The scenery in Colorado is compelling enough that the Rocky Mountaineer company, operator of upscale excursion trains, hopes to launch a latter-day cruise train titled Rockies to the Red Rocks in the summer of 2021. It's a long-weekend proposition, with overnight stays in Glenwood Springs, Colo., and Moab, Utah.
Passengers interested in riding can book in either direction, with packages on the western end available to and from both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Nev. Trains will leave Denver on the 194 miles to Glenwood Springs at 9 a.m. and travel “at Kodak speed” of 30 mph, according to a webinar for travel agents last week. The train will arrive in Glenwood Springs for its overnight stop at 5 p.m. Departure the next morning is at 7 a.m., with a noon arrival at the location near Moab.There aren't any new Budd short dome cars being built, and the modified gallery cars Rocky Mountaineer use in Canada do not fit the clearance diagram on the Moffat Tunnel Route. Thus, apparently, the sightseeing cars will be modified versions of Seaboard's old Sun Lounge cars.
The eastbound train will turn the same day, departing at 3 p.m. for Glenwood Springs; Denver arrival the next day will be at 5 p.m.
Zipping through Ruby Canyon west of Grand Junction has long been the icing on the cake for California Zephyr passengers who had experienced passage through Gore and Glenwood canyons earlier in the day, and a tempting appetizer for their eastbound counterparts. Though considerably more expensive, the new Rocky Mountaineer venture will finally allow passengers to get off and explore this unique and unsung area.
Moab is at the end of a branch line Rio Grande built to haul potash. These would be the first scheduled passenger trains routed that way.
2 comments:
Oh god. That sounds like a route planned on paper that no one in charge has ever driven. After Grand Junction the mountains disappear, and in 10 miles you're into pretty horrifying desert. That continues for about 100 miles until you get about 5 miles outside Moab. There's plenty of scenic stuff around that route, but not much on it.
A lot of railroad lines are like that, particularly in the west. You can't chase a train using the roads because they're too far apart, and there are some roads that you can't take an ordinary car onto without a good radio or 'phone and some spare supplies.
I suspect the turnback is out there so as to not interfere with the freight trains still going that way.
It's too bad the military don't have an arsenal at Moab. Sure, that's one of those Biblical Mormon names, but as an acronym it's something that makes a big boom.
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