Thanks, Alexander.

I just discovered that the original link works fine on the computer. On Safari.

Before now, I had only tried it on my phone. On the phone, the link kicks me into the FB app, and it's there that I get the court show clip.

I was not online last week and didn't see this thread until today, amazingly I just happened to look back far enough in time! Most of the questions have been answered by others, but it would be appropriate for me to chime in and keep everything accurate...

Back in 2004, we were running a steam train to the Canyon each day during the summer. The water supply at the Canyon is precarious as is, and there is not enough extra for GCR steam operations. The RR established tank cars with MU pass through so they could run additional water in the regular passenger trains. Tank cars would last 2 or 3 days, and could either be set out at the Canyon for empty return on a later trip, or oftentimes pumped across to a stored car at the Canyon and return empty the same day.

The diesels in 2004 were MLW (ALCO) FPA-4's and FPB-4's. The diesels were indeed needed for extra horsepower on the steep grades. An MU box in the steam cab controlled the diesels. It was preferable to use the B units most days, as the lack of a cab helped them camouflage with the rest of the train, and also left the A units available as emergency backup.

Todays operation has the steamers running about once a month, on the first Saturday of each month from March through October. A few additional days get scattered in for special events. You can check the website http://www.thetrain.com for the complete schedule.

Our first F-40 came on line late in 2004, and now are the primary power on passenger trains. An F-40 will be used as the helper behind most steam trains. We built a new MU box last year (photo attached) that allows control of the dynamic brakes on the trailing diesels. The brains of the box are a PLC computer, which eliminates many of the relays previously employed. The MU box is mounted on the Engineers side of the cab, next to the brake stand. 27 pin MU cables connect from the Steam Engine to the Diesels, using the same technology that conventional diesels do when MU'd together. Air brake lines also connect between the locomotives to control the engine brakes separately from the train brakes. We also no longer run tank cars in the regular passenger train, but instead ferry them to the Canyon in special moves.

Eric Hadder
CMO - Grand Canyon Railway

Eric that looks impressive! It looks to be a far cry from the "diesel in a box" I remember seeing previously. Was this all developed in house, or did you build it to existing specifications?

Zak,

The base plans were acquired during a Heritage Rail Conference years ago, but we added our own modifications (like the PLC). The design of the box itself is all us.