Any news on operation of any of the 4-8-4's mentioned in earlier posts on this board: SP 4449, RDG 2100, SP&S 700?Wesley

The web site for the Golden Pacific RR states that the July 2nd 3rd and 4th trips have been cancelled, but the "Tacoma sight-seeing trips" are scheduled to begin on July 9th. As for the 4449, I know she is supposed to appear at the NRHS convention in Portland this coming week. I believe the 700 is also owned by the city of Portland but their site has no current schedule. I'm sure someone else with info will respond.

As for the 2100, go to www.gprr.com website and try to purchase a ticket. You are transferred to the Ticketmaster website, BUT, "tickets are not available" and generic explanations/possibilities are given.My advice: When you see the smoke in their eyes as they cross the border, then you should get interested. Until then, I'll be glad to hold your money until the urge goes away.

2100 is still in St. Thomas, but it had a fire in it with pressure on the boiler today. The time is getting close.

They have one week (plus four hours and ten minutes as of this writing) to be in place in Tacoma for the first scheduled trip. The Ticketmaster link was functional last night for the 9 and 10 July trips and while I will admit to being skeptical my fingers are crossed. There have certainly been a number of glitches but this does certainly appear to be an honest effort to present an historically significant piece of equipment in operation. I have my fingers crossed. K5 - I hope you will be able to let this board know when it moves. My Grandson will be grateful.GME

I was contacted by a car owner/broker regarding "riding shotgun" over some of the cars to be shipped west to be used on the Tacoma trips. The last I was officially told on that matter was that updated AEI tags were being applied and contracts faxed, etc. Since then, I have heard nothing, and I trust my client to keep me abreast of any potential movements. (Oh, and I told the agents that my fee was to include a ride behind 2100.)It could be that everything, passenger-car-wise, is on hold until 2100 moves under its own steam to the interchange track--which would make perfect sense. But the longer I wait, the more dubious I become.

I guess I don't understand a recent posting that the Ticketmaster link on the operator's website was operational for July 9 and 10 trips. For reference, I am posting the exact "paste" from the Ticketmaster site today (unchanged over the last week).Tickets are currently not available online for one of the following reasons. Please check back for availability. Tickets may not be on sale yet. Tickets may not be available at this time. More tickets may become available later. Tickets may not be available online just hours before an event occurs. On rare occasions, tickets may only be available at ticket outlets or the box office. With all of the questions and posts on this continuing topic, has anyone actually purchased tickets for these alleged trips? Better question: How many readers are seeking detailed information for the sole purpose of taking free photos? Best question for our readers: Why would any organization promote trips with specific dates and a specific locomotive and then use a sales link that has no tickets to sell? Connect the dots; what is the real purpose of these ads?

I sent their Trainmaster an e-mail about a week ago concerning when she was moving and where were they running...I assume he must be quite busy as I have not yet heard back from them. Kudos if they can pull it off on time. I do think it will be interesting that the Pacific Northwest will have the highest concentration of operable 4-8-4's in North America. It could make for some interesting railroading up there in the future.

Well, considering how many of e-mails they're probably getting every day asking the same thing, I can't say I'm shocked. I doubt I'd be repsonding to them either were it me handling the 2100. But running in Tacoma next weekend? My money is on no freaking chance. But I'd love to be wrong!

One set of our grandchildren has tickets ordered for later this month. I am not worried about the money because it is through American Express and Ticketmaster. Yesterday morning I went into Ticketmaster's site and was able to process an order for 9 July to the point where my card would be charged. I did the same thing this morning for 9 July and for the trip the kids are booked on. I got none of the generic answers either time. Ticketmaster will happily take your money, ergo the tickets are available.Whether the trips will happen or not is a whole different question. The engine is a month behind schedule. If I understood Brother Mitchell properly the cars will not be shipped until the engine is moving which is a reasonable economic decision.Will it happen? My crystal ball is in for maintenance. Golden Pacific is a business venture. 2100's owners are taking a risk. It may or may not be successful. I am still skeptical because of the delays however my fingers remain crossed.GMEFrom a time far away and a land long ago:"Every operation has a glitch and it will not be lonely."(Jerry MaderMaster SergeantUnited States Army RetiredFort Sill Oklahoma)

There's one other bit of practical cynicism to be applied to this situation.I know where some of the cars in question are. To put it bluntly, the cars would have to be "gathered" at one of the major freight yards in Chicago for shipment west as one cut, no matter which route they take.As far as I know, it's POSSIBLE that the cars could be shipped west on the tail of Amtrak's Empire Builder. If it should come down to that, it would make MY "job" a heck of a lot easier.Every time I've worked with these folks, however, the shipment has been as a block on regular freight trains of mixed merchandise. I haven't shipped via BNSF, but if my experiences with CSX and NS are any indication, these cars will take somewhere on the order of two weeks to get from Chicago to Tacoma as the cars sit still in yard after yard--and two weeks is actually sort of optimistic. (Part of what I get paid for is being a thorn in the sides of yardmasters and trainmasters, and making sure that the cars leave town on the fast trains and not the slow ones!)

I may receive 2 minutes for "piling on" but,If these alleged scheduled trips with a date as current as July 9 turn out to be inaccurate (or any other term you might choose), more experienced operators would only find it more difficult to run their trips.I can truly understand why any professional organization or group would be reluctant to make any announcements without having all of the i's dotted and the t's crossed (nor should they).

Going back to the thread which caused so much unneeded controversy a month or so ago...Quite a bit looked wrong at first blush. Most of it was fixed in due course. Unfortunately (and this may not be their fault entirely) Golden Pacific seems to have made what may be the greatest of the common mistakes made by any business venture and that is to have an overly optimistic operating plan.If the equipment is not moving yet I am afraid that they will not make 9 July.16 July is feasible but tight.GME

I was just in Tacoma yesterday, and drove around the city sightseeing for a while. I so no signs anywhere of any passenger equipment, any loading sites, any signs, or anything else that would lead me to think a large passenger operation was about to start in less than a week. I would say that starting operations this year would be optimistic.I think that schemes like this are bad for the whole industry. Does anyone else agree?Chris.

The web-site for Golden Pacific RR has noted today that the trips scheduled for July 9th and 10th have been cancelled and anyone ordering tickets for these would have their money refunded. It goes on to say that CN has scheduled to move the 2100 to Vancouver on July 12th, and BNSF to move it to Tacoma on the 13th. Service will start on July 16th, and the dinner trains in September. There is a notation that "Times and dates are subject to change without notice". And so it goes.