Colorado Railcar
| File:Colorado Railcar.gif | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railcar Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Fort Lupton, Colorado, USA |
Key people | Larry Salci, President/CEO[citation needed] |
| Products | Passenger Cars Diesel multiple unit |
| Website | ColoradoRailcar.com |
Colorado Railcar is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. It also manufactures diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both these products come in single- and double-level versions.
History
The company was first organized as Rader Railcar. Founded by Tom Rader, the company changed its name to Colorado Railcar in November 1997.
Rader and his company were featured in the PBS-aired documentary Dome Car Magic in 2006.
In 2008 it was announced that sometime in 2007 TriMet had had to directly pay Colorado Railcar's suppliers in order to financially support the company.[1]
Products
Colorado Railcar has two main product categories:
- Tourism Coaches
These cars are primarily marketed for "luxury day-tour trains, to trans-continental sleeper trains, dinner trains, business cars for Class I railroads". [2]
Models include the double deck Ultra Dome railcar, the single-level dome railcar, single and bilevel sleeping cars, entertainment cars, dining cars and custom cars. These cars are in use by American Orient Express, Holland America, Princess Tours, Alaska Railroad, Royal Caribbean and Rocky Mountaineer Railtours. The Ultra Dome cars are "glass-domed, bilevel cars 89 feet (27 m) long and 18 feet (5.5 m) high, and seat up to 88 passengers".[3]
The concept of a glass "dome car" was a product of luxury streamlining in the 1940s and 50's in the United States. The reintroduction of this styling for the 21st century by CR has proven popular thus far.
- Mass Transit DMUs
Colorado Railcar has designed two prototypes, one being bilevel, while the other is single level. The self propelled vehicles can pull two other coaches with their two 600 horsepower (450 kW) Detroit Diesel engines. The single level vehicles can carry up to 92 passengers, 188 for the bilevels. Colorado Railcar also offers non-powered single and bilevel commuter coaches that have a high level of parts commonality with the DMU offerings.
The Colorado Railcar DMU is a niche offering. It is targeted towards infant commuter rail operators with Light Rail-like passenger volumes who need to operate short trains without the infastructure and maintenance needs of coach cars and large diesel locomotives which are overkill for pulling the 2-3 car consists the railroads run. 1 DMU car can also pull one coach car in addition to itself. The DMU also has another advantage over rapid transit and light rail cars. When passenger trains run on active freight lines, FRA regulations dictate the use of heavy rolling stock by requiring passenger rolling stock to meet strict crash standards. This requires the cars to remain intact and not crumple at high speed collisions with near stationary heavy freight trains. This regulation prohibits the use of lighter, more advanced Japanese and European models and rapid transit and light rail rolling stock on the passenger railroad -- except in cases where right-of-way segregation has been implemented.
Florida Tri-Rail received a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to test the DMU vehicles. Contracted in 2003 and completed in 2005, a bi-level DMU demonstrator and matching bi-level coach entered regular revenue service with Tri-Rail in October, 2006. In mid 2007, Tri-Rail acquired three more bi-level DMUs and an additional bi-level non-powered coach. Now in daily revenue service, the two DMU consists have a passenger capability of roughly 560 passengers.
CorridorOne, Westside Express Service, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, Alaska Railroad and OnTrack have expressed interest in the DMU vehicles. Westside Express Service, the regional rail operation under development between the Portland, Ore. suburbs of Beaverton and Wilsonville, ordered three single-level DMUs and a cab-equipped trailer coach. It is scheduled to begin operations in early 2009.