WILLIAMS, Ariz. — Winter hibernation for Grand Canyon Railway No. 4960 concluded on March 2 as the 2-8-2 headed the first excursion of the railway’s 2024 steam season, between Williams and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Off-season work since the end of the 2023 schedule included, as previously reported [See “Grand Canyon Railway No. 4960 concludes 2023 steam schedule,” News Wire, Oct. 11, 2023]:
- Normal annual maintenance
- Adjusting the buffer between the locomotive and tender
- Rebuilding the power reverse
Grand Canyon Railway chief mechanical officer Eric Hadder says all tasks were completed, in addition to a repaired water leak on the tender. Saturday’s trip with No. 4960, while leading F40 diesel No. 4128 as a helper and 13 passenger cars, yielded exceptional results from the work done over the winter. “There were no major anomalies noted, and our repairs to the power reverse and buffer proved to be satisfactory,” said Hadder.
Meanwhile, stablemate 2-8-0 No. 29 continues to undergo its federally mandated 1,472-day inspection on the boiler. The second steam locomotive of the Grand Canyon fleet has been out of service since 2019. “No. 29 has had the flues removed and the flexible staybolt caps removed and inspected,” Hadder said. “Work will continue on constructing a new throttle, and the ultrasound inspection of the boiler.”
With No. 4960 continuing to solo during the steam season (the next operation is scheduled on April 6), Hadder and his team will also continue the training of additional engine crew as he reports the recent retirement of a long-time fireman. “That leaves us very shorthanded for steam crews.
“We currently have three main people to operate No. 4960 over the road, with another training to become a fireman. It takes about a year to train a new fireman, and another year to train a fireman into an engineer.”
For more information, visit the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel website. The “Steam Saturdays” schedule is available here.
