.com” that the Grand Canyon Railway has discontinued their steam operations and layed off around 30 employees. There will be no more steam powered trains running from Williams, Arizona to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon it was announced. The article went on to say that the steam engines would be put on display but would not be sold. Mr. Phil Anshutz, former owner of the Rio Grande and Southern Pacific railroads is in the process of buying GCRY with a deal that is suppose to conclude in the Fall according to Trainorders.com. As far as I can tell they will continue to operate trains to the Grand Canyon but powered with diesels. They have some old Alco F-A and F-B engines I think from Canada and some F40PH ex Amtrak engines that they have been using for some time. They are running more and more modern equipment and phasing out the old SP Harriman style commute coaches. They sighted fuel cost as being one of the main reasons for the change. Their large steam engine burns over 1400 gallons of fuel oil on a trip to the canyon and back where as the diesel only burns 540 or so. I hope they make a go of it but I for one will not be going back over there to ride a diesel powered train. I can do that at home. Ray
A real bummer, but since folks have stayed closer to home this year coupled with rising fuel prices, it’s bound to even affect popular tourist attractions.
How about special runs with the steam engine where you pay a premium to ride on a steam powered train.
Boyd, re special steam trips, they fired all the people who run them. I think they just want to make jungle gyms out of the steam engines now. Maybe some other visiting steam engine like ATSF 3751 could run again over there but I would not hold my breath. Ray
The steam engines are nothing but jungle gyms now, they are rotting in the sun and so are the classic Pullman coaches. They are taking away everything that makes the trip about service. They do not care about the employees, it’s all about the almighty dollar. The new owner, Philip Anschutz, takes no interest in it what so ever. #539, that was purchased from Spokane two years ago for rebuild has been put up for sale. A lot of poor decisions have been made, and instead of the company admitting that, they are blaming everything on the economy. Instead of spending money where it is needed, they waste money to start building a wannabe Imax, and all the the coaches from the Grand Luxe(formerly AOE)The employees are paid horribly and the job is no longer fun for them. Most long term employees have quit, or been fired for extrememly stupid reasons(such as a friend of mine)several lawsuits for wrongful termination and harrassent have been filed against the company. It is sad the the only place you can see the steam engines in on Youtube. I know that I will not be back to ride the train there again. If you’ve booked tickets for this summer, expecting to see a steam engine, YOU WILL NOT, demand a refund…