Grand Canyon Railway - steam is back!

[nkp_174]

Are you saying they ride behind the diesels by choice or is that based off of operating logisitics?

I think they let the steam engine pull some trains out of town, and then hook the diesels up for the rest of the trip. I think they still run special steam trains over the whole line a few times a year. I've never ridden this line - this is only what I read elsewhere. I'd bet that 90% of the passengers don't know the difference between steam and diesel, anyway.

The White Pass operates "steam trains" as specials...once per day May 5-Sept 24. It is a shorter run than the diesel powered trains.

Having grown up with a father who restored mainline passenger cars and co-founded a group which restored and operates a mainline excursion steam locomotive (the only 4-wheel trailing truck currently operational east of Cheyenne), I can assure you that most promoters will use diesels if they can sell out their trips without steam. Sometimes, steam is the draw, other times it isn't. The repatriating of WP&Y #69 seems to imply that the demand on the White Pass is a mix...steam benefits sales, but most of the business is based on the scenery.