By Ellen Clark

Next time you travel with family or friends, book a rail trip and discover why train vacations have fascinated travelers for decades. Today’s trains are comfortable, affordable and can take you virtually anywhere in North America. Watch the countryside rolling by through huge windows while not having to drive and miss all the scenery. On some trains, there are special cars such as the Skyline Car, with its cozy little café, and the Park Car, with its lounge and panoramic dome for even better viewing. Think about a train for your next holiday.

The Grand Canyon Railway—
A Grand Way To See The Canyon

Whistle blowing, brakes squealing, surrounded by clouds of white smoke, the train chugs into the historic station that serves one of American’s most spectacular natural wonders. Like a picture from the past, train employees in outfits befitting the grand old days of train travel open the doors. Suddenly, the scene turns anachronistic, as pouring off the train are not men and women in turn-of-the-century dress, but 21st-century vacationers in jeans and Nikes.

In the early part of the 20th century, the train was the only way to get to the Grand Canyon. Today, thousands of visitors every year arrive by all types of conveyances, ranging from the family car to mountain bikes, but perhaps the most relaxing and nostalgic way is by the Grand Canyon Railway, a passenger train made up of historic cars pulled by a vintage locomotive.

On September 17, 1901, the first passengers arrived at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim aboard a steam engine owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company. During the next decades, famous names like Theodore Roosevelt and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. appeared on the train’s passenger list alongside millions of less-famous visitors.

With the advent of the automobile, train travel waned in popularity, and by 1968, passenger service to the Grand Canyon had stopped altogether. However, as life became more hectic and the roadways more jammed with cars, there was renewed interest in rail travel. And in the 1980s, Phoenix businessman Max Biegert and his wife Thelma decided it was time to put the Grand Canyon Railway back into service.

The Biegerts bought the train and then hired a staff of mechanics to restore the steam and diesel engines and passenger cars. In September 1989, 88 years after the original train rumbled into the Grand Canyon station—and more than 20 years since the last train had chugged to a stop—the Grand Canyon once again had rail service.

Today, the train takes off from the Williams, AZ, station. Built in 1908, passengers who disembarked here in the early 1900s could get a hot meal at the Harvey House, a member of the famous railroad restaurant chain. Besides the restaurant, the poured concrete building housed the Fray Marcos Hotel, a curio shop, a ticket booth and a waiting room. When the railway started losing popularity in the 1950s, the hotel was closed, and by the late 1960s, the building was left derelict.

Happily, the Williams depot is back in business. The former Harvey House is now a free museum of railroad memorabilia, and once again the ticket booth is being used as originally intended. Though the building no longer has hotel rooms, across the road at the new Fray Marcos Hotel there are comfortable rooms and 21st-century amenities, making it an ideal place to spend the night before training it to the canyon.

While the Grand Canyon Railway is a relaxing way to get to the Canyon, the five-hour round-trip ride is anything but boring.
Passengers are encouraged to arrive at the station at 9:30 a.m. to watch Marshall John B. Goodemore and the Cataract Creek Gang engage in a Western shootout, after which the conductor announces the train’s departure with a hearty “All Aboard!”

Today’s Grand Canyon Railway offers five classes of service. In Coach and Club class, passengers ride in restored 1923 Harriman coach cars. First class passengers can languish in recliner seats in the Coconino Car or enjoy spectacular views out of the second level domed car in Observation Class. To travel like a dignitary of bygone days, opt for the Luxury Class Chief. The last car in the train, it has a cherry wood ceiling, silk-style wall covering, and overstuffed armchairs and divans for lounging.

The 64-mile long track winds through the Kaibab National Forest past fir, spruce, pinyon and aspen. Besides the ever-present cows, you might spot a mule deer, coyote or even a black bear, as well as feathered creatures. Throughout the ride, cowboy balladeers amble through the cars, singing songs of the Old West and chatting with passengers as enthusiastic staff serve up everything from Classic Coke to champagne. And then, just when you’ve been lulled into a somnambulistic state, masked bandits board the train and seek to relieve passengers of their valuables.

When the train pulls into the Grand Canyon station, passengers have the option of either spending three hours enjoying the canyon before boarding the train back to Williams or staying at one of the canyon lodges for a day or two before making the return trip.

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