Passenger Trains > Grandluxe cars at CEECO

Three of the Grandluxe coaches are at CEECO. The Savanah, the Denver and the ???. Anyone know why.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

DelMonteX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Three of the Grandluxe coaches are at CEECO. The
> Savanah, the Denver and the ???. Anyone know why.


What is CEECO?

http://www.ceeco.com/

Mr. House, after reviewing the linked site, you will know as much about the concern as I do.

GBNorman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.ceeco.com/
>
> Mr. House, after reviewing the linked site, you
> will know as much about the concern as I do.


Thanks for the link--it was a big help. So many posts on TO.com are in code thse days, that it sometime helps to have a translation guide.

At least this one wasn't in teenaged text message talk--a medium I neither understand nor have the time or interest to learn!

thanks again.

Art House

Going in for Wheel Truing

aehouse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
What is CEECO?


CEECO is a railroad equipment repair agency. Started out to service short line painting needs when they bought locomotives, but they changed ownership a couple of years ago and now they do a lot of repair work in addition to painting. The lead locomotive on the Nisqually wreck is sitting there probably waiting for an assessment of repair costs versus replacement. Seems to be awfully busy most of the time. They stored the Reading 2100 there trying to get it to climb Tacoma Hill before last summers "short" season running to Frederickson and back.

That run is part of the Tacoma to Mt Rainier line the City of Tacoma has tried to get into service for a lot of years. In fact, Tacoma Rail has three or four passenger cars ready to go, but repair costs are just too high to get it certified for more than 10 MPH. The GrandLux train is operating as far as Eatonville and it appears they will be the best bet for getting the line fully operational. No one here can figure out what the attraction is in Eatonville, but they can't get through Elbe and on to Mineral, which would be a great ride because the bridge over the Nisqually River is undermined and will require major work. That has also made the tourist line out of Elbe a tourist line out of Mineral.

Sorry, didn't mean to be communicating in code. It's just that CEECO get's mentioned on this site a lot and it's can be a bit time consuming to explain it each time you ask a question.

Beside the point of the post was to get a question answered and I figured if someone knew the answer, they would also know what CEECO is.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

The train idea to Mt Rainier never was to go to Mineral in the first place. No idea where that surfaced. Ashford is the end of the line and closest to the West entrance to Mt Rainier. Either way passengers have to get off the train and get into rubber tired vehicles. If you were on the Grand Lux I doubt you are if a hurry to get anyplace, so whats the big deal on track speed.

FWIW.. the Grandluxe is doing this line as a trial. According to the Onboard Manager, because of the bridge outside of Eatonville *Boxcar Canyon aka, Marshall River Bridge* would not allow them to provide past Eatonville.

The original plan was to go clear out to Park Jct or Elbe. If and when the new resort is built, the GrandLuxe if the trial is proven, will stop at the resort there. According to the manager, he wished the line existed out to Ashford (the gates of Paradise)

Brian

> FWIW.. the Grandluxe is doing this line as a
> trial. According to the Onboard Manager, because
> of the bridge outside of Eatonville *Boxcar Canyon
> aka, Marshall River Bridge* would not allow them
> to provide past Eatonville.

That's right, they can't cross boxcar. It's not a matter of the bridge collapsing, it's an impaired side clearance on the bottom of the bridge. The bridge is a sort of through truss made of concrete, I think it was based on a logging bridge design. The concrete has sides that hold the ballast in place and also provide strength, so you can't just chop them off.

Freight cars fit through fine as do most locos, but long passenger cars with things like battery boxes and A/C units scrape on the concrete. The concrete always wins, and the damage can be severe. Those coaches have lots of things like low hanging battery boxes and water tanks etc.

Most of the Mt Rainier coaches can cross the bridge, but only because they've been modified to allow it. Some were modified in the shop, a few were "field modified" at the bridge. ("It almost fits" just isn't quite the same as "it fits".)

So, the "attraction" of Eatonville is the fact they can depart there with the coaches still intact. They'd prefer Park Jct or Ashford.