Favorite Rail Excursion or Trip

[Anonymous]

I've got a good question for everyone out there, so here goes![8D]

What was your favorite rail trip or excursion?

For me it was three years ago when I got to take a trip over the Great Smoky Moutains Railway, in its entirety from Dilsboro, NC to Andrews, NC. It was an all day trip and had several photo run-bys.

[Anonymous]

I forget the year, but it was during Southern's steam program, probably about 1986 or so. Birmingham to Columbus, GA and back. What set it apart was that I took my Dad, a retired Katy switchman from Oklahoma, on this trip with me.

[espeefoamer]

[:D]My favorite diesel excursion was in the spring of 1975.It was a circle trip from Oakland,Ca. via Niles Canyon and Altamont Pass to Tracy on the SP,then back to Oakland on the main line !![8D][8D][8D] This line was abandond in 1985 and torn up shortly after that.[:(] My favorite steam trip was a UP doubleheader behind 3985, and 844 from Sacramento to Portola over Feather River Canyon.[:)][:)][:)][:p]

[Anonymous]

Mines was ridng the Challanger from Elmhurst to Milwaukee that was cool

[Anonymous]

My favorite rail excursion was in June of 2002. We rode on the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon. Departed from Williams Az. Before departure we were greated with a Wild West show, Which was Very comical, Then on board the train we were treated with live entertainment , Such as a fiddle player ,then guitarist, & so on.each played their gig & then moved on to the next car. There was so much entertainment that time just flew. Before we got to the rim of the canyon there was alot of sharp curves so you could see the steam engine at work climbing the grade. The trip one way is aprox. 2hrs. A little more on the way back because the outlaws on horseback stop & rob the train. Steam & diesel were teamed up together for this trip due to the size of this train, www.thetrain.com PS; Was worth every penny we spent, & then some. " We'll be back"

[daveklepper]

Steam: In 1960, 1961, and 1962, I rode Maurey Kleibolt's Colorado narrow gauge trips. Chicago - Alamosa, then Durango, then Silverton, then on one or two of the year but not all three Farmington, then Alamosa and Chcagio . The first year was in some respects the best since we had 4-8-4 5632 on the Burlington Chicago to Omaha, and then diesel at night to Denver, the reverse coming back. Maruey's Chief Illini was on the rear, and sleeping-car passengers were allowed to use the open platform on a rotating basis. But on the last trip, 1962, I was the lucky winner of the opportunity to ride the private car "Nomad" to Silverton and back and the "William Jackson Palmer" on the Farmington round trip . One kid insisted on flying a kite off the back platform of the WJP coming into Durango from Farmington (a first and probably last in railroading) after a grand gourmet meal that we all got together and prepared in the WJP's kitchen with gas stove with food bought in the Framington supermarket nearest the tracks. I'd rate any of my Mt. Washington cog trips as second. Most highly recommended. But on one trip they actually let me ride the front platform going up! (The loco is always behind going up and ahead going down.)

Diesel: Riding with *** Horstman on his Lehigh Valley 353 at the back of the Rio Grande Zephyr was my best diesel trip. It was transcontinental, NY - Seattle and back, but obviously although the whole trip was grand and glorous, the D&RGW was the very best part. And I did ride that route over 30 times. But riding an open observation platform in good weather made it even more special.

Electric: A summer 1952 (age 20) day spent on the Waterloo, Ceder Falls, and Northern, Iowa interurban, with overstuffed leather armchairs on the back platform. Continual hay fever plagued me, but I loved the informality and the countryside. We made two round trips to Ceder Rapids and one up to Waverly. We also rode the ex-Knoxville Brill Master Unit streetcar sharing freight electric tracks between Waterloo and and Ceder Falls. Even though I did not get to run the interurban car, which was offered elsewhere. Dave

[Anonymous]

My favorite was in 1976, the Western Maryland offered a trip from Baltimore through the "Dutch Line" and on to Elkins and return. We had two black F7s until we got to Hagerstown where we added a circus colored F7. Then sometime after Cumberland one of the high nosed RS3s was added to provide extra dynamic braking for the Blackwater Canyon, . While decending the grade into the Blackwater Canyon we were told that movement between the coaches was prohibited. I soon found out why, the curvature was so sharp and changed so quickly that the door for the coach in front of the one I was in would completely disappear from view and then come back into alignment. After about an hour to explore the yard in Elkins we started back. What a trip up the grade!! Three F7s and two RS3s giving everything they had to keep the train going.

[JoeKoh]

any trip to see a train is good! I just like to see matt get exicited about them.
stay safe
joe

[wcfan4ever]

I think for me it would be the "Last Ride 99" in Manitowoc, WI. The WC ran a train from Manitowoc to Cleveland, WI, then back up to the "high bridge", and let everyone off for a photo run by over the large bridge. The train was pulled by an Algoma Central FP9 and FP9B on the front and an FP9 on the rear. Then the train ran out to Hilbert, WI for lunch and then back to Manitowoc. Of all the excursions that I have been on, this one tops them being my hometown.

Second would be the UP/METRA excursion at the end of Aug. 03 that ran from Rochelle to Sterling. Basiclly a once in a lifetime oppertunity. Well, same with all the ones that were on WC, cause hey, don't look to CN for any ''good'' times.

[rixflix]

Any of the Reading Company's Rail Rambles of the late 50's and early 60's. Some of
them got you real close to nature on branches that seemed improbable for a big 4-8-4(or 2) and 20 coaches. The Wilmington & Northern, Perkiomen and Gettysburg branches were especially good in this respect.
A friend's dad worked for the Comp'ny and took us down to the Reading Shops where we saw the first Rambles engine 2124 and the 1251, an 0-6-0T whose whistle you could blow via a long cord when the Train would stop at the Outer Station. They were all dolled up, but a sad sight came next. By the big concrete coaling tower in a long line were the remaining T-1's, stripped of some parts, awaiting their last trip to Modena and the Luria Brothers scrap line. I think there were 13 or 15 engines out of the original 30
in the class. Three of these wound up being saved because the continuing popularity of the trips surprised management and 2124's boiler time was getting short.
Incidentally, my friend's dad was a track inspector and when he died his family had to dispose of several tons of worn spikes and tie plates in the basement that he had intended to sell for scrap value.

bon soir
Captain Video aka Rixflix
Blessed be Jean Shepard in all His works

[Anonymous]

These all sound great! I would definitely like to check out the Grand Canyon Railway.

I just got a copy of the Great Smoky Mountains RR new 2004 schedule. Lokks like they have doubled the number of excursions. Looks like I need to make some plans!

[Anonymous]

I used to ride on the Royal Hudson a few times each summer, it ran from North Vancouver up to Squami***hen back all on BC Rail. It was a fun day trip, but is no longer in opertation due to it's lack of profitablility.

Royal Hudson 4-6-4 now sits idle at the West Coast Railway Museum up in squamish.

[Willy2]

My favorite train excursion was in North Carolina on the Smokey Mountain Railroad. The train takes you deep into the Smokey Mountains and the scenery is just fantastic. There are also a couple of long tunnels and the train follows a river. Along the trip you can see lots of people white water rafting down the river. The best part is that the train is pulled by steam. The ride is really cool and I enjoyed it a lot.

Willy

[ironhorseman]

I liked Abilene's train. www.asvrr.org Only Amtrak I've had a trip on has been to St. Louis and back a couple times on the Southwest Chief and St. Louis Mule.

[eolafan]

I really enjoyed my trips on the Napa Valley Wine Train in California (near SFO) and the Verde Canyon Railway near Phoenix. Eolafan