Amtrak to Test American Flyer on Track in Colorado.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 23--Amtrak's new American Flyer will be flying fast -- up to 165-miles an hour -- when it is tested on the Transportation Technology Center Inc.'s just completely rebuilt 15-mile long track.

It's the first time the test track has been rebuilt since it was first laid in the early 1970s at a cost of $12 million, according to Gunars Spons, the resident engineering manager for the Federal Railroad Administration at the Center, a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads.

The 200-pound wooden ties were replaced by 675-pound concrete ones. Rails, which were "in bits and pieces 60-to-80 feet," were shipped to Rocky Mountain Steel Mills where they were welded into 1,400-foot lengths and shipped back to the center.

The program began two years ago and was expected to cost up to $15 million, Spons said. The FRA put up $9 million and the center and industry put up another $2 million. "It came in on schedule and under budget, Spons said proudly. The project included upgrading an …

Amtrak to Test American Flyer on Track in Colorado.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 23--Amtrak's new American Flyer will be flying fast -- up to 165-miles an hour -- when it is tested on the Transportation Technology Center Inc.'s just completely rebuilt 15-mile long track.

It's the first time the test track has been rebuilt since it was first laid in the early 1970s at a cost of $12 million, according to Gunars Spons, the resident engineering manager for the Federal Railroad Administration at the Center, a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads.

The 200-pound wooden ties were replaced by 675-pound concrete ones. Rails, which were "in bits and pieces 60-to-80 feet," were shipped to Rocky Mountain Steel Mills where they were welded into 1,400-foot lengths and shipped back to the center.

The program began two years ago and was expected to cost up to $15 million, Spons said. The FRA put up $9 million and the center and industry put up another $2 million. "It came in on schedule and under budget, Spons said proudly. The project included upgrading an …