Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park will be adding new tram cabin cars to the existing tram cable system Monday April 29 through Wednesday May 1. The Park will be closed during that time. For more details on the project I spoke with the Park’s Tram Manager Wade Beattie.
Wade explained that he and a crew of four or five other Adventure Park staff will work together with a similar-sized team from Leitner-Poma of America to carry out the job at the Glenwood Caverns tram base in Glenwood Springs. Leitner-Poma, located in nearby Grand Junction, Colorado, and their parent company, Poma, is a world leader in tramways & chairlifts, with close to 8000 installed world-wide.
The tram line currently has four pods (groups) of three cabin cars per pod for a total of 12 cars attached to the tram cable. The new addition entails adding two more pods of 3 cars each, for six additional cars, which translates to a 50% increase in tram seating capacity.
Wade reported that the new cabin cars were shipped from Switzerland, and have been traveling towards the west coast via ocean freighter.
Tram cars at the Adventure Park Tram Base in Glenwood Springs.
photo by Doug Davis
Wade added that there are some logistics involved with the new cabin car installation. Because the cabins are very sturdily built and are not lightweight, a small long-arm crane is required to support the cars while they are being attached to the cable line.
“When the work is completed an Acceptance Test will be performed by a registered professional engineer from the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board,” Wade states. “We do tram maintenance all the time, and the state does surprise inspections, so they’re a very safe form of transportation.”
“In the meantime we’ve been re-upholstering all the seats in the existing tram cars. We will also be polishing the cabin windows, and replacing some windows… in effect all tram cabins are getting a facelift. If all goes according to plan, the work should be completed and 6 new cabins will be installed by May 1.”
