A Vacation With Trains: Traincation? Photos Up

Eliot

If by chance you get to Las Vegas there is a spot behind the Rio Hotel just off the strip and the train watching with UP and stack trains GALORE.  Cant wait to see the narrow Gauge photos

Hi Eliot,

I have ridden both the Durango & Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec and liked the Cumbres better,it is more rustic and you can wander around the yard without anybody bothering you.There is also the Royal Gorge Railroad that you might like.

Mikey

My wife and I along with my brother and sister and law will be riding the Grand Canyon train. We are opting for the "champagne class" service and seating in the observation cars.

 

Previously wife and I have ridden trains in Norway, Germany, and Austria. We also rode Amtrack from Philly to El Paso with a stop-over in New Orleans.

 

One of my favorite "traincations" were my 2 visits to the Station Inn in Cresson, PA. Very relaxing.

 

We have done a number of short line and tourist trains as well....

 

One time in Gallup New Mexico we insisted on a motel room overlooking a freight yard. It was fun sitting out on the porch sipping Coke and watching the trains.

My wife and I flew to Denver last weekend and boarded the Denver Post Dispatch Frontier Days Union Pacific Special to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the day.

I would highly recommend this trip if you've never been on it. We liked it and the rodeo so well we're going again next year. The 844 will be leading the charge to Cheyenne next year.

Just got back from Dallas this afternoon. Toured the new Frisco Railroad Musuem in Frisco, TX. Saw Big Boy #4018.

The last photo is myself and my Favorite Uncle standing beside the Big Boy. He's retired from UP. CE&I, then MOPAC, then UP!

In 2 weeks were off to Chicago on Amtrak to see a Cub game at Wrigley Field. Taking the L right to the ballpark. Traincations are Awesome!!!

Just to make sure Rich doesn't kick this over to the REAL TRAINS forum. My Lionel Grey Hound 844 will keep me entertained until next summer when I see her in person.

Looking forward to seeing your photos....

 

Peter

Scrapiron, I don't know if you are heading east or west from Gallup, but if you are going west toward California, I'd love to have you stop by on your way.  I'm a half hour south of I-40 west of Williams, AZ.  I can share with you some beautiful train watching spots in this area.

Gentlemen,

    My wife and I take short vacations all the time on the Tioga Central Railroad, Wellsboro, Pa, near the Pa Grand Canyon on Rt 6.   We go for either the lunch or dinner trips most of the time.   This last 4th/3rd of July we started riding the fantastic Tioga Fire Works Train.  A great night out no doubt about it, I am trying to get the Chef on board the train, to supply a nice home made desert on the Fire Works Train next year.  The rail trips from Wellsboro to Lake Hammond are some of my favorite short vacations!  The lunch and dinner Trains are my favorites of course, and the Tioga Central has an Ice Cream Train trip for kids and adults like me.

Come ride along the Pa mountains, thru the beautiful State Game lands see our Deer and other animals with us some time, and enjoy a great lunch or dinner!  

You will love it.

WWW.TiogaCentralRailroad.com  for tikets and schedules.

PCRR/Dave

Enjoy your trip.

"now w're in Gallup, New Mexico where long BNSF stack trains barrel through right next to the highway every five or ten minutes. Today we were eating breakfast at the Comfort Suites in Gallup and I was able to watch train after train right through the picture window. Fantastic."

 

I drove to the Grand Canyon from Florida a few years ago and saw the same after we got through Lubbock all the way to Gallup. It's hard to believe the number of trains and amount of cargo they haul. The logistics must be overwhelming. I was not paying attention so we missed the Cumbres and Toltec, but we did pass through Chamas on the way back and saw the trains there. We also stopped for lunch in Winslow Arizona, singing "Take It Easy" as we pulled into town. We ate lunch at a train-themed restaurant in Winslow - food was good, just some train pics and HO trains on shelves to carry the theme. It was a very memorable trip. 

 

Although I intend to create a southern layout with a lot of trees (especially palm trees), that made me want to model a section of a layout with some Arizona mountains so I could run some double stacks on the layout. It may serve to create a sense of destination within the layout - passing from one geographical area to another. 

If you are in Gallup, and going the right direction, check out "La Posada" in Winslow, AZ. It is a former Harvey House Hotel for the Santa Fe Railway, now an Inn and restaurant. It is right to the Amtrak (former Santa Fe) station and the yard as well. 

 

You can also stand on a corner in Winslow, AZ and look for girls in flatbed Fords.

 

How fun! I look forward to visiting the southwest someday, and seeing those vistas - with trains - and visiting places like the Nevada Northern. I enjoy trying to 'fit in' train or hobby related activities when on vacation - like visiting a museum, riding local public transit or buying something 'local' at a LHS, although I careful to note the rest of the family doesn't necessarily share my enthusiasm. That said, I also deeply appreciate being able to zip out to a local resource like the Illinois Railway Museum or Fox Valley Trolley Museum  

Eliot, you are so right about narrow gauge. Now I love it. We had the best train rides ever. Don

Peter,

Many thanks for your wonderful invitation. Ginny and I are going east back to Santa Fe and then home in a few days. The next time we are out here, we'll be happy to send you an e-mail and join you for some train watching. When you're in NY, please give us a heads up, too !!

 

Thanks to ll of you for your contributions to this thread. Please post your traincation pictures.

 

Scrappy

Sounds like fun! I rode the Durango and Silverton last year. You are right, narrow gauge never really interested me too much before but now I love it!

Pictures added!

A traincation I took with friends in 2006:

Monday morning-Took an early Southwest Airlines flight from Midland, TX to Chicago...took an elevated TRAIN to downtown...left our bags at CUS and walked to Lou Mitchell's for lunch...departed on the Southwest Chief at 3:00pm...CB&Q Racetrack, cross the Mississippi at Ft Madison, bedtime after KC Union...Tuesday-see railroad "hallowed ground" of Dodge City, LaJunta, Raton Pass, ABQ, and the red cliffs of Gallup, and Winslow before bedtime. Wednesday morning: Barstow (if you get up early), SanBernadino, Cajon, and LAUPT...take a TRAIN to Bob Hope airport in Burbank...fly back to Midland, TX...home in my own bed Wednesday night.

Best 3 day break from work I can think of.

Rob,

   Man that was one heck of a 3 day break, fantastic stuff.

 

Hay is that Rich Melvin up there in that 488!

 

PCRR/Dave

Glad to hear the Tioga Central is still chugging.  When I heard the former owner moved the BL2 to Lackawaxen, I wasn’t sure.  My wife and I rode it in 2008 and I have to agree that the scenery is very nice.

 

 

In 2013, we visited some friends in Tucson and went to the big ditch.  When we looked on-line for a Hotel near the Painted Desert, one of the reviews complained about a place in Holbrook that had train tracks RIGHT behind it with trains that ran EVERY 20 minutes and interrupted their sleep.  Obviously, that’s the place we picked.

 

We took a wrong turn in Flagstaff and happened across this.

 

 

Didn’t ride the GCRY, but got a few good shots of it.

 

 

We just got back from a traincation to Marysville, PA and Cumberland, MD.  We lucked out with the 734.  It hadn’t been running for a while, but it just finished repairs and passed its hydro on Friday and was back in business for us and a few hundred others on Saturday.

 

wow thats really cool! I just got back from New York and did some rail fanning there however I only got an Amtrak passenger train and nothing spectacular... You guys on the other hand got some good photos! I'll post my vid when it gets converted! 

What good news it is, to hear that your southwest trip was enjoyable.  Having lived in and railroaded in the southwest all of my life, I'm kind of fond of it.  Those two small segments of the once-proud narrow gauge circle are pretty impressive, each in its own way, I'll agree.  My hat is off to all of the D&RGW and RGS narrow gauge railroaders of the past, who worked in tough territory, miles from any help with anything, and they got the trains over the road in spite of all kinds of challenges.  The young guys who run those trains these days do a very good job of it -- they have to.  You may not have noticed, but, coming downgrade from Osier, the crew sets the retainers to Slow Direct.  That's probably your only ride on a passenger train that has to set retainers.  And I am glad to know that my Home Road did not disappoint you by only running 149 trains through Gallup in 36 hours, or slip in a slow one.  With no annoying trees to block your view, you could see every one of the trains.

 

My situation is the reverse of yours, in that I am finally getting to visit eastern railroads that I have only known from photos.  This year, I'm going to explore part of the ex-Erie.