By Ann Duwe
 Paul and Liz Nyberg, owners of the Los Altos Town Crier, wave from next to the Oriental Express. |
Rail enthusiasts need travel only as far as Emeryville to find one of the world’s great train rides. The route stretches from San Francisco Bay to mile-high Denver. Dramatic scenery, the opportunity to travel with friends and the chance to experience life on a vintage train drew local residents to a seven-day journey with Town Crier Train Tours along the route aboard the American Orient Express, Nov. 1-7.
“This is territory you can’t get enough of,” said Bill Alhouse of Los Altos Hills. Bill and his wife, Barbara, had seen much of the route before. “Your vantage point is always slightly different,” he said.
The Sierra crossing, infamous for the hardship endured by those who blasted their way through this awesome granite spine, was accompanied on this occasion by alternating sun and snow. A giant double rainbow connected the tracks to the mirrored surface of Donner Lake.
“The whole region seemed transformed by magic,” said first-timer Pamela Taft of Los Altos Hills.
There were major excursion stops along the way. Town Crier Train Tours enjoyed a private showing of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento with a docent-led tour concentrated on the building of the transcontinental railroad.
From Sacramento, the group took a coach tour into Yosemite National Park. Bridalveil and Yosemite falls spilled through a frame of yellow cottonwood leaves in sharp contrast to the mighty facades of Half Dome and the valley rim. A boat cruise on Lake Tahoe was a highlight of day 4.
Less well-known are Arches and Canyonlands national parks, where the group spent day 5. The train stopped in Thompson, Utah, population 8.
“The scene was straight out of ‘Thelma and Louise,’” Laura Griswold of Saratoga said. “There was a single street lined with clapboard houses, their roofs sagging in neglect. Only the gas station at the edge of town looked as though it were still in business,” Griswold said.
From this humble crossing, coaches took the group to Canyonlands, where everyone walked a high mesa with a precipitous edge and marveled at how deeply the two rivers carved into their respective canyons before joining forces.
Nearby Arches National Park was named for more than 2,000 red sandstone openings created by water, ice, wind and the movement of underlying salt domes.
On day 6 the train climbed over the Continental Divide from Grand Junction, Colo. The tracks hug the shoulders of the Colorado River and cling to the banks of scenic Fraser Canyon before reaching their greatest elevation - 9,239 feet. By the time the train dropped down into Denver, it was dark.
Evenings were spent dining in elegantly appointed cars. Afterward passengers gathered around the grand piano to sing ballads of the same vintage as the train - the ’40s and ’50s.
Town Crier Train Tours plans to offer two trips in 2006 - Ashland by Amtrak Train, June 28 to July 2, and The Ghan Across Australia, Sept. 4-14.
New this year for the Ashland trip is an excursion to Oregon’s Train Mountain. The Australia trip includes an optional extension to the Great Barrier Reef.
For more information, contact Ann Duwe at 941-6381 or e-mail ann.duwe@sbcglobal.net
