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60-514: The Grand Canyon Railway ( reporting mark GCRX ) is a heritage railroad which carries passengers between Williams, Arizona , and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park . The 64-mile (103 km) railroad, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , was completed on September 17, 1901. The arrival of trains led increased tourism to the area, and the railway company was instrumental in

120-674: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

180-652: A cab, such as on the Chicago & North Western Railway in the 1970s with some EMD E8 B-units bought from the Union Pacific . The homebuilt cabs were referred to as "Crandall Cabs". Also, the Santa Fe rebuilt four of its five GP7Bs to GP9us with cabs. In the Illinois Central Gulf 's GP11 rebuild program, some of the engines used were ex-UP GP9Bs, and in their SD20 program, some ex-UP SD24Bs were also used. BNSF converted

240-488: A corresponding A-unit (for example, ALCO DL-202 and DL-203 for A- and B-units respectively), later the model name was usually indicated by the letter B at the end or in the middle of a model. The only exception is the DD35, which was initially created as B-unit before a similar A-unit with a cabin, called DD35A, appeared. At the same time, shunting cow–calf diesel locomotives with semi-permanently coupled A- and B-unit were considered

300-553: A couple originally from Nebraska, had made their fortune in crop dusting through Biegert Aviation, founded in 1947, which had a large federal government contract for its B-17 and later C-54 fleet. After leaving the crop-dusting business, they operated a for-profit day care business in Houston, Texas , which became the Children's World Learning Center and is now part of KinderCare Learning Centers . The Biegerts never intended to get into

360-543: A former ATSF GP60B #370 into a cab unit and was renumbered to #170 in 2010. This unit was later renumbered as BNSF 200 in 2014. In rare instances, a B-unit will run at the front of a train. That is usually avoided because it limits visibility from the locomotive cab, but locomotive orientation and operational requirements may dictate that the B-unit runs first. A prominent example is the Haysi Railroad , which owned an F7B that

420-461: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

480-475: A mock train robbery during the return trip from the Grand Canyon to Williams. The Grand Canyon Railway offers at least one daily round trip of its Williams Flyer train between Williams and the Grand Canyon every day except on Christmas Day, December 25. During peak demand periods a second train departure is added. During the winter season (November – January), the line runs The Polar Express from Williams to

540-502: A number: letters «А» and «Б» («A» and «B») are given to two A-units, and letters «В» and «Г» («V» and «G», third and fourth letters in Russian alphabet) are given to B-units in the middle. The only exception are electric locomotives 2ES10, B-units of which received separate numbering and the «2ЭС10С» (2ES10S) type designation. In the factory documentation, the three-unit version of these locomotives often called as 3ES10, however, this designation

600-552: A possible theme park background, which would ensure that the railroad, hotels, RV park, restaurants (and a possible new amusement park in Williams) would continue to be operated as one entity. On September 21, 2006, it was announced that Xanterra Travel Collection , submitted the winning bid (for an undisclosed sum) and was selected as the new owner for the Grand Canyon Railway. Xanterra is the corporate name and identity for what

660-685: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

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720-552: A single locomotive, so a common designation for both units were used. The New York City Revenue cars 66 and 67 were R8A units which were B-units also. Diesel locomotives: Gas turbine locomotives: In the USSR and later Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries, unlike the US, B-units don't have their own numbers and model designations, because they operate in a semi-fixed formations with two A-units and so considered as parts of

780-532: A single multi-unit locomotive with A-B-A or A-B-B-A configuration respectively. Most of these locomotives work on BAM rail line, located on Russian Far East . Many other Russian locomotives function as semi-permanently coupled three or four unit sets. A prefix number with the total number of units is indicated in the model name before the main designation: «2» was used for two-unit A-A locomotives, «3» — for three-unit A-B-A locomotives and «4» — for four-unit A-B-B-A locomotives. Each unit has an additional letter after

840-434: Is largely confined to North America and post-Soviet countries. Elsewhere, locomotives without driving cabs are rare. A B-unit is distinct from a slug unit, which only has traction motors and in certain instances may have a cab. The term primarily is applied to freight locomotives, but can be applied to passenger multiple units as well in some cases for when motor cars are put in the middle of trains. In practice however,

900-490: Is not used in practice. At the same time, the designation system of industrial quarry electric and electro-diesel locomotives is different. The number initially indicated the number of motorized dump cars or slugs , and the letter A or T indicated the presence of a diesel generator B-unit, but subsequently the numbers and letters lost their original meaning. Diesel locomotives: B–units of these locomotives have reduced set of driving controls, intended for service movement of

960-448: Is removed. The degree to which this equipment is removed depends on the railroad, but may (and usually does) include the removal of the speedometer, event recorder, horn, headlights, toilet, and cab heaters. This conversion was sometimes performed when the A-unit had been in a collision and rebuilding the cab was not cost-effective. In some rare instances, B-units were converted to incorporate

1020-617: The Southern Pacific , Union Pacific , Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe . Santa Fe ordered the GP60B model in 1991, which were the final B-units built for road service in North America as of 2005. In some cases, a B-unit is converted from an already existing A-unit. The cab is either removed or has its windows blanked out (such as on CSX GE BQ23-7 units), and all non-essential equipment

1080-463: The 'North Pole', a station about 17 miles (30 km) north of town. In 2008, this winter service carried about 78,000 passengers. The route included stops at Quivero, Valle , Willaha, and Coconino stations. The entire Grand Canyon Railway has been added to the National Register of Historic Places for being associated with events that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of

1140-504: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

1200-575: The Canyon Rim. El Tovar opened its doors in January 1905 Competition with the automobile forced the Santa Fe to cease operation of the Grand Canyon Railway in July 1968 (only three passengers were on the last run), although Santa Fe continued to use the tracks for freight until 1974. Plans by entertainer Arthur Godfrey to resume service in 1977 fell through. In addition, two other companies attempted to resurrect

1260-585: The GCR, whether its for special events like Santa Fe 3751 or modern units from Amtrak , or just for temporary storage, like Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway No. 4, or the Arizona State Railroad Museum 's locomotive collection. The railroad carries hundreds of passengers to and from the canyon every day, totaling about 225,000 people per year. The restored Santa Fe Railway Station in Williams serves as

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1320-470: The Grand Canyon Railway added to its fleet of diesel locomotives, purchasing two additional F40PH units from New Jersey Transit . As of 2021, the Grand Canyon Railway only has two steam locomotives left in their roster. In 2019, the GCR purchased three Ex- Rio Grande business cars, and since then, the GCR used them exclusively for private charter service, with the option of being pulled by steam or diesel. There are also other locomotives that occasionally visit

1380-422: The Grand Canyon Railway on September 19, 2009. Xanterra converted the steam locomotives to operate using waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants across Northern Arizona and installed a rainwater collection system on the maintenance building to fill boilers when available. Since 2011, special occasion trips, and at least one roundtrip per month during the summer is operated using a steam locomotive. In 2017,

1440-408: The Grand Canyon Railway purchased three late-1970s F40PH locomotives from Amtrak and placed them into service in 2004. In March 2006, owners Max and Thelma Biegert announced to the media that they were placing the railroad and its associated restaurants, hotels and amenities up for sale. The combined properties had an annual revenue of nearly $ 40 million. The Biegerts sought a new buyer/operator with

1500-590: The Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

1560-468: The South Rim. The first scheduled train to carry paying passengers of the Grand Canyon Railway arrived from Williams on September 17 of that year. The 64-mile (103-kilometer) long trip cost $ 3.95, and naturalist John Muir later commended the railroad for its limited environmental impact. To accommodate travelers, the Santa Fe designed and built the El Tovar Hotel , located just 20 feet (6.1 meters) from

1620-657: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

1680-531: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

1740-545: The creation of the Grand Canyon Village to serve guests. Declining ridership due to the increasing usage of the automobile led the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to cease passenger service of the Grand Canyon Railway in July 1968 and freight service on the line ended in 1974. Private investors purchased the line in 1988, restored the facilities, and started running passenger trains again on September 17, 1989. Today,

1800-418: The engineer would have to get from one locomotive to the other with every direction change. In 1975, the railway company, seeking a solution for this problem, decided to adapt part of their Type 82 fleet. For testing purposes, 8275 had most of its cab removed, including the windows, the doors and the roof. The basic controls were left in place, covered by a removable metal plate, so it would be possible to control

1860-407: The fact that a B-unit was slightly cheaper. With no driving cab, B-units lack windshields, crew seats, radios, heating, and air conditioning. There would also be no toilets, which were usually found in the short hood of an A-unit. Additionally, at first, railroads bought multiple-unit diesel locomotives as one-for-one replacements for steam locomotives; as a result, railroads could not take advantage of

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1920-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

1980-478: The fleet of steam locomotives and allowed the railway to grow into a year-round operation. In 1996, the railway boosted their steam roster by rebuilding a 2-8-2 mikado ; former Chicago Burlington and Quincy 4960 , a locomotive with a long history of excursion service. The ALCO FA locomotives lacked the features found in more modern units, such as increased horsepower and dynamic brakes . Therefore, in February 2003,

2040-412: The flexibility afforded by interchangeable units, which could be assembled into any required power output. When a three- or four-unit locomotive was considered an indivisible unit, there was no point in the intermediate units having cabs. A further advantage was that as B-units had no controls, unions were unable to insist that each unit be staffed. Finally, B-units gave a smoother, streamlined appearance to

2100-600: The history of the United States. In the nomination to the register, the railroad was credited with, "Opening up of a large area north of Williams, the building of the Grand Canyon National Park facilities at the south rim, establishment of a solid tourist trade in the American Southwest, support of cattle and sheep ranching, copper and uranium mining, lumber industries, and the building of a sub culture around

2160-519: The home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of

2220-487: The line in 1980 and 1984, with each attempt helping to maintain interest in preserving the line and saving it from scrapping. In 1988, the line was bought by Max and Thelma Biegert. The railway was restored and in 1989 began operations as a separate company, independent of the Santa Fe. The first run of the restored railroad was on September 17, 1989, commemorating the September 17 debut of the original railroad. The Biegerts,

2280-480: The locomotive on its own in case of emergency. With the cab removed, the engineer could see over the B–unit, so getting from one locomotive to the other was no longer necessary. After extensive testing proved that the adaptions were unsuccessful, it was decided that no other units would be converted. However, 8275 was never converted back and served as Belgium's only B–unit, mostly in the port of Antwerp, until 2001, when it

2340-430: The locomotive. Electric locomotives: Industrial electro-diesel locomotives: NMBS/SNCB , the national railway company of Belgium used to operate one locomotive which could be considered a B–unit. Originally a regular Type 82 shunting locomotive, locomotive 8275 had the top half of its control cab removed. Type 82 locomotives were mostly used in pairs for shunting heavy freight trains. Because of visibility issues,

2400-415: The mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating

2460-508: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

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2520-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

2580-611: The passengers would then take the rail line. The first locomotives the railway acquired were a pair of EMD GP7u units from the Santa Fe, as well as four 2-8-0 consolidation steam locomotives formerly operated by the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad . In the early 1990s, the Grand Canyon Railway purchased a fleet of 1950s-era ALCO FA Diesel-electric locomotives , featuring an iconic "snub nose" design. The fleet consisted of two cab-equipped lead A unit models and two cabless booster B unit models. The new locomotives supplemented

2640-489: The peak travel season (March through October). The Grand Canyon Railway's fleet of historic ALCO FA diesel locomotives also see occasional use. Passengers ride to and from the Grand Canyon in 1950s era climate-controlled coaches. During the peak travel season, 1920s era Pullman Harriman style coaches with open windows are also available. The railroad adds to the Old West experience by having actors dressed as bandits stage

2700-468: The press release, the railway and Xanterra reported over 225,000 passengers and over $ 38 million in revenue in calendar year 2005. The purchase of the GCR included all of the railway's assets, depots, hotels, RV park, rolling stock, shops and the land on which the 65-mile (105 km) line operates over. Steam locomotive operations on the Grand Canyon Railway were suspended in September 2008. Xanterra cited extra diesel fuel costs and environmental concerns as

2760-450: The rail business. They had loaned money secured by the tracks to another person for the rail line. When they defaulted the Biegerts took over the line. In conjunction with the startup, the Biegerts were principal investors in the short-lived Farwest Airlines, an air taxi service operating a DHC Dash 7 that was intended to bring tourists from California, Las Vegas and Phoenix to Flagstaff where

2820-404: The railroad carries hundreds of passengers to and from the canyon every day and operates year-round. The entire Grand Canyon Railway has been added to the National Register of Historic Places , recognizing the contribution the train has made to the history of the United States. In 1901, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway completed a branch line from Williams to Grand Canyon Village at

2880-518: The railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example, the TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example,

2940-628: The railroad that continues to this day." The Grand Canyon Depot was added to the register on September 6, 1974, while the Williams Depot and the rest of the railroad between Williams and the Grand Canyon National Park was added as a Historic District on August 23, 2000. The Grand Canyon Depot was also designated as a National Historic Landmark on May 28, 1987, for its outstanding historical significance. [REDACTED] National Register of Historic Places portal [REDACTED] Trains portal Reporting mark In North America ,

3000-471: The railways and registered with the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . B unit A B-unit , in railroad terminology , is a locomotive unit (generally a diesel locomotive ) which does not have a control cab or crew compartment, and must therefore be operated in tandem with another coupled locomotive with a cab (an A-unit ). The terms booster unit and cabless are also used. The concept

3060-727: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

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3120-423: The reason for the decision, pointing out that each roundtrip of a steam locomotive consumed 1,450 gallons of diesel fuel (compared to the 550 gallons used by a diesel-electric locomotive) and 1,200 gallons of water. Industry experts said that ridership losses due to the late 2000s recession and rising fuel prices due to the 2000s energy crisis likely contributed to the decision. Steam locomotives would return to

3180-624: The reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses the reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns

3240-473: The right side only for the control station. Other models used existing windows. These controls enable a hostler to move the B-unit locomotive by itself in a yard or shops. B-units without controls are generally semi-permanently coupled to controlling units. Sometimes, there is a terminology distinction between the types: a 'booster' is a B-unit with hostler controls, and a 'slave' is a B-unit without hostler controls. The reasons railroads ordered B-units included

3300-590: The southern terminus for the Grand Canyon Railway and the Grand Canyon Depot , owned by the National Park Service, is the northern terminus for passengers of the line. Most trains are pulled by the Railway's fleet of F40PH diesel locomotives. They were regeared to run at freight locomotive speeds and have been redesignated as F40FH. Steam locomotives pull trains on special holidays and the first Saturday of

3360-485: The term is rarely used to describe multiple unit trains, and in many circumstances the non-cab cars are directly or indirectly permanently attached to a cab car. Some B-units cannot be moved without a controlling unit attached, but most have some simple controls inside, and often a side window at that control station. For example, B-unit versions of the EMD FT with conventional couplers had a fifth porthole-style window added on

3420-498: The train for passenger service. B-units were commonly built in the cab unit days in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. When hood unit road switchers became the common kind of diesel locomotive, some B-units were built, but many railroads soon came to the opinion that the lower cost of a B-unit did not offset the lack of operational flexibility. Few B-units have been built in the last 40 years. Railroads that kept ordering B-units longer than most were largely Western roads, including

3480-559: Was given radio controls and a makeshift cab. These are all known B-unit models, with discrepancies settled by the later (Marre) reference. At least one of each model was manufactured. All units below contain one or more engines and traction motors, so slugs and snails are not listed. In the US, B-units of mainline diesel locomotives usually had their own model designation and received their individual numbers as independent locomotive units, not tied to any A-units. The first B-units usually used next or previous model number to model number of

3540-564: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

3600-491: Was originally known as the Fred Harvey Company , a company with restaurant, hotel and service ties to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway as far back as 1876. Xanterra said that it intended to keep all 480 of the railway's current employees, and planned to focus on growing the business and increasing the coordination between the railway and Xanterra's other services in the Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim. In

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