Grand Canyon Railway
This line has been in existence since 1901 as a passenger route to the Grand Canyon, a significant improvement over the two-day stagecoach ride.
William “Bucky” O’Neill, a former mayor of Prescott who had mining claims at the Canyon, had initiated the building of the railway but died at the hands of a Spanish sniper with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in 1898. For most of the line’s working life, it was owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe.
It was shut down in 1968 as increased automobile travel made trains seem obsolete.
“It stopped running, and no one seemed to notice or care,” says Heather Gearhart, public relations manager for the railway.
Max and Thelma Biegert cared. Two of the train line’s investors, the Biegerts put millions into refurbishing the cars and the locomotive and rebuilding the line. Passenger service was reinstated Sept. 17, 1989, 88 years to the day after the train first hit the rails.
“It’s been gaining momentum ever since,” Gearhart says.
Last year, 222,277 people, or 7 percent of the South Rim visitor population, rode the Grand Canyon Railway.
Late May through Labor Day, trains run twice a day: going north from Williams at 9 and 10:30 a.m., and returning at 3 and 4:30 p.m. The rest of the year, there is a once-a-day schedule. Each way takes two hours and 15 minutes. Train rides can be a day trip or combined with an overnight stay in Williams or at the Canyon.
High- and low-end fares
There are five classes of travel on the Grand Canyon Railway. Most affordable are Pullman coach fares at $60 for adults, $35 for ages 11-16, $25 for ages 2-10. A new coach class has been added: Budd coach adds $20 per fare for an air-conditioned car during the summer. The Pullman cars are 1920s vintage; the Budd cars were built in the ’40s and ’50s.
Top of the line is the Luxury Parlor class, which offers lounge seating, continental breakfast on the way north, and champagne and snacks on the return run. Parlor fares are $155 for adults and $130 for students ages 16 and older. Children ages 10 and younger are not allowed.
AAA offers member discounts.
Free soft drinks are included on all cars. There also is a café car that sells chocolates, snacks and minipizzas. On day trips, reserved box lunches are available for $8.88.
Special events
• One of the most popular events is the Polar Express, which runs Nov. 9 through Jan. 13. December weekends already are sold out, but weekdays and other weekends are not.
The Polar Express is a 30-minute trip to the North Pole from Williams, where Santa takes a break from work to greet young passengers. He boards the train and gives each child a jingle bell, hot cocoa and chocolate-chip cookies, then gets back to work at his toy factory. The return trip is a songfest of Christmas carols.
Single fares are $24 for adults, $12 for ages 2 to 16 and free for children younger than 2.
Packages are available at $269 for a family of four, including one night at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams, dinner and breakfast at the hotel’s Max and Thelma’s Restaurant and a $10 gift certificate for each adult, good in the hotel gift shop.
• New this year is the Sunset Limited, which offers exclusive – only 150 passengers – evening tours to the Grand Canyon during September and October. The train leaves Williams in the afternoon and arrives at the Canyon in time for a motor coach to whisk passengers off for a spectacular view of the sunset.
The trip back includes musical entertainment, dancing, appetizers and a full bar with wine. Because the train arrives late into Williams, a package that includes an overnight stay is available for $249 per person. The train ride alone is $179.
Although the Grand Canyon Railway is up for sale, Gearhart says the owners are promising the quality will remain the same.
“The line will definitely continue,” she says.
Verde Canyon Railroad
The open-air train car almost is listing to one side as passengers scramble to see the bald-eagle nest clinging to the side of the canyon wall, a chick popping its head through the feathers of its mother’s wing. The little bird is barely a speck, but it commands the attention of everyone riding the Verde Canyon Railroad.
The scene is repeated as someone spots another eagle’s nest, then a blue heron fishing in the stream, and then again when those onboard strain to see signs of river otters.
On other days, passengers might be treated to the sight of brown bears, hawks, javelinas, 70 different waterfowl, or elk lumbering along the banks of the Verde River.
No matter how many times you ride these rails, there’s something different to see. And there’s always a new group of guests eager to explore another area of the state.
Whichever train you choose, you’ll enjoy a few hours of unequaled relaxation as you let the rails lull you into tranquillity while Arizona’s landscape flickers outside your window. Who needs television?
- Barbara Yost, Arizona Republic – June 18, 2006
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