WILLIAMS, Ariz. — The Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel provided an Earth Day celebration with some steam added to the mix in the form of their 2-8-2 No. 4960. The former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad steam locomotive, with assistance from F40 diesel No. 4128, pulled the railway’s round-trip excursion train from Williams to the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park on April 22.
“No. 4960 did well,” said Eric Hadder, Chief Mechanical Officer of Grand Canyon Railway. “The train was 14 cars with about 700 people, and over 1,300 tons of total train weight.”
No. 4960 was built in 1923 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the ex-CB&Q. In the late 1950s, it was selected to pull “fan trip” trains on the railroad until the end of the steam excursion program in 1966. Purchased by Grand Canyon Railway in 1989, the locomotive has been in active service since 1996 after undergoing an extensive rebuild and being converted to burn oil.
Over the years, No. 4960 has received multiple modifications to make it both economically efficient and environmentally friendly. According to last week’s post on the GCRY Facebook page, the railway “harvested enough snow melt from winter to cover the entire 2023 Steam Season.” The post also states that 12,000 gallons of water and 1,200 gallons of Waste Vegetable Oil are used per trip.
The next steam-powered excursion between Williams and Grand Canyon will be on May 6. This is part of Grand Canyon Railway’s steam schedule of operating the first Saturday of each month along with additional dates for special occasions. No. 4960, which turns 100 this year, is slated to pull the train that day. According to Hadder, the standard lubrication and inspection will be performed on the locomotive with no major repairs needed.
For more information, visit the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel website.
Don’t get me wrong I love trains, especially all the preservation efforts, but firing up an oil burning steamer and a diesel locomotive under the guise of Earth Day seems counter-intuitive.