Steam & Excursion > Mt. Rainier Railroad

Well, this sucks. Can't seem to get the link to post, but it's being reported that the Mt. Rainier RR has closed indefinitely.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/20 19:45 by A-1.

Appears to be a bit more serious than that. 

Edit, RYPN board has this text of a letter sent to business partners:

From American Heritage Management Re: Mt Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum
May 18, 2020

To: The partners and contractors of Mt Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum

Subject: Termination of All Operations

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

American Heritage Railways Inc. has decided to permanently cease operations and close Mt. Rainier Railroad for the foreseeable future. Due to the pandemic COVID-19 and the complications with the WFIM not-for profit, American Heritage Railways Inc. can no longer continue to fund MRRR. MRR and AHR management teams will immediately implement a plan to close the railroad in as orderly manner as possible. As such, we will be closing the doors and canceling all future events and train excursions for the foreseeable future, expected to remain through and beyond the end of the year.

We have contacted our staff and have begun reaching out to Business partners, groups, vendors, partners, and contractors. We will be terminating all marketing, web, advertising, and other vendor support for this location effective immediately. We are currently working on a communications plan and will be focused on messaging our current and future customers directly. Refunds for existing riders are began May 187, 2020, and the closure of all reservations online and by phone started Friday May 15, 2020.

We truly appreciate the hard work, effort, and support everyone has put into Mt. Rainier over the last three years. From John and Al Harper, “It is with great regret and sorrow that this must happen. Each one of you have done your best to make Mt. Rainier Railroad prosper and delight our customers. It just seems we could not overcome all the surmounting roadblocks.”

On behalf of Mt. Rainier Railroad, we wish you well and hope that our paths will meet again in the future.

Sincerely Yours,
American Heritage Management Team

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/20 19:52 by JDLX.

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Sad when they can't even spell "Rainier" correctly....

VERY sad......a great loss.    Arlen

asheldrake Wrote:
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> VERY sad......a great loss.    Arlen

I agree with Arlen..a real shame.. .. .probably the first to fall due to the Covid-19 situation but unfortunately probably not the last  

With half of the normal ooperatinh season gone it will be hard for some operations to keep their doors open once everyone gets the green light

Dick Samuels



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/20 22:28 by EMDSW-1.

As with most announcements of this kind, there is more to the back story than is revealed here.  That will develop more over time.

For now, It is sad to see this happen to the vision that my late friend Tom Murray had when he started MRSR with Jack Anderson back in 1980.

Martin

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         I believe in this case, the lack of an 'e' in the name of the railroad will be forever forgiven since the business could very well be disappearing, never to return. I certainly won't complain about that minor glitch in typing. We are losing a big part of our interest, hobby and/or some peoples jobs which is much more important.

Even before COVID-19 I got the feeling this operation was close to shutting down permanently.  When Durango and Silverton was having its fires a couple of years ago they temporarily shut Mount Rainer because they had cash flow problems.  How about the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad that American Heritage also owns? Is that also in danger of permanently shuttering?

Tourist railroads tend to attract a senior citizen audience and until there is a vaccine these customers will stay away.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Todd is absolutely correct. Until there is a wide spread available proven vaccine the vast majority of seniors ( and others with under lying health issues) are likely to not want to risk participating in public events with strangers. 

  If you listen to the credible health pros ( not the happy talk out of POTUS) it will be until mid 2021 at the earliest that a proven, mass dose vaccine will be available and that's if everything goes well without any glitches.

   Time will tell.  Ross Rowland 

Echoing what both Todd and Ross have posted...the railroad had viability problems prior to Covid-19, such relying on an open D&S for part of their funding. The health crisis simply placed the final nail into the coffin.

Sadly in a “thinning of the herd process”, additional tourist railroad operations will follow, particularly those working on a shoestring budget. Perhaps, the remaining tourist organizations will be stronger and more viable.

I am furloughed from a regional history museum that relies heavily on event rentals and elementary school programming for revenue. It will be a long time, if ever, before adequate revenue will return to support the prior staffing. Welcome to the new reality.

JDLX Wrote:
> vendors, partners, and contractors. We will be
> terminating all marketing, web, advertising, and
> other vendor support for this location effective
> immediately.

They had marketing and advertising?  Really?  I live in Tacoma, and I have not seen any advertising for MRSRR for a few years. No wonder they were having difficulty.  They were probably quite dependent on visitors to the national park driving past.  As of today, the park entrance is closed, with no reopening date set.

Todd asked how the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in western North Carolina was doing, also an American Heritage Railway.  It is located near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and a busy tourist area, and I think it has been doing OK until the present situation developed.  They operate The Polar Express train rides.  If anyone has other information to add it would be appreciated.

Jim

Ross can keep his dislike for President Trump to himself and we will have a vaccine by years end. The Covid 19 situation is truly unfortunate and
I hope it opens people's eyes to the folly of trusting China.  It is very difficult for a tourist operation to build a cash reserve to survive this sort of event
and it points to the need to diversify the revenue base beyond just ridership, The equipment at Mt. Rainier is a treasure and the one hope would be
that a better operator could be found and it remains intact. My opinions, you're welcome to yours.

Out 

Hopefully somebody can bring that route back in operation someday, it's a tremendously scenic area with Mt Ranier and the Cascades nearby. The steam collection was just a great touch, hopefully that collection can be maintained somehow, I'm sure someone in particular has already been working on that.

I did spot a tank steam engine on a large over-size multi-axle flatbed at the southbound truck scales on I-5 last week, well maintained with a catchy name on the side.

Agree it's not the place for that level of politics on this topic. They have enough trouble with local worries.

TCnR Wrote:
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> I did spot a tank steam engine on a large
> over-size multi-axle flatbed at the southbound
> truck scales on I-5 last week, well maintained
> with a catchy name on the side.

That was a privately owned engine being moved from storage in Washington State to a new location in California where it will operate.

Posted from iPhone

some good news!!
Thanks.

The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic had a triple whammy. First their regular season has been cut short with opening (maybe) on June 13 with one train every other day from Chama and Antonito then a daily train beginning in mid-September. Second, they have all manner of 50th anniversary events planned with most in August. And third, they were awarded a considerable amount of state money for engine work, track work and new cars. This was from money from the state's oil boom which has now all gone bust.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/20 14:40 by Cumbresfan.

New Mexico's contribution next year most likely will be an IOU.

Out 

Happier days on the railroad.  Here's Jim Gertz' saved and donated Willamette geared locomotive Rayonier #2 charging spiritedly up through the Mineral Yard on December 19, 2009 under the control of the late JB McCallum.  I fired for JB many times over the years; he was a fun guy to be around.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/20 04:38 by Jim700.

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Jim700 Wrote:
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> Happier days on the railroad.  Here's Jim Gertz'
> saved and donated Willamette geared locomotive
> Rayonier #2 charging spiritedly up through the
> Mineral Yard on December 19, 2009 under the
> control of the late JB McCallum.  I fired for JB
> many times over the years; he was a fun guy to be
> around.

What's the story behind that tender you see put the window at about 17 seconds into the video?

Posted from Android