SRI's North Pole Express - 2023

[LansingRailFan]

I received this electronic mail correspondence the other day and thought I should pass it along:

Hello Friends of the Steam Railroading Institute –

The moment you have been waiting for is about to arrive! We are pleased to announce that tickets for the 2023 North Pole Express will be available for you to purchase beginning at 12:00 noon, Tuesday, July 25th, Happy Christmas in July!

Detailed descriptions, pricing, and frequently asked questions regarding our North Pole Express trips can be found on our website https://michigansteamtrain.com/north-pole-express/ . We encourage you to review the information on the website now and decide on your travel dates and level of service, prior to beginning the purchasing process on Tuesday. The “Book Now” ticketing link on that webpage will be open on Tuesday, July 25th, at 12:00 noon.

Motive Power and Pere Marquette 1225: Because of the hard work of our Staff and Volunteers, this year's North Pole Express is scheduled for steam power, and 1225's running gear rebuild is scheduled to be finished in time for North Pole Express! However, as always, SRI reserves the right to substitute power if we are unable to use 1225 due to unforseen circumstances.

New for 2023: Private Holiday Party in the Parlour Car! We are excited to be offering a First Class Pere Marquette Parlour Car for your company or family! Perfect for a business holiday party or a large family gathering. Generally, this car is sold as an adult-only car with individual seats, but for a limited time before regular ticket sales open, we are excited to offer this entire lounge car at $5000 for your party of up to 36 guests in upper-level seating (additional stairs required). Children will be welcome to board when booking the private car, and bar service will continue to be available. If you are interested in reserving one of these cars for your company or your group, please call to book at 989-720-3957 before 5:00 pm on July 24th.

[dalek ling]

They are also doing a football train from Owosso to CMU sometime in September

[GTW6401]

September 9th. CMU vs New Hampshire.

It's the football home opener.

[Delray]

They are also supposed to make a run to Monroe at the end of September. However, 1225 is still up on blocks. The wheel sets are back in the shop finally

[BnOEngr]

However, 1225 is still up on blocks. The wheel sets are back in the shop finally

The drivers were in the shop when I was there last fall. What wheel sets are you talking about?

[Chip]

However, 1225 is still up on blocks. The wheel sets are back in the shop finally

The drivers were in the shop when I was there last fall. What wheel sets are you talking about?

Front and rear wheels

[Mark F]

September 9th. CMU vs New Hampshire.

It's the football home opener.

Here are the details on the CMU train on September 9th. Says it is diesel powered.
https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2023/7/13 ... ept-9.aspx

[chapmaja]

September 9th. CMU vs New Hampshire.

It's the football home opener.

Here are the details on the CMU train on September 9th. Says it is diesel powered.
https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2023/7/13 ... ept-9.aspx

Most likely will run behind 57. That unit, per the SRI website is on lease for 5 years, until the Spring of 2028.

[David Collins]

Most likely will run behind 57. That unit, per the SRI website is on lease for 5 years, until the Spring of 2028.

Do we have anyone on here that’s run the 57? If so, is it a good locomotive?

[~Z~]

Tickets went on sale about an hour ago. My brother is trying to get tickets.. got "server unavailable" every 2 minutes he tried until 12:35pm. Was number 4037 in line when he finally got the site to load. 4000 other requests in front...
I just tried at 1:16pm, and says I'm #3474.

[DaveO]

must have had more people bailing than on a sinking ship.
no surprise about the demand.
they got detroit media to run the story.

[~Z~]

Bro says he finally got to #1 in line, showed the available seats, and everything is sold out except for single seats in different cars, no group of 3 seats together for his family. Crazy how quickly that sells out. Me thinks they might want to start a couple mid-week runs if they can manage it, or some more Monday or Friday runs. I'm still #1688 in line.

[thatcheb]

Please bear in mind that the vast majority of SRI personnel are volunteers. On North Pole Express, they go on duty about 8:00 am and off duty about 11:00 pm. That's every Saturday and Sunday for five weekends, plus the one trip on the day after Thanksgiving.

Also, Great Lakes Central is a busy freight railroad with its own customers to service. Any additional passenger train operations would need to fit in and among all those freight trains.

It's not like renting a van (or chartering a bus) and going for a drive on a public highway.

[dalek ling]

Bro says he finally got to #1 in line, showed the available seats, and everything is sold out except for single seats in different cars, no group of 3 seats together for his family. Crazy how quickly that sells out. Me thinks they might want to start a couple mid-week runs if they can manage it, or some more Monday or Friday runs. I'm still #1688 in line.

That’s what happened with my family, it was so bad, I had to sit by myself for like half the trip, but the workers were really helpful and I guess a family of 4 didn’t get on the train, so there was an open spot, and they moved our whole family to that spot for free. They didn’t felt comfortable with a kid sitting with strangers.

And with both the NPX and this football train selling out, it shows people are still interested in stuff like this, which is great for business opportunities in the future

[MQT1223]

They are also supposed to make a run to Monroe at the end of September. However, 1225 is still up on blocks. The wheel sets are back in the shop finally

I believe they are still waiting on the drive wheel boxes and wedges. The last post I saw consisted of 1225's wedges being machined in house.