It's a folkloric image burned into our brains by movies, TV, comic books: the train at the siding as people swarm around it, the upward plumes of vapor and the slowly panting shooosh of the steam-driven pumps that keep the locomotive's air lines charged.
The high-ceilinged cars and the roughly regular sway and clickety-clack of their travel from Williams, Ariz., to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon take you back to some scene in your favorite period film.Naturally, this is a connection the Grand Canyon Railway jumps on with both feet. The mythology of trains puts them out West, and out West means, well, cowboys. Engineers, conductors and scores of supporting characters - steely-eyed lawmen and mustachioed desperadoes - stroll around in period dress; a gunfight is staged before the train departs and the train is "robbed" in transit.
While adults might regard the play-acting as so much hokum, the ornery cowpokes hollering their way through your car after the "stickup" are a perfect example of the Barney Principle: Kids live in a totally different world than adults. It's a world where the cowboys are very real and they love it, staring open-mouthed, transfixed. They even love the singing cowboys who wander the cars (singing-cowboy quality can vary wildly from car to car and trip to trip).
There are realizations and insights for grown-ups, too; those gunbelts - ribbed with thumb-sized bullets and holding a pistol roughly twice the size of a pork chop - look awfully heavy to be wearing to work. Let's not even think about riding a horse around all day.
The theatrics are there for a reason: Though the 128-mile round trip is challenging from an engineer's point of view - with lots of 10-degree curves and 3-percent grades - except for a beautiful 4-mile stretch through Coconino Canyon, most of the nearly 2 1/2-hour trip features relatively ordinary scenery. Distant mountains are separated from the viewer by what seems to be about a thousand miles of scrubby sage.
There are a few dilapidated buildings and stock pens along the way, but until the train nears the canyon the view is relatively unremarkable. It gives you pause to think about traveling from, oh, St. Louis to San Francisco in such a fashion.
It can, however, allow a fine opportunity to see wildlife: pronghorn antelope on the sage plains, mule deer in the woods, countless squirrels and chipmunks. Perhaps you'll even glimpse a bobcat running from the track with a powerful, graceful gait that belies his kittycat image.
It's a trip that has made the GCR the No. 1 tourist railway in the country. This year it reinstated year-round service (except for Dec. 24-25).
Originally started to service mining concerns in the Grand Canyon area, the Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railroad Co. began operating in 1900 between Williams and Anita, some 20 miles south of the canyon. The Santa Fe, never an organization that suffered competition gladly, took over the line in 1901.
Although popular understanding of the history of the West often paints the railroads as villains, they were prime movers behind the establishment of many of our western national parks.
In 1919, the Grand Canyon became a national park, thanks in great part to the efforts of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In partnership with the Fred Harvey Co., the AT&SF began developing the area in earnest, building hotels, restaurants and the infrastructure to support them.
Things boomed until the arrival of the automobile. The first paved road reached the South Rim in the mid-'20s, and it was downhill from there. Service was cut in half in 1932, then cut back to summers only in 1956.
In the '60s, annual ridership was way less than 10,000, and the last passenger run in 1968 reportedly carried only three people.
In 1980 Railroad Resources Inc., a salvage concern, contracted with the Santa Fe Railroad in 1980 to take up the long-neglected track that ran from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Inspired by the restored tourist railroads that were then popping up back east, RRI elected not to tear the track up, but to buy the right of way, instead.
In 1987, RRI went belly-up, and investor Max Biegert found himself the proud owner of 22 miles of that right of way. Rather than try to recoup his money by salvage, he elected to press on with plans to create an authentic railroad experience, attempting to start anew in an industry that had been in decline for more than 50 years.
You wouldn't know the place now. Biegert's Grand Canyon Railway opened with an inaugural run to the South Rim Sept. 17, 1989, the 88th anniversary of the first passenger train to the canyon.
After an investment of some $20 million, both the depot and the new Fray Marcos Hotel (with the same architectural theme of the 1908 original) gleam in the early-morning sunlight as the train begins its daily run.
The authentic steam locomotives (note to rail buffs: Alco 2-8-0s from the first decade of the century, converted from coal to oil) that pull the green Pullman passenger cars from Memorial Day to the end of September harken back to the line's 1920s heyday.
Diesel locomotives (for buffs: '50s-vintage Alco-designed FPA4s) handle things from October until Memorial Day, so as not to overwork the difficult-to-refurbish steamers.
The cars are day coaches, which means padded bench seats, seating two on each side of a central aisle, with a simple open luggage rack above. The seats are comfortable, but they remind you people were a bit smaller in 1923, when these cars were built.
The trip ends up at the foot of El Tovar hotel at 11:45 a.m., affording 31/2 hours to sightsee, buy souvenirs or grab a bite. At 3:15 p.m. - when they say "sharp," they mean it - the train makes the trip back to Williams.
While there, you're actually part of the answer to the great question facing administration of our national parks: how to cope with the crushing burden of American car culture.
Although other proposed rail lines might be more modern in their appearance, last year the vintage GCR alone kept 46,000 cars out of Grand Ganyon National Park.
If you're spending the night - or several - at the canyon, the train provides an excellent opportunity to shuck your automobile and concentrate on your surroundings, not to mention bask in a bit of mythic Americana.
If you go
GETTING THERE: It's easy to get to the Grand Canyon Railway depot in Williams: Take I-40 to exit 163, then follow Grand Canyon Boulevard 1/2 mile south to the depot.
FARES: There are three classes of service available. (Ask about discounts for ages 62 and older.)
- Coach class is basically just the bench seats and a snack - is $49 for adults, $19 for ages 3 to 16.
- Club class puts you in a coach modified for more spacious accommodations and includes coffee and rolls in the morning. The Club Car features a hand-finished and fully stocked mahogany bar as well. You can upgrade to Club class for an additional $12 per person.
- Chief class puts you in the elegant Chief Keokuck, an authentically luxurious Pullman parlor car built in 1927. Air-conditioned, with moveable furniture in the observation lounge and an open-air platform on the back of the car, Chief class includes a complimentary continental breakfast in the morning and fruit and cheese in the afternoon. Upgrades to Chief class from Coach are an additional $50 per person.
One-way fares also are available, as are a number of tours that take you around the canyon, then deliver you to the train before departure. There are other tours that incorporate the GCR into a bigger package.
SCHEDULE: Except for Dec. 24-25, the train leaves the depot in Williams at 9:30 a.m. sharp; it's strongly recommended you plan to check in at least an hour before departure. The train arrives at the Grand Canyon Depot at approximately 11:45 a.m. and departs at 3:15 p.m. Approximate arrival back in Williams is 5:30 p.m. Access to the train for people with disabilities is available but limited; inquire in advance.
MORE INFORMATION: Grand Canyon Railway, Business Office, 123 N. San Francisco, Suite 210, Flagstaff, Ariz. 86001; 1-800-THE TRAIN (843-8724) or (520) 773-1976.