First and foremost this is not a trip announcement just an idea I have had for a couple of years, I have not talk to anyone yet about such a trip.
My idea is to bring the Santa Fe 3751 to Kansas City for the centennial of Kansas city Union Station. First how much would said trip cast, and how possible would it be to do the trip thought Feather River Canyon and the five canyon line like the old California Zephyr use to take to Omaha then south to kc. For the cars I had the idea to use CZ. cars plus the Santa Fe dome in LA. and the ex Congressional cars of the friends of 261 for stainless steel look for the train. Plus a side trip for the to Cheyenne for the rodeo train as another train along with the up 844.

Get a backer, such as a railroad historical society, the Train Festival folks, or someone LIKE them, who can take responsibility for the trip. Get enthusiasm going in said group. Have them contact 3751 with trip proposal idea. 3751 can contact railroads, work with them, and that's how a ball of wax is formed.

Nobody is going to talk to you unless you have experience and money.

Since 2014 is less than a year away, it may be too late.

Is there an organization that is planning a 100th birthday celectration? Do you live near or in Kansas City? Why don't you approach them?

Perhaps, you could scale down your ideas a bit. Has anyone approached KCS, which is headquartered in KC about an equipment display? What about UP?

First a suggestion. For a thread like this, adding "Idea" or "What if" or some other qualifier to the title would help avoid confusion. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who thought "They're doing that? Wow, cool!"

I have to agree, it's probably too late. Granted, if the right folks get behind an idea, anything can happen. But getting something like this organized in under a year is going to be extremely difficult. You have to line it up, get approvals, get equipment, arrange to have PV's in the trip, publicize it, sell the trips, etc, etc, etc. All of this should have been started a long time ago.

There are plenty of folks here who've been there and done that. I'll let them speak to just how long the lead time on something like this typically is. I can assure you it's more than a year.

Another option, which may or may not be feasible in this timespan, would be a more traditional Amtrak charter. Either run to the station for the celebration, or hold trips from the station to some nearby destination and back with historians on board, commemorative booklets etc. Using a historically significant route, if possible, would be a nice touch.

Having a little insight into how these trips are organized, I would say 2 years in advance is a good time frame to get everything organized. Not to say it can't be done in less, especially if you have some experience from previous events.

To run passengers on BNSF, it pretty much requires the train run as an Amtrak Charter. That's how both of the Arizona trips in 2002 and 2012 were done, as well as the San Diego trips. Amtrak will be willing to do anything for money, but you need to have a good plan before you aproach them.

It's amazing all the little logistics which come into play on long distance trips - like overnight accomodations, handling luggage, food service, water and septic for the cars, crew training, taking ticket orders, etc.... Get a good core group of people together and meet regularly, assign tasks, and start making connections. SBRHS is a locomotive for hire and is easy to work with. Amtrak is difficult to get anything nailed down until the last minute. And recognize the fact that if the trip does not sell well (few long distance trips actually sell out), you may end up loosing money on the whole adventure.

Eric

While the thought of bringing AT&SF 4-8-4 #3751 to the Kansas City Union Station in 2014 is interesting, I wonder if a more logical and more doable option might be Santa Fe 4-6-2 #3415? She is located on the A&SV in Abilene, Kansas; pretty much a straight shot to K.C. Run her light and then run passenger excursions out of Union Station itself.

Another possibility is one of the Rock Island E-units, although I must admit that I have no idea as to how far along the restoration of E6 #630 and E8 #652 is coming along.

Les

Start out with a back-of-the-envelope figure of $250,000-$300,000. Probably more once you add the fees to deadhead cars both ways, PV car rentals, PV car crew costs, insurance,etc.

Then there is the problem of no more Denver Union Station with multiple tracks for anything other than light rail. As with the current "temporary" Amtrak station, neither Amtrak nor RTD will allow you to use their tracks for boarding. So you'll have to find a place to load and unload where people can park, etc.

The Feather River Route should not be too much of a problem, since BNSF has rights there, as well as all the way to Denver.

Forget running to Cheyenne on UP. They won't allow it, and BNSF does not have trackage or haulage rights on UP's DEN-CHY line. BNSF does, however, have it's own DEN-CHY line, but it is far more cicuitous, longer, and slower. If the object is to arrive in CHY in time for the rodeo parade,as UP does, you'd have to depart Denver around 5 AM or maybe even earlier.

It's physically doable, but it ain't gonna be cheap or easy. I agree with the previous posters in that you are just about out of time to plan such an event in time for 2014. Ask any experienced big trip operator how long they devote to planning and handling the thousands of details involved in a long (multi-day, thousands of miles) trip. And how much money and people they have to have up front in order to do anything.

I admire your idea, though.

John, I would concur that the 3415 is closer to KC and a much more realistic choice. Regarding, Cheyenne, that is UP territory all the way, and they will not allow any steam but their own on their tracks. Start by finding a sponsor in KC associated with the celebration, contact SBRHS, then try to get get BNSF's ear to see if it is a reasonable plan. I seem to recall a previous cross country voyage with 3751 via the Transcontinental got scrubbed due to mainline track capacity issues. Good luck. If you are serious, don't let anyone tell you NO but be smart about it as you put a plan together.

Rob Gardner