Rail bonding: Train trips aren’t just a thing of the past

Train travel is not only a thing of the past—it’s also a thing of the present. It’s enjoying resurgence as people rediscover
the romance and excitement of riding the rails in their leisure travel and realize that getting there is more than half the
fun.

My wife Katrina and I have taken four train trips in recent years that we can recommend. But you don’t have to take our word
for it. All four were selected for inclusion in the "top ten most exciting train journeys in the world" by the Society
of
American Travel Writers.

The Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad took us through Mexico’s dramatic and scenic Copper Canyon. Think of our Grand Canyon—only
larger and deeper. Copper Canyon is actually a series of canyons throughout the mystical Sierra Madre Mountains. The Tarahumara
Indians have lived in that unforgiving, rugged environment in isolation for centuries. There are no roads or other access
through the Canyon. If you want to go, it’s either the rails or a rigorous hike.

An engineering marvel, the railroad took 90 years to build. Its tracks climb from sea level at Los Michos on the Pacific Ocean
to 8,000 feet while coursing through 86 tunnels and over 37 trestle bridges, the longest of which spans 1,726 feet over the
Rio Fuerte Chasm en route to Chihuahua.

The sights were ever changing and so magnificent that we hardly left the viewing car during the entire trip. Each view gave
another reason why the 400 mile trip between Chihuahua City and Los Mochis is, according to Reader’s
Digest, "the most dramatic
train ride in the western hemisphere."

The most dramatic moment, though, is unlikely (I hope) to occur on your trip. During an overnight stop in the town of Creel—which
reminded us of the stereotypical early 20th century U.S. western town—our path was crossed by a pickup truck with two
policemen
in the front seat and a handcuffed man in the back. Suddenly, the incredibly agile prisoner jumped out of the moving truck
and began to run. The truck came to a screeching stop and the policemen leaped out, running in full pursuit with guns drawn.
What other train trip provides a real chase scene?

Another great train trip is to the north—the 2,700-mile, trans-Canada journey from Toronto to Vancouver. This three-nighter
on Canada’s national railway, VIA Rail, crosses through the Canadian heartland and includes vast prairies, the Canadian Shield
(an area of pink, gray and black granite bedrock), dense forests, the snow capped mountains of the Canadian Rockies (lofty
peaks and pristine valleys), lakes and oceans. It also passes through the quaint communities of Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff,
Alpine scenery and the islands of the coastal city of Vancouver. Before and after the train journey, we toured the two great
cities on either end-Toronto and Vancouver.

Comforts? Well, you do have your own sleeping cabin with use of showers down the hallway and meals in the dining car. And
there’s the Skyline car, a panoramic dome from which to view the passing scenery.

Want to stay stateside? A great U.S. trip is the Durango to Silverton ride on a narrow gauge steam train through the San Juan
National Forest. Both Durango and Silverton were important towns in the gold- and silver-mining era. Today they are tourist
attractions where visitors can enjoy a colorful bygone era of the old West.

This train hugs steep canyon walls as it winds its way for 45 miles and three hours through the Rio de las Animas Canyon with
vistas of the snow-capped peaks of the San Juan Mountains. In Durango, the ride starts at an elevation of more than 6,500
feet and rises another 3,000 en route to Silverton on tracks laid in 1881.

The final trip is also in the U.S. The Adirondack, an Amtrak train operating daily between New York City and Montreal, covers
381 miles in nine-and-a-half hours, with stops in Poughkeepsie, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs. Fifty miles of the trip
is
along the scenic shoreline of Lake Champlain and through the Adirondack Mountains. The train has restored cars with large
windows for great viewing and three cafe-lounge cars.

We recommend all of these great train trips as well as others we have taken, such as the ride through Canada’s Agawa Canyon,
the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to Grand Canyon Village, the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway, and any of the great European
trains connecting practically every city on the continent.

Any of these trips will prove that the journey is as much fun as the destination.

___

Basile is an author, professional speaker, philanthropist, community volunteer and retired
executive of the Gene B. Glick
Co. His column appears whenever there’s a fifth Monday in the month. The next one will appear June 29. Basile can be reached
at Frank_Basile@sbcglobal.net.