News Archive: 4th quarter 2004

Nov. 29 — Rocky Mountaineer and Colorado Railcar have announced the order of one new Grand View DMU and two DMU coaches, in a new touring configuration that will include a 30 inch storage compartment underneath the passenger seating area. According to Rocky Mountaineer and a press release issued by CRM last week, the DMU will be used on the new Fraser Discovery train, while the two coaches will be used on the Whistler Mountianeer.

There are still many details to be revealed about CRM's second DMU order. Details can be followed by checking the individual roster pages for the Grand View DMU, and each of the two Grand View coaches (1, 2). Those cars have also been added to the dome roster page, and the DMU roster page.

Nov. 9 — Tom Janaky provided several updates regarding the status of the new double decker DMU and its coach, as well as several other projoects at CRM.

First of all, the prototype DMU, CRMX 2002, has been painted into its new Tri-Rail livery. Also, the double decker DMU was recently painted, and the double decker coach is in the paint booth presently.

Also, Alaska Railroad 651 and 652 have been painted. I don't have any photos to share of any of the cars yet, but am hoping for some soon. Tom did say that he was excited about the Alaska Railroad cars and their upper level observation platform.

Nov. 8 — Thanks to the Kamloops Heritage Railroad for providing two additional photos of Rocky Mountaineer 9501 behind steam power. The photos have been added to the RMR Steam feature.

Nov. 6 — I have had several requests for a roster of CRM cars sorted by owner rather than construction date, so I have added a second roster page that meets that criteria. Also, several more pages have received minor updates and styling changes.

Nov. 1 — With the DMU rapidly gaining importance in CRM's future, I have shifted my focus toward it to afford more comprehensive coverage. As such, I am unveiling the framework for the new DMU Section on the site. There are many more additions to be made, so please check back frequently as I work on expanding that portion of the site.

Oct. 31 — Happy Halloween. Far from being happy with the photo page, which I thought was a little boring, I added thumbnails for each of the features, which I hope will make the page a little more interesting. I'm also closing out the most active month I've spent on the site with several minor styling updates either posted or coming soon. Enjoy!

Oct. 30 — Silly me. As promised on Oct. 1, I created a photo look at the four Princess Tours cars that are headed to CRM for refurbishing over the winter. Just one problem: I forgot to actually upload it and let everyone know. So, in all of its glory, here is my look at Princess Tours' 7080-7083.

But it gets worse. Last year, I created a page of other cars that Colorado Railcar had built or refurbished over the years, and even upoloaded all of the images. Too bad I neglected to actually create any links to it. So let me introduce at long last my least-visited page: CRM's Other Cars. Enjoy!

Oct. 18 — About a year too late, I finally have a clue that the news section is getting too large, so I have divided up the older news into quarterly archives which can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

Oct. 13 — I now have confirmation of the numbers for Alaska Railroad's new domes. The car I referred to as D1 will be ARR 651, while the D2 will be ARR 652.

Oct. 12 — Corrected the dimensions on the DMU prototype to reflect the proper height, which was originally listed a foot too short. Sorry.

Oct. 9 — Updated dimensions to reflect the actual height of the following cars: HALX 1050, 1051, 1052, 1053, 1054, 1055, 1056, 1057, ARR D1, D2. Also updated colors throughout.

Oct. 8 — According to a press release issued today by North Carolina's Triangle Transit Authority, Colorado Railcar may be supplying the drive systems for 32 DMUs that will begin service in 2008. The complete text of the release can be downloaded from this link, which also contains a link to an artist's rendering of the completed DMUs. All of the information is in Adobe PDF format.

According to the release, the TTA financial committe is recommending that the board award the $90.1 million contract to a company called United Transit Systems, a consortium of Japanese-held company Sojitz Corporation of America and Rotem Company of South Korea. The car shells will be built by Rotem in South Korea, then shipped to Philadelphia for final assembly. Using the CRM propulsion systems will help the transit company meet the Federal Transit Administration's 60 percent "Buy America" requirements.

A news item on the Railway Age website says that the bid was selected over bids of $116 million by Sumimoto and 136 million by Siemens.

The cars are being purchased to operate on a planned 28 mile, 12 stop system to run between Durham and Raleigh, NC beginning in 2008. The contract is for a minimum of 24 units, with an option for eight more. Final decision on the recommendation will be made at TTA's regular board meeting on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m..

Also, a note that the barge carrying Princess Tours' 7082 and 7083 to Seattle was delayed by severe weather in Prince William Sound, and won't be arriving until next Thursday.

Oct. 7 — Been wondering who the purchaser of the two "To Be Announced" domes will be? Wonder no longer. I am pleased to announce the construction of Holland America's two newest cars, HALX 1058 and 1059.

The cars will be a slight departure from the previous eight, which run in pairs and share a kitchen. The new cars are designed to run alone, augmenting the other cars during peak seasons. The cars are expected to be delivered next April.

Oct. 1 — I traveled to Seattle yesterday to take a look at the first two Princess cars to arrive for refitting, MSEX 7080 and 7081. And, thanks to John Crews of Princess Tours, I was able to get enough information together to complete the roster pages for all 10 cars in the fleet. Start at the main Roster Page to begin exploring those updates.

Two more cars, MSEX 7082 and 7083 should have been loaded on the barge in Whitier, AK today, and are expected to arrive in Seattle on Oct. 8.

A more complete look at the cars — including details of their refitting — will be added tomorrow.