Travel Thumbnail: Terry Bison Ranch

Tourist attraction attached to serious working ranch

This is the ninth of a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well.

The Place: Terry Bison Ranch, south of Cheyenne, Wyoming
 

The Backstory: Often when we have visitors from overseas or the East Coast, I or we take them to Cheyenne for a better glimpse of a real Western town to show how it resembles and how it differs from the Wild West they've read about and seen on large and small screens. Just after crossing the Colorado-Wyoming border, I generally pull off the Interstate at the Terry Bison Ranch exit. We drive into the visitor part of the ranch and almost always spot some bison, This is actually pretty easy to do, since the "tickler herd" is kept nearby for visitors to look at and photograph. Still, it is always a thrill to see the shaggy beasts, and then we move on. A few days ago, during a Frontier Days visit to Cheyenne, I  did some of the touristy things the Terry Bison Ranch offers and learned more about this impressive operation. Sure, the ranch is touristy, but it does provide a predictable bison-viewing opportunity that doesn't exist in too many places -- and considering how many accents I heard and T-shirts from other parts of the country I spotted on the train, predictability is a good thing. A squadron of pink T-shirted day campers was also on the train, and although are little locals, they were excited to be on the train and thrilled to be able to toss food to the bison.
 
The Story: Chris Terry established the ranch 1881 and built the original ranch house was built four years later. Eventually, Terry sold it to Senator F.E. Morgan, whose elegant city home in the heart of Cheyenne is now a bed-and-breakfast called the Nagle Warren Mansion, where I stayed. Click here for the report on my stay. This huge ranch rambles across the high plains under the big blue dome. 
 

 
The Place: The tourist part (properly called Terry Bison Ranch Resort) is an adjunct to the enormous 27,000-acre Iron Mountain Bison Ranch where thousands of bison graze to become such meat products as ribs, chuck roast, steaks, brats, buffalo chili and nuggets marketed under the Great Range Bison label. I think of this set-up like the front and back of the house in a restaurant or theater -- the resort is the front of the house that the public sees and the back is the working part. Two brothers, Ron and Dan Thiel, respectively own the public and working-ranch operations. Taken as a whole, the ranch is so intertwined with the history and important people of southern Wyoming that its sign (above left) bears more than passing resemblance to the Wyoming state flag.
 
The Experience: Summer is high season at the Terry Bison Ranch Resort, which is family-friendly and also accommodates groups. You'll find a general store stocked with souvenirs and basic groceries, trail rides, a small rodeo arena, a tiny fishing pond, old-time photo studio and assorted accommodations for people (cabins, 13-room bunkhouse, RV sites, tent camping sites) and horses (boarding stalls indoor and outdoor stalls, with or without hay). You'll also find Kid Corral, a rustic children's playground with old-style, non-plastic apparatus, pony rides, small Ferris wheel and a little barrel train (tickets required).
 
The main attraction for casual visitors is the Terry Town Rail Express (adults $12, children , which rambles along a two-mile loop track to the small show herd, passing corrals housing such exotic animals as ostriches, llamas and camels. Guests ride in open cars in summer and in a smaller, heated enclosed one in winter. Bags of feed pellets cost $1, and children of all ages from tots to grannies enjoy tossing them out to the animals in the bison pasture. The herd lumbers over during the lengthy stop, because they like the pellets. Even in this controlled situation, you can see alpha bulls chasing others away from a good pellet drop zone.
 

 
Most people like to look at the animals, and others like to shoot them. Looking at this tender Terry Mountain Ranch scene of a mother bison and her calf, it is hard for those of us who don't hunt to envision raising a rifle and shooting one like here at the neighboring Iron Mountain Ranch. But for those who thrill at going for big game, Iron Mountain offers guided hunts for $500-$5,000.
 
The train respectfully passes the grave of Tinker the Bull, the ranch's majestic stud bison who died earlier this year of old age at 35. In 1986, Ron Thin bought Tinker, a champion bull of the North Dakota Bison Association, to be the breeding bull for Terry Bison Ranch. Visitors marveled at this 2,300-pound bison bull who, in his 31 years of breeding, is estimated to have sired about 1,200 calves.
 

 
Dining: The Senator's Steakhouse and Wild Buffalo Saloon near the Terry Bison Ranch entrance has a barn-like atmosphere, with high ceilings, lots of wood, red-checked tablecloths and lots of Western antiques and artifacts. "Taste Ticklers" and lunch items are served from 11:00 a.m. to closing, and dinner items are also available beginning at 5:00 p.m. Bison is available in numerous forms, and even people who could never shoot one enjoy eating the meat. Bison burgers, bison bratwurst, bison rib eye, bison short ribs and buffalo meatloaf. The restaurant also offers beef, chicken (called "Yardbird"), seafood and even vegetarian options. Appetizers and side dishes are heavy on fried items. Also available are a soup and salad bar, good TBR beans, a kids' menu, desserts and a full bar. 
 

 
Location and contact information: 51 I-25 Service Rd East (Wyoming Exit 2), Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007; 307- 634-4171

RIP: Ski Train

Denver-Winter Park train off-track -- perhaps forever

Click here to read about my trip Riding the Ski Train to Winter Park less than a month ago. Delightful as the ride was, and much as we intending to take it more often, it most likely won't happen again. Surprisingly -- in fact, shockingly -- owner Phil Anschutz either has sold or is about to seel the Ski Train rolling stock to the Algoma Central Railway, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company, that among other excursions runs the Snow Train from Sault Ste.-Marie, Ontario, into the white world of the Agawa Canyon (right).

Jim Monaghan, an Anschutz spokesman, told the Denver Post that the Canadian railroad approached them about selling Colorado Ski Train. The Anschutz organization was receptive because the logistics of running the train to with the upcoming redevelopment of Denver's Union Station were uncertain -- but the costs were certainly rising. During the Union Station makeover, there was talk about temporarily operating the train from a parking lot at Coors Field. That won't be necessary.

One of the Ski Train plans for next winter that will now no longer happen was to offer two-day packages that included a Saturday trip to winter park, an overnight stay at Winter Park and a Sunday afternoon return to Denver.

Anschutz reportedly did not sell the Ski Train name or logo to the Canadians, so there remains a possibility, slim though it might be, for the eventual return of the revered train, which began operating in 1940. No question that it will be missed.

A Downer of a Day in the Northeast

Amtrak from Washington to New York: easy travel but sad scenery

It has been years since I've taken the train on any but the shortest stretch of the Northeast Corridor. I did this morning for the first time in years. I arrived at Union Station in time for the 8:35 a.m. train, one earlier than my reservation. Amtrak is flexible and changed my ticket -- but charged nearly $30 -- not as a change fee but because the earlier train carried a higher fare. When I asked why, the agent told me it was because more people travel earlier. If more people travel earlier, I would have been the only person on the later train. My car, at least, had an extremely low passenger load -- less than 10 percent. I'm guessing flexible travelers were taking the later train, because it's cheaper, but that's just a guess. The trip was comfortable and punctual.

But too often, the view out the window was incredibly sad -- no surprise to those who travel this route often, but a knock in the eye and a punch in the gut to me after so many years away from the Northeast. Especially in and near our cities, I saw long-shuttered factories, their windows broken, their brick walls encrusted with graffiti. Trackside litter: paper, cans, plastic bottles, old tires, chunks of concrete, car parts, hunk of cable. Weeds. Fallen-down dwellings. It sad -- sadder than I remembered. Decay in the fly-over states tends to be shuttered stores in the small centers of depopulated towns, done in by the Interstate highways, the loss of the railroad and WalMart somewhere down the way. In the urban Northeast, decay is in the middle of densely populated areas. I knew it in my head and on one level what it looked like, but I had forgotten how it hits the eyes and the emotions.

My spirit was further dampened by the weather. The sky was gray, as was the landscape. Most of the trees hadn't leafed out yet. The clouds released fat drops of cold rain. Mud made the litter and trash somehow look even worse. I am reading Anderson Cooper's memoir, Dispatches from the Edge, and as the train traveled through scenes of decades of decay. He wrote about the terrible destruction he reported on in New Orleans the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the US, Lousiana and local governments' unpreparedness and lack of response, calling the American system "broken." Having been to too many war zones and seen entirely too many dead bodies, he wrote that he hadn't expected it in his own country. Likewise, while I am bothered by roadside trash and broken-down buildings in developing countries, it seems inexcusable in our own.

When arrived in New York, I allowed myself the extravagance of a taxi to the hotel, because I wasn't in the mood to drag my bags (a small roll-aboard and my laptop bag) up and down wet subway stairs, and I didn't want to get soaked waiting for the two buses I would have to take just to get close to my hotel.

As the cab crawled through traffic, I wondered which African runners had won the Boston Marathon, what the weather was like in Beantown and whether any Coloradans performed well. I later learned that Deriba Merga of Ethiopia won the men's race, Kenya’s Salina Kosgei was the top woman and Americans placed third in both, with Boulder's Colleen de Rueck eighth among women in a race that started on a cool morning and got worse.

After I checked in, I bundled up in my raingear and went for a walk, because tomorrow will be an indoor day. More gray. More rain. Water-filled potholes on every block. Cabs splashing through the water. Pedestrians who have trained themselves to step back from curb. More gray. More rain. I walked down East 45th Street, where I once worked. Some smaller buildings had been replaced by big shiny ones. Two doors from my old office building, now remodeled and gussied up, a three- or four-story Catholic mission used to shelter and feed and homeless men. The building was now abandoned, probably slated for redevelopment -- once the economy picks up. At the nearby United Nations, the news was that anti-Israeli remarks made by Iran's president prompted delegates to walk out of an anti-racism conference.

Deciding to switch from miserable macro-cosmic new, I picked up a copy of a free lower Manhattan newspaper to see what was happening locally. I read it while I nibbled some sushi. It seems that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and developer Larry Silverman are at odds over the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. They are tussling about the order in which the new buildings are to be constructed and, of course, who is to pay for the construction -- or guarantee the bonds. The year 2039 was mentioned as the completion date for the WTC replacement.

The rain let up, but the evening remained chilly and damp. I know that before I return to Colorado, the clouds will lift, the puddles will dry, the sun will come out and the street trees will be in bloom. New York will look better, and my mood will improve too. It always does.

Pushing for Return of the Pioneer Rail Route

The railroad built Cheyenne, and hopefully train service will return. Efforts are underway

As the Union Pacific laid tracks westward in a rush to complete the transcontinental railroad, Cheyenne sprang from Wyoming's eastern plains in 1867. It soon was a full-blown brick-and-mortar city with magnificent mansions, a lively downtown, a railroad roundhouse and a truly glorious railroad depot (bold), now a museum but very spacious and hopefully capable of accommodating passengers again.

Cheyenne was no podunk town along the tracks. It became the second city in the world after Paris with electric street lights. Except for the train that rolls up from Denver for Frontier Days every summer and an annual steam-train excursion for railfans, Cheyenne's glorious (and beautifully restored) 1887 Union Pacific Depot hasn't seen passenger rail service since Amtrak discontinued the Pioneer route in 1997.

The Pioneer started in Chicago and stopped in Omaha, Denver, Cheyenne, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Boise and Tacoma before terminating in Seattle -- and vice versa. Click here for TrainWeb's page devoted to this route. I don't know what other cities along the route are doing to bring the train back, but the City of Cheyenne and local organizations are working to encourage Amtrak to re-establish the abandoned Pioneer route. Amtrak has hired Patterson and Associates of Orange, California, to analyze the Pioneer's viability. Patterson’s study is expected to be complete this fall.

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen, an economic development group called Cheyenne LEADS and the Cheyenne Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB) have sent letters of support for the Pioneer route to Amtrak, and the CACVB has developed a specific website devoted to the effort. The site’s purpose is to share information about the feasibility study process and foster support from communities and organizations along the route. As one who would love to see the train return, I'm planning to check the site often.

Travel Thumbnail: The Ski Train to Winter Park

This is the fourth of a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well. Post a comment or let me know directly what you think of this occasional Travel Babel feature.

Iconic Colorado experience: Denver to Winter Park on the Train

The Place: Rio Grande Ski Train to Winter Park

The Story: Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Ski Train was dominated by the Eskimo Ski Club, whose members ranged in age from seven to 17 and who took the train every Saturday in winter to ski at Winter Park. Today, many older Denver natives credit the Ski Train, Winter Park and the Eskimo Ski Club for making skiing an enduring part of their lives. Since the '80s, Ansco Investment Company has owned the Ski Train and renewed it with upgraded rolling stock and experiences.

This past weekend, the Rio Grande Ski Train from Denver's Union Station to the base of the slopes concluded its 2009-10 season of 82 trips. A Colorado tradition for three generations, it is the last dedicated regular ski train service in the lower 48 (the Alaska Railroad operates ski train service too). If there's no traffic on I-70 or snaking over Berthoud Pass, driving is unquestionably faster. But the Ski Train isn't about speed. It's all about experience. It is a nostalgic journey for former Eskimo Ski Clubbers and a singular one for today's families who bring their kids so that they can experience train travel too, perhaps once every season or two. And riding the rails from downtown Denver is a great way for visitors and convention-goers to reach a snowy environment through beautiful scenery and the 6 1/2-mile Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide.

My Trip

The train is supposed to depart from Union Station at 7:15 a.m., but ours was delayed because we had to wait for Amtrak to pull in. Once we got going, we slowly traveled through railyards in north Denver and then through sections of suburbs like Arvada that we rarely see.

It had snowed a lot on Thursday, and the far western edge of the plains between Golden and Rocky Flats were still carpeted in white. Looking out the train window toward the north, it was difficult to recogize this as the edge of the Denver sprawl.

The tracks climb through Eldorado Canyon past open space and Eldorado Canyon State Park.

The train continues toward the Moffat Tunnel via Coal Creek Canyon, Rollinsville and Tolland to East Portal, the tunnel's eastern entrance.

Passengers have about 10 minutes to disembark at Winter Park before the train continues to Granby to turn around and park on a siding for the day until 4:15 departure time. Most people come to Winter Park to ski or snowboard, but some just want the railroad experience with perhaps a snowcoach sightseeing tour of the mountain or perhaps a free bus ride into town to shop and have lunch.

This weekend felt like winter, not spring. The snow was abundant and wonderful.

Even with a high-speed chairlift ferrying skiers to Winter Park's highest point, Parsenn Bowl didn't look or feel crowded. The snow was soft and the views toward the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park and the Never Summer Wilderness were awesome.

The Cost: This past season, roundtrip coach fares were $59 per adult ($49 for ages three to 12 or 62-plus); club seating was $85 per person. All seats in both classes of service are by reservation. Food service is available, and discounted lift tickets can be purchased on board. The train and the resort experimented with weekend overnight packages (leaving Denver on Saturday morning and returning on Sunday evening). This will probably continue as a full-season offer next winter.

Royal Gorge Train a Real Treat

Vintage train cars ride the rails through a deep canyon carved by the Arkansas River

There's a lot of history to the rail line through an Arkansas River canyon northwest of Cañon City. In the 1870s, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe fought a literally and figurative turf war over which line would build a line along the river. The battle reached the Supreme Court, and the Denver and Rio Grande won. At one time, the busy line connected Pueblo's magnificent railroad terminal, Salida and Leadville's high-elevation station and eentually beyond to Minturn. Now, the Royal Gorge Route train uses a relatively few miles of trackage to take tourists through the Arkansas River's most dramatic canyon, but it does so in vintage style.

Coach class, open-air cars where passengers stand and swivel for ever-changing views, Vista Dome cars with lunch, dinner or wine dinner service, murder mystery trains, rail/raft packages combining a train ride upstream and a raft trip back downriver, Santa Express trains and even the opportunity to ride in the cab with the engineer are Royal Gorge options. The rail company commissioned Idaho artist Ward Hooper to create a special, limited edition poster (above left) in a retro style to match the cars and recently hired Donald Burns as executive chef. We took what amounted to a twilight "hors d'oeuvre train" to introduce both the graphic artist and the culinary artist to the media.

Among other credentials, Burns was corporate chef for the luxurious American Orient Express, and he has brought his culinary touch to the Royal Gorge route. The excellent small plates served to the media are not on the regular menu, but the route and the scenery are the same, no matter which class of service. A cute little depot with ticket office and extensive gift shop is the train's home port.

The train pulls our of the station and heads westward, paralleling the river, and soon passes the outskirts of Cañon City. The Arkansas is running really fast these days from high-country snowmelt. Even the flatwater was high, lapping over its customary banks. Our tablemates are Pueblo locals whose son works for a raft company. He told them that the swift current had been turning their "family float" trip into a fast float . 

Soon the valley closes in and the train enters the area of rock slopes and later steep cliffs, pinching down the river into raging whitewater. Authorities are warning even experienced rafters and kayakers off many Colorado rivers until they calm down, but looking down from the train was both exciting and disquieting, because running water like this can be really dangerous.  

The railroad could collect tickets at the boarding gate, airline-style, but it retains the traditional flavor with a uniformed conductor checking them on the train. He's probably making sure that coach ticket holders haven't upgraded themselves into the dome card, but he does so subtly and with a broad smile.

Artifacts along the banks include remaining sections of redwood pipe that once brought gravity-fed water to thirsty Cañon City.

We stopped for quite some time at the narrowest part of the canyon, with the Royal Gorge Bridge -- the world's high suspension bridge -- resembling nothing more substantial than a tightrope a thousand feet above the water surface.

As the train returned to Cañon City, the setting sun slotted into the canyon and made the water glow with reflected evening light.  

 

Royal Gorge Route, 401 Water Street, Cañon City; 888-RAILS-4U or 719-276-4000.

The Sound of Silence in Mexico's Copper Canyon

Riding a railroad to a stunning, quiet place

Most Mexican cities and towns are noisy places, filled with traffic, voices, music and miscellaneous sounds. The Barranca del Cobre, which in English we call the Copper Canyon, is one of the quietest places I have ever been. It is actually not one canyon but a labyrinth of seven enormous canyons that could swallow our Grand Canyon several times over. Other than the two times a day when the train (below) rumbles through the clefted upland called the Sierra Tarahumara, nature's sounds prevail: wind whipping through the trees, rain splashing on rocks and roofs, rain water coursing down hillsides, insistent roosters crowing from dawn to dusk.

Below is the view from the terrace of my room at the Posada de Barrancas.

Tarahumara women make and sell exquisite baskets crafted from pine needles, reeds and other natural materials. These quiet, shy people do not hustle or pester -- nor do they invite bargaining or other aggressive shopping.

Simple homes are perched on ledges or in valleys with some elbow room. Below, a washline with a wondrous view.

Tarahumara women wear bright clothes and keep babies on their backs.

Older children look after younger ones.

Simple, ancient churches established by Spanish missionaries are still used, with celebrations combining Christian and timeless Tarahumara symbolism. Below is San Alonzo de Arareko.

The Tarahumara walk up and down steep canyon paths and through widely scattered settlements.

The mother below set out her baskets near a roadside pull-out overlooking a reservoir called Arareko Lake.

Dawn and dusk create equally gorgeous light shows as the sun peaks over or dips toward the canyon rim.

Tequila Train Might Expand Operating Days

Popular weekend excursion train from Guadalajara considering adding more days

I rarely write news by conjecture, but I am so happy to report something upbeat from Mexico that I have to pass on news that the Tequila Express, which currently operates on weekend and which I wrote about here, might add a couple of days each week and continue its route all the way to the town of Tequila itself. Here's what my colleague and Mexico tourism watcher Jimm Budd reported today:

"Negotiations are underway to have the Tequila Express operate on Thursdays and Mondays as well as Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. And, if this were to come to pass, the train would actually go to Tequila (the town) for a visit to Cuervo Centro, the Tequila Cuervo visitor center.


"Currently the train goes to Amatitlán, where Herradura (Horseshoe) Tequila is distilled. The train is operated by the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce, which hopes this way to keep visitors in Guadalajara one more night. The Tequila Express features all the tequila (or beer or soft drinks) a passenger can consume. Mariachis stroll through the cars. On arrival, there is a tour of the distillery followed by lunch, a show, and more free booze on the trip back."

Amtrak To Winter Park: All Aboard

Colorado resort teams up with Amtrak to Winter Park to offer Snowball Express package

Winter Park is less than 30 miles west of Boulder, but because there is no road through the Indian Peaks Wilderness and adjacent James Peak Wilderness, the roundabout drive is considerably longer. The one shortcut from near here to right there is by train. The 6-mile-long Moffat Tunnel bores through the mountains under the Continental Divide and under the protected land. The Winter Park Resort lies at tunnel's West Portal. The Ski Train uses the tunnel for its dedicated Denver-Winter Park trip -- and so does Amtrak's California Zephyr. In fact, one of Winter Park's chairlifts is called the Zephyr in honor of the classic rail route.

This year, Winter Resort and Amtrak have partnered to offer an affordable and stress-free vacation package and called it the Snowball Express. It sure beats driving across the Plains, which are vulnerable to dicey snow conditions, and for people put off by airline hassles, it's a terrific option too.

The California Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland offers daily service -- not always punctual, but otherwise reliable. The Snowball Express includes roundtrip coach seats on Amtrak, three nights' lodging in a one-bedroom condo in the Town of Winter Park and three days of lift tickets. Book online through Winter Park Central Reservations or by calling 800-979-0327. The package is valid until the end of the ski season but must be booked by December 7. Adult prices including travel from what organizers call "preferred departure cities" are:

Chicago - $665
Naperville, IL - also $665
Galesburg, IL - $639.50
Burlington, IA - $634
Mt. Pleasant, IA - $628
Ottumwa, IA - $625
Osceola, IA $613
Omaha - $592
Lincoln, NE - $582.50

More Trains to US Ski Country

Other US ski resorts with rail access (though none nearly as doorstep convenient as Winter Park) include:

• The North Lake Tahoe resorts via California Zephyr to Truckee
• The seven resorts near Salt Lake City, a major Amtrak station
• The Aspen areas via the Zephyr to Glenwood Springs
• Whitefish Mountain Resort, MT via Amtrak's Empire Builder
• Schweitzer, ID, to the Amtrak stop at Sandpoint
• Several resorts in Vermont and New Hampshire via either Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express to Rutland or the Vermonter, with half-a-dozen stops from Brattleboro in the south to Essex Junction and St. Albans in the north)
• Amtrak's Downeaster to Portland, ME
• Alyeska, AK, via the Alaska Railroad to Girdwood

Other Countries

Canada's VIA Rail services:

• In Quebec, Quebec City for Mont. Ste.-Anne and Le Massif and Montreal (for Tremblant), including trains from New York City/Albany)
• In Alberta, Jasper for Marmot Basin
• In British Columbia, Kamloops for Sun Peaks and Vancouver for Whistler/Blackcomb

And in Europe, virtually every Alpine mountain resort has excellent, efficient, frequent and punctual rail service or at least a bus that connects directly to a nearby railroad station.

Rail Transportation's US Future

President's proposal for rail expansion would alter US travel

I love trains. When I travel abroad, it is my favorite mode of transportation., I love the energetic bustle of big-city railroad stations and the convenience of traveling from center-city to center-city, and I certainly prefer reaching small communities by train to clogging up roadways with a costly rental car. I wish we still had decent, punctual trains in this country, and maybe it will happen in my lifetime. I was cheered by President Obama's State of the Union message last Wednesday that included the intention of awarding $8 billion in stimulus funds for development of light-rail corridors around the country and new high-speed rail in Florida. It makes sense from all perspectives -- employment, traveler convenience, the environmental benefits of mass transit.

A number of US and Canadian cities already have light rail rapid transit -- surface trains, not subways, that unclog roadways. When I changed planes in Phoenix not long ago, I saw that the city's Valley Metro rail line reaches Skyharbor Airport from both east and west. Vancouver's new SkyTrain (upper right) connects the airport with the center city. Light rail lines in Denver, Salt Lake City and Calgary do not currently reach their respective airports but hopefully will in the future. Kansas City voters rejected a north-south light rail line, but the regional transportation district is planning on using diesel-driven trains on existing tracks -- perhaps similar to the Albuquerque-Santa Fe Railrunner (lower right). We'll see.

Elsewhere in the world, a rail link from major airports to the city and from there to national and international train networks is taken for granted. Once again, the US, which pretends to be so enlightened and so advanced, lags far behind. I just hope that Washington a-ginners who were fixating on deconstructing proposed health care/insurance reform don't get their talons into rail transportation improvements too.

Austin-Lehman Adventures Supports National Parks

Glacier National Park, celebrating centennial in 2010, is first beneficiary

“Preserve a Park” is a new conservation and educational initiative by Austin-Lehman Adveventures, an award-winning tour opeator. It will benefit a different national park each year via financial contributions to an organization that supports that park, while featuring an educational experience for guests who book one of the company’s “Preserve a Park” trips.

The first beneficiary is Glacier National Park, celebrating its centennial in 2010. This year, ALA will donate $100 per guest from each Glacier trip to the Glacier National Park Fund, a not-for-profit that supports the ongoing and future preservation of Glacier National Park’s natural beauty and cultural heritage. Austin-Lehman Adventures is offering three six-day five-night trips to Glacier: August 1-6, August 8-13, and August 15-20; price per person is $2,498.

Coupled with adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, Glacier is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was the world's designated Peace Park. Glacier National Park was known to Native Americans as the “Backbone of the World.” Today, even though the namesake glaciers themselves are rapidly shrinking, the park preserves more than one million acres of stunning glacier-carved terrain that encompasses old growth forest, alpine lakes, rugged mountains and sweeping meadows of wildflowers. Highlights of park trips include biking, hiking and rafting both less traveled and most famous routes. These include the celebrated Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of North America’s most scenic roads and an 11-year building feat.
 
ALA has built an international reputation for small group active travel to destinations in North, Central and South America, Europe and southern Africa. The company specializes in adult and family multi-sport, hiking, biking vacations that emphasize history, culture, and geography’s natural beauty. Trips are limited to 12 guests (18 on family departures) and feature excellent regional dining, distinctive accommodations and all-inclusive rates and services.
 
I have visited Glacier National Park three times -- always in winter and always on cross-country skis. I've nibbled at the fringes of the huge park both from the west side of the park and from the Izaak Walton Inn on the south side, including traveling there to by train to Amtrak's last flag stop in West Essex, Montana. I've seen a bit of park that way and also not seen it at all, when the snow was swirling. Summer pictures are tantalizing, and I applaud the company for supporting the organization that supports the protection of Glacier and other parks in the future.

The Grinch That Stole the Ski Train

Ski Train return anticipation turns to disappointment

Call U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn the Grinch who took away hopes for the imminent return of the Ski Train Denver and Winter Park. On Wednesday, His Honor declined to issue a temporary restraining order that would have forced Amtrak to operate the Rio Grande Scenic Ski Train beginning this coming Sunday. Iowa Pacific Holdings, the new operator of the legendary train, already had some 13,000 reservations on the books, it was cautious enough to take them all by phone rather than online. I was afraid something like this might happen when train service was not heavily promoted at the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo back in November.

Iowa Pacific, which claims that it had an "implicit" agreement with Amtrak to provide train crews, reportedly spent $800,000 to restart the legendary train, which should be celebrating its 70th anniversary this winter. Amtrak claims that Iowa Pacific had not agreed to required insurance and indemnification terms required and that the Pacific's railcars had not yet passed Federal Railroad Administration safety certification.

Judge Blackburn agreed with Amtrak. According to the Denver Post, "Blackburn said in his written order that Iowa Pacific. . . had not demonstrated it would 'suffer irreparable injury' if the court did not issue the restraining order against Amtrak." That is mystifying, because dedicated train service to a resort base that does not operate during the absolute peak weeks of the ski season would indeed be grievously injured.

January 6 is now the earliest that Ski Train operations could begin. Iowa Pacific released a statement by VP Dan Marko that was clearly vetted by attorneys: “We appreciate the due-diligence that Judge Blackburn afforded Iowa Pacific Holdings to share our story and provide information given the forced circumstances.We recognize that this leaves the operations of the Ski Train as indefinite, and will be focused on presenting a comprehensive case in January to clear these obstacles to future operation.” Keep your fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, all customers holding reservations can receive a full refund by contacting Iowa Pacific at skitrainservice@ iowapacific.com or 877-726-RAIL.

Tough Times for Travelers

What a bad week it's been for travelers, with weather, accidents and incidents impacting holiday travel

It started with the closure of the Chunnel under the English Channel and the suspension of Eurostar service. Closer to home, snowstorms across the northern tier of the United States have been gumming up travel since last weekend, especially a week ago when flight delays were epic. United Airlines canceled about 1,000 flights, and Washington's National Airport actually closed. Snow that started in Denver yesterday (Tuesday) evening, and while Denver International Airport reportedly had well-staffed security checkpoints and fast-moving lines, delays in the Midwest impacted flight schedules here too. Then there was the American Airlines jet that overshot the runway in Kingston, Jamaica, during a heavy rainstorm. Meanwhile, Amtrak stopped operating between Philadelphia and New York for a few hours this afternoon. Let's hope that 2010 begins more auspicially for travelers than 2009 seems to be ending.

Chunnel Shut Down; Eurostar Services Halted

London-Paris-Brussels rail connection uncoupled

"Indefinitely" is a word that has been in the news lately. Tiger Woods is suspending participation on the PGA tour "indefinitely, and now the Eurostar train between London and Paris has suspended service "indefinitely" too -- at least through Monday, at last report. On Friday, five trains carrying some 2,000 passengers were standed in the Chunnel, the tunnel under the English Channel. Some passengers reportedly were stuck underground for more than 15 hours without food or water. Also, it was reported that there was little or no communication to passengers explaining what was happening. Reports didn't cover how bad those passenger cars must have smelled after 15 hours.

Eurostar blamed "acute weather conditions" for electrical problems that plagued their trains. Three test trains seem to have used the Chunnel without incident on Sunday, but the test runs also indicated that heavy snow in northern France was somehow being sucked into the trains' power cars. The incident was unprecented and unexpected in Eurostar's 15 years of service. The rail fleet is reportedly being modified and further test runs are to be made early in the week. According to the latest BBC report, there will be no Eurostar service on Monday.

With peak holiday travel beginning, 31,000 people in Britain, France and Belgium had canceled their train travel plans on Saturday, and another 26,000 were expected to cancel by the end of Sunday. Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown warned that services might not return to normal for days. Cross-channel travelers had few options. Nearly half of all flights out of Paris's Charles de Gaulle and Orly asrports were cut on Sunday, and air service in Brussels also was impacted. And does anyone take a terry anymore?

Winter Park Ski Train Poised for Return

Train-only and train/lodging packages are options for this ski season

The Rio Grande Scenic Ski Train seems "this close" to finalizing operational agreements for the 2009-10 ski season. The newest incarnation of the inconic ski train between Denver and Winter Park is ready to roll on a three-month winter timetable from December 27 and March 28, according to a report in today's Denver Post. All that remains a sign-off from Amtrak, whose crews will run the train. The train will operate up to four days a week, making about 50 roundtrips this winter and using cars from its summer excrusion train in the San Luis Valley.

The new 17-car trains will have a capacity of 2,000 seats, more than double that of the former ski train. Ed Ellis, president of the San Luis Railroad that will operate the revived ski train, told the Post that the "typical run will have 17 cars — two dome cars that seat 140 each and a mix of club cars and standard coaches." Click here for images of the cars.

Advance tickets are available online and are being purchased, according to the Post. If for any reason that last signoff is not accomplished, full refunds are promised. Regular roundtrip fares will be $49 in a coach car seat, $99 for a premium upper-level seat in a dome car or $600 for a season pass (purchase before December 24). Other early-season values include a 10-ride pass forr $290 and a one-day $79 roundtrip train ticket/lift ticket package (use by February 7). For more information, call 800-726-RAIL.The Winter Park Resort is also packaging a roundtrip train ticket, overnight lodging at the resort base and a lift ticket starting at $139 a day per person. Book that one through the resort, 800-453-2525.

AlaskaTransportation News

Alaska travel representatives met with travel met media & shared news

Alaska is one of my favorite places. I've been from Southeast (Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Skagway, Haines, Sitka) to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. I've been there is summer (glorious weather, abundant wildflowers, sport fishing, hiking) and in winter (fabulous skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, dogsledding). The cities and towns are enticing year-round. Here are some recent and upcoming developments in transportation that are of interest to Alaska visitors:

Transportation (Cruise Ships, Ferries, Trains)

Alaska Marine Highway - The ferries remain the best way for thrifty independent travelers to explore the coat. Eleven ferries travel on 3,500 miles of sea lanes between Bellingham, Washington, to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. Ferries accommodate vehicles (including RVs), motorcycles, bicycles and kayaks. Reserve for vehicles and staterooms, but foot passengers can just walk on. They're welcome to pitch a tent on the back deck and eat their own food.

Alaska Railroad - A self-propelled railcar, the Chugach Explorer, entered service earlier this year on the Glacier Discovery Route between Whitier and Trail Creek. The railroad partnered with the Forest Service for ranger-guided hikes on the Spencer Glacier Trail, a whistle stop on the route. It is efficient, quiet and emits for fewer pollutants than conventional locomotives. During 2009, the railroad has been offering a free one-day Adventure Class train trip to anyone turning 50 during the year. Perhaps, it or a similar promotion will be available in 2010 -- but meanwhile, if you celebrated the big 5-0 in '09 and will be in Alaska, grab your free ticket.

American Safari Cruises - In 2010, seven-day sailings to/from Juneau on intimate 12-, to 36-passenger yachts include two days in Glacier Bay. Guests can sea kayak or zodiac to explore the shore, opportunities not offered to big-ship cruises passengers. The first of two larger (but not much larger) vessels enters service in 2011 under the brand, InnerSea Discoveries.

Cruise West - The "Spirit of Oceanus" won't be sailing Alaskan waters in 2010, because this small ship embarks on The Voyages of the Great Explorers, a round-the-world cruise on March 6, 2010.

Gray Line Alaska - Sixty-year-old operator of sightseeing programs operates more than 200 motorcoaches, 10 railcars and two day boats now has new packages that include overnights in Princess Lodges.

Holland America - In 2010, the line's "Amsterdam" sails a regular 14-day Seattle-Anchorage itinerary that includes the new (to Holland America) ports of Homer and Kodiak Island.

Princess Cruises - For 2010, new Family Fun Cruisetour, a 12-night cruise + land package with pricing discounted for entire families, not just additional passengers sharing the cabin. Land portion includes two nights in Fairbanks, two just outside of Denali National Parks.

Seldovia Bay Ferry - New ferry at the southern end of the gorgeous Kenai Peninsula linking the artsy town of Homer with Seldovia, a seldom-visited (until 2010), roadless village where the Seldovia Village Tribe has a new museum. Also, abundant birding, hiking and a historic Russian Orthodox Church. Fare: adult $59, $29.59 ages 12 and under roundtrip, including a look at the Gull Island Bird Sanctuary, where some 16,000 seabirds nest.

Ski Train to Return for 2009-10

San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad steps in to operate Denver-Winter Park train

Shock and not a few tears greeted the abrupt announcement at the end of this past ski season that gajillionaire Philip Anschutz would no longer operate the 69-year-old Ski Train between Denver's Union Station and the base of the Winter Park ski area on weekends. His company sold the vintage railroad cars, and he washed his hands of this enduringly populat Colorado tradition.

Now comes the joyful news that the Ski Train will operate for a 70th year after all. Iowa Pacific Holdings, which is based in Chicago but operates the seasonal Rio Grande Scenic Railroad, an excursion train in southern Colorado's San Luis Valley, as well as short-line freight lines here and and elsewhere, said it wanted to operate the Denver-Winter Park service using rolling stock that would otherwise remain idle in winter. Amtrak asked the Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks, for permission to operate a revived Ski Train on Iowa Pacific's behalf. Permission granted.

The old Ski Train website is still up with the announcement that the train ceased operations. The new broke so recently that there is not yet a new website, and of course, a timetable and fares have yet to be announced. The initial news indicated only that the revived train will run between December 16 and March 28.

Backroad to Los Alamos

Jemez Road is a quiet byway for shunpiking Interstate 25

When we drive to and from Albuquerque, we almost always take Interstate 25, and since many of central New Mexico's most interesting events, museums and restaurants are in Santa Fe, we find ourselves on the Albuquerque-Santa Fe stretch of the highway over and over. Someday, I'm going to take the Rail Runner Express train (below, heading south out of Santa Fe), but it didn't happen this trip.

On our most recent trip, we wanted to make a day trip to Los Alamos on a gray, sometimes- rainy Tuesday, so instead to reprising I-25, we followed New Mexico Highway 4, the Jemez Road. Much of it travels through tribal land, where photography is generally discouraged -- if not downright prohibited. Exterior shots of the Jemez Pueblo's Walatowa Visitor Center (below) are permitted, but the small tribal museum is also off-limits for photography.

The small, artsy Anglo community of Jemez Springs with a handful of galleries, shops, restaurants, accommodations, the Jemez State Monument and several hot springs, makes for a fine quiet getaway from Albuquerque, Santa Fe or Los Alamos, but the monument (ruins of an ancient pueblo) was closed the day we passed through, so we just stopped at the Highway 4 Cafe for coffee and pastry -- both of which were very, very good.

Most of the roadside pullouts on public land north and east of the pueblo provide fishing access, but one is a bona fide scenic and geologic attractions. The Soda Dam, one of the area hot springs, is right off the road, so of course, we stopped.

So did other travelers, and many of them were wandering around the travertine formation.

The highlight is a waterfall that emerges out of the tangled rock layers.

Valles Caldera National Preserve was created in 2000 to preserve and protect the 89,000-acre Baca Ranch in a volcanic crater in the Jemez Mountains. The preserve also represents a unique experiment in public land management, combining historic ranch operations with programs and facilities for visitors.

Leaving Valles Caldera, the route passes through the section of Bandelier National Monument burned during the Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000. It started as a prescribed burn that went out of control and ultimately burned about 48,000 acres, destroyed 235 homes and other structures, threatened the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock from which more than 18,000 residents were evacuated and threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Natural revegetation has occurred in the nearly nine-and-a-half years since then, but the Cerro Grande fire remains searned into the consciousness of all who were impacted.

On a previous visit to Los Alamos, we visited the Bradbury Science Museum and the Los Alamos Ranch School, where the Manattan Project was hatched. My husband loves surplus stores, and this trip had the goal of visiting the Black Hole Sales Company, a legendary surplus store established by the late "Atomic Ed" Grothus. I took a few snapshots (below), but if this interests you, I urge you to click here for photos and text by Dave Bullock, a California programmer, photographer and blogger who is for more competent at conveying the spirit of the place than I am.

I couldn't begin to identify most of the objects in this 19,000-square-foot boneyard for surplus from the nuclear labs.

If you needed some cords to connect this to that, you might just be able to find it here. My husband, a connoisseur of surplus stores, praised the Black Hole for its organization.

I got a kick out of such whimsies as a barrel labeled "Empty" but clearly full of pipe couplings.

My husband remarked that I was "lucky" that the Black Hole was not in Denver, and I suppose I am. His eyes lit up at many of the objects that I couldn't identify, but if it were closer, I suppose I might be living with some of them. The Black Hole is at 4015 Arkansas, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544; 505-662-5053. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturdays (except major holidays).