THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603090049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TRAVEL-WISE
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines
TRAIN TRAVEL in the United States used to be pretty neat stuff. Unless you're pushing 60 or have already reached that plateau, you'll just have to take my word for that.
The glorious days of genteel rail travel, which reached their grandeur in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, have mostly disappeared across the globe. Only a few Great Trains remain:
The Blue Train, running between Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa; the Ghan, between Adelaide and Alice Springs in Australia; the Palace on Wheels in India; the Venice-Simplon Orient Express from London to Venice; the relatively new (1993) Eastern & Orient Express, which runs from Singapore up through the heart of Malaysia to Bangkok.
The scarcity of great rail trips has made the few survivors even more popular, and a trip aboard one of these rolling, romantic anachronisms often becomes a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The standard of service and quality of food are high - and the prices are commensurate.
Now, there is a still newer entry on the list, a $24 million sibling of the Orient Express called the American Orient Express, which made its maiden voyage last year.
The AOE, which begins its second year of transcontinental rail trips between Los Angeles and Washington this spring, will add a series of eight-night national park excursions.
Eastbound transcontinental departures are March 23 and April 20. Westbound departures are April 13 and April 27. Fares for the transcontinental trips are $7,450 per person, double occupancy, in the presidential suite or $4,990 per person, double, in a deluxe sleeper (at such prices, no company calls its lowest-priced offerings ``budget'' or ``economy''). Prices include side trips and most meals.
The national park excursions operate between Santa Fe and Denver and include stops at Grants, N.M., for visits to Acoma pueblo and El Morro National Monument; Flagstaff, with side trips to Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments; the Grand Canyon stop on the old Santa Fe spur line from Williams, Ariz.; Cedar City, Utah, for visits to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks; and Salt Lake City, for a side trip to the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory, Utah. From Denver, passengers are taken by bus about 80 miles to Rocky Mountain National Park, and stay overnight nearby.
The national park excursions begin in Santa Fe on May 11, May 29 and Sept. 6 and in Denver on May 19, Aug. 28 and Sept. 29. Fares are $3,990 to $6,450.
All the cars on this private train are vintage models carefully restored to their 1940s and '50s elegance. The train has six sleepers, two dining cars, two club cars and the observation car New York, which served for 20 years on the 20th Century Limited.
What's it like? Jay Clarke of the Miami Herald, who rode the train last season, wrote:
``Traveling on the AOE takes you back to an age when train cars were works of art as well as utilitarian carriages. Rich wood Honduran mahogany paneling covers the interiors and exteriors of compartments. Embossed leather covers the walls of the club cars; inlaid woods and original oil paintings decorate the dining cars.
``Each of the two club cars has a grand piano, marble-top bar, plush sofas and chairs. All compartments have panoramic windows, wash basins and their own enclosed toilet facilities.
``This is not a train whose purpose is to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as its steel wheels can rotate. Passage on the AOE is more like a sailing on a cruise ship. Train stops are like port calls: Passengers disembark to take a land excursion, then - some hours later - reboard to freshen up, have cocktails and gourmet dinner, enjoy after-dinner conviviality in the club car and retire to their cabin as the train speeds to another locale. It's a way of travel that appeals to many.''
Stops on the transcontinental trips include Charlottesville (for a visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and the University of Virginia), New Orleans (French Quarter, jazz and sternwheeler luncheon cruise), San Antonio (River Walk, the Alamo and a Texas barbecue), Santa Fe, N.M. (Anasazi ruins, Southwestern cusine and native crafts chopping), and Flagstaff, Ariz. (Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater).
Lecturers travel with the train and discuss such highlights as the Shenandoah Valley, the Mississippi River and the Grand Canyon.
Despite the similarity in their names, the American Orient Express has nothing to do with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express luxury train that runs between London and Venice, though both have borrowed the Orient Express name from the early 20th century European luxury train.
The AOE is owned by the Swiss company Reiseburo Mittelhurgau, which also owns the Nostalgic Istanbul Orient Express.
The train is represented in the United States by T.C.S. Expeditions of Seattle. Info: (800) 727-7477. Bookings are accepted through travel agents. SHAKE THE BLUES
The Homestead, that recently refurbished grand old resort in Hot Springs, Va., offers an opportunity to shake off the winter blues with a ``Shag N' Beach'' weekend March 22-24. Friday night feature is Charlie Byrd Beach Blast D.J. show and dance; on Saturday night are Bill Deal and the Rhondells - the Sheiks of Shag. Also part of the program: shag, swing and line-dancing workshops.
Price is $299 per person, double occupancy and includes luxury accommodations, buffet breakfasts and theme party dinners. Info or reservations: (800) 838-1766. FEELING LUCKY?
Would you like to go to New York City? Enter this ``dream trip'' contest. One couple and family will win free transportation to New York, and accommodations at the New York Hilton and Towers. Say in 250 words or less why you dream of visiting New York and what you'd like to see. Include specific interests (art, theater, etc.) and the names and ages of family members who would be traveling to NYC. Contestants must agree to visit between May 8 and 11, 1996, during National Tourism Week.
Send entries to 10,000 Visitor Contest, Big Apple Greeter, 1 Centre St., New York, N.Y. 10007 or fax (212) 669-4900, postmarked or faxed no later than March 31. TRAVEL FREE
Of course there's a catch. Go Ahead Vacations, with offices worldwide, offers free travel to those who can organize a group of as few as seven others to tour or cruise. While many tour companies offer similar plans for the organizer of groups of 20 or more, Go Ahead notes that its plans require only from seven to 25 participants. Write or call for the free ``Group Leader Handbook'' from Go Ahead Vacations, Group Department, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, Mass. 02142; (800) 438-7672. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases, trade
journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the writer's
mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The Virginian-Pilot,
Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (804) 446-2904. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TCS EXPEDITIONS
The American Orient Express will make transcontinental trips between
Los Angeles and Washington.
by CNB