Ken Burns has a new documentary that starts this Sunday 8pm on PBS called 'The National Parks: America's Best Idea'. I am sure it is well worth the investment of your time to see the beauty that America is through this brilliant work. Maybe your next Amtrak excursion can include a side stop at one or more of these parks.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Amongst the "majors", Glacier certainly is on the top of the pile for rail accessibility, but Grand Canyon is not far behind. Yosemite is "in the running" as well. But alas, Yellowstone hasn't been since the Northern Pacific last had a passenger train, North Coast Hiawatha, during 1979.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Glacier, and the Grand Canyon are by far the best to reach by rail. It is a shame they had to discontinue the North Coast Hiawatha.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Thanks for the heads-up on this documentary. Ken Burns' productions are always worth watching, not least because they draw so much on oral history.
Glacier Park is splendid. I've taken my family there three times, all on the Builder, and my wife and I have stopped at the Izaak Walton Inn three times as well. We're thinking about taking our sons and their children to Glacier in a couple of years.
We did Grand Canyon a few years ago, getting there via the SW Chief and the GCRR. It made for a great short (two day) stay.
Posted by dilly (Member # 1427) on :
We traveled from L.A. to Sequoia National Park a few weeks ago -- Amtrak bus to Bakersfield, followed by the San Joaquin to Hanford, followed by another Amtrak bus to Visalia (from there, we took the Visalia/NPS shuttle bus to the park).
Several years ago, we used Amtrak to take a trip to the absolutely amazing Yosemite too. Definitely one of the most spectacular places on Planet Earth. Highly recommended.
---------------------------
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
"Adequately favorable" review appearing in this past Friday's Times:
I watched the first installment last evening. It addressed Yosemite and Yellowstone. Since the Northern Pacific, to say the least, "lobbied" to have Yellowstone become a Park, there were "stills" of NP trains.
Indeed, Mr. Burns, is likely the most accomplished documentary film artist to have ever walked this planet. Michael Moore, grow up.
I'll be out of town next Friday (Greenwich; far away from here as either way with the Olympics, the "town's gonna get trashed") who knows after Dinner with friends, I'll catch it at the hotel (WTTW -Chi PBS- runs an "encore'; can't be sure what WNET -NY PBS- does)
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
I was a bit disappointed in the opener -- a few too many sentimental references to the spirituality of nature, accompanied by wide-angle shots of the same lordly peaks and majestic waterfalls. But I loved that endearing nutball John Muir and the pointed references to unbridled private enterprise. Here's hoping next week's installment doesn't feel like a 60-minute episode stretched into two hours.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
If you have HDTV, the experience is indeed "enhanced".
It will be quite interesting to learn how that 20K' mountain peak in Alaska is addressed - Denali or McKinley. I always thought it was Mr. McKinley in Denali National Park, but I believe I saw a recent reference to such as Mr. Denali.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
I have HDTV, too, and the viewing experience was first-rate, aside from the repetition. (But a tiger can't change its spots.)
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Henry, the next episode is tonight. It runs every night this week. Also will be repeated on the weekend in larger chunks.
Sounds like you are really on the mend. See your posts but no Twitters lately?
Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
I enjoyed the show last night. But one point made in the NYT review is well-taken: there are few people in the show. I find the history interesting, and the views spectacular, but every time I've visited in the summer months, the traffic, both vehicular and foot is overwhelming. Both the Grand Canyon and Glacier are on my list to visit by train. We used to go to Yellowstone every other year when young; we'd find great amusement in stopping our car, pointing out at nothing for a bit, then leaving just as whole crowds would stop to look for the "wildlife" we had seen.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I caught bits and pieces of last night's documentary during the lengthy commercial breaks in the sophmoric movie I was watching on an adjacent channel. What I saw was fine but I didn't want to get sucked into something that's going to be running all week.
For the interested; one of the lines from said movie on the adjacent channel was -
"strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
Anyone know from that what I was watching?
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
It appears that Comcast On-Demand will be offering the National Parks episodes, but not (as of yet) in HD.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
There's just something mesmerizing about the two episodes I have seen so far. The staggering amount of history laced with incredible black and white pictures and dramatic color vistas keeps me watching. I am DVR'ing it so I can watch it again later. Sucked into it? Darn right. Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
quote:Originally posted by notelvis:
For the interested; one of the lines from said movie on the adjacent channel was -
"strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
Anyone know from that what I was watching?
You were watching 1989's "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", but I don't know on which channel. One of my son's favorite movies.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
I fell asleep halfway through last nights installment. But as I noted earlier, Comcast On-Demand is offering same. For one who "hits the rack' at about 9PM, these are "a bit of a slog'.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ocala Mike:
quote:Originally posted by notelvis:
For the interested; one of the lines from said movie on the adjacent channel was -
"strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
Anyone know from that what I was watching?
You were watching 1989's "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", but I don't know on which channel. One of my son's favorite movies.
You are correct!
Having spent the bulk of my professional career (less three years as an Army trumpet player) working with teen-agers, Bill & Ted still make me howl.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
I'm sorry to report that "I've given up" on Mr. Burns material.
Not that it is anything other than quality material, it is simply aired too darned late for a fellow whose bedtime is 830-9PM. It seems that the local PBS outlet WTTW never airs anything of value prior to 8PM CT as they appear committed to airing McNeal/Leher at 6 followed by Chicago Tonight at 7; even "the begathons' adhere to that schedule.
I've learned things I've never knew; first that some portion of Yosemite was damed to become a reservoir and the extent that railroads, in the interest of promoting PASSENGER traffic, were involved in the political lobby.
But negatively, I'd swear I can hear that hymn, "Jerusalem...what God grants I may see" (it's in the Episcopal hymnal FWIW - and our Rector seemed to like it) in my sleep!!!
GBN, I hear you! (So to speak.) I'm also the kind of geezer who hits the hay early, and so I'm DVRing all of the Burns episodes to watch earlier in the day when I've got more energy.
My wife, however, said the second two episodes were livelier than the first and kept her rapt all the way through. She also felt the first episode dragged some, so perhaps that gives hope for the rest. The project is a noble one and I sure hope it reaches a wide audience.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
As you likely know, Mr. Kisor, the WTTW offerings available with Comcast On Demand are quite limited. They are offering the National Parks, but only in "low def' and for very limited periods (obviously the rights holder has "visions of lucrative DVD sales dancing in their heads" - Xmas is a comin' and not too many merchants are gettin' fat).
What with my ankle injury (it getting better but its gonna take time - that's what Doc said; and I think she is right), the (fly and rent) trip to Virginia on which it happened two weeks ago, hobbling in to town for my hook up with Mr. Palmland and Miss Mary, a carpenter doing work at my house, the upcoming trip this weekend to Greenwich (also fly and rent) for a family wedding that is actually in Brooklyn, I am three days behind in reading my Times and Journal; something's gotta give.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
There's a great shot of "Uncle Gil" on that wedding site. Wish I looked as avuncular.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
LOVED tonight's segment on the Great Smokey Mountains......complete with a segment on logging activities with twisting mountain railroads with tiny steam locomotives.
One of my friends, also a teacher in the school system where I work, is a huge fan and collector of firsthand accounts of the logging railroads which once existed throughout the Southern Appalachians. He, like most of us, loves the Great Smokies National Park although he is descended from the owner of one of the timber companies which tried their best to strip the Smokies bare before it's National Park designation.
Great stuff.
Posted by TBlack (Member # 181) on :
Henry,
That is a good photo of our Uncle Gil. I believe, if memory serves, that Barbara Bankson is Gil's sister. GBN needs to stay off that ankle, so maybe not too much dancing at the reception? A couple of glasses of wine always helps!
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
I've joined the DVR crowd since I'm on a stretch of 7-16hr shifts at work. Will watch them all in a row my next Sunday off. I am sure they will all be incredible!
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
This thread -- and watching the DVRed second episode of the Burns epic yesterday afternoon -- has me hankering to visit the Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande in Texas. I've heard a lot about it, all good, from fellow writers.
From the maps it looks as if we could take the Texas Eagle from Chicago to Alpine, Texas, about 60 miles north of Big Bend, and then rent a car for the rest of the trip.
Anybody done this one yet?
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Henry, I went to Big Bend for purposes of birding. Did not take the train though.
The park is immense with miles and miles of not much. All the action, at least birdwise, is at the southern end near the border and the river. It was not my favorite place.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Vicki, why wasn't Big Bend your favorite place? Too much sand and rocks? Loneliness and isolation?
I costed out a trip in March from Chicago -- it'd be two nights and 48 hours each way, and I am not sure a roomette on the Texas Eagle is worth $1200 RT for two. It'd be a lot cheaper to use airline miles to fly to San Antonio and then take coach on the Eagle from San Antonio to Alpine.
In any case my wife does not seem eager to go to that part of Texas. To paraphrase GBN, if you've seen one cactus you've seen 'em all. But I love the isolation of the desert . . .
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
I do not think Alpine has a car rental anymore. They used to have a $40 a day rental PLUS 29 cents a mile. Outrageous rates! Big Bend is 110 miles one way from Alpine.
If you go, be sure to visit Chisos Mountains campgrounds. The High Desert is very scenic and the lava mountains are worth a bunch of pictures, too.
I have land in Terlingua Ranch, giving me a reason to get out there 2-3 times a year.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
There are two auto rental places in Alpine, or so Googling indicates. One offers small Chevys for $36 a day plus 10 cents a mile.
I'm not familiar with car rental policies in that part of the country, but wonder if the per-mile charge (most cars I've rented in the big cities come with unlimited mileage) is because of the huge distances between localities in south Texas. Or maybe because there's little competition.
It's 93.44 miles from Alpine to the center of Big Bend National Park, according to MapQuest. At 10 cents a mile round trip that sure does add up.
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
Make a phone call before you go.
And I think 10 cents was the price, not 29 cents. However, you may be able to negotiate the first 100 miles a day free.
The Big Bend visitor's center is 110 miles from Alpine.
And it is worth the trip to Marfa to see the lights.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
93.44 miles one-way X 2 = 186.88 miles round trip
186.88 miles X $0.10/mile = $18.69
Sounds reasonable to me...........
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mike Smith: I do not think Alpine has a car rental anymore. They used to have a $40 a day rental PLUS 29 cents a mile. Outrageous rates!
Mr. Smith, rental autos "ain't cheap no more". At one time, the various automakers , shall we say, subsidized the auto rental concerns figuring that it was good advertising to get spanking new product out in the hands of a clientele that "buys new cars'. However, the automakers scrapped that business model and to my knowledge the auto rental concerns now pay a fleet price similar to any concern buying a like number of vehicles would pay, i.e. still more than UENI.
I can recall renting autos in Florida maybe five years ago, for $129 a week unlimited mileage ($99 a week ten years ago), albeit from off airport outlets. Only add on was tax and gas (and fortitude to ward off the hard sell for unneeded insurances).
My three rental auto experiences so far this year (all from Hertz airport locations; unlimited mileage) are Feb KPBI (Nissan Sentra) 4 days $569.30, Sep KRIC (Toyota Camry) 2 days $98.33, and Oct KHPN (projected starting later today: edit Chevy Impala) 3 days $346.83. All these include taxes and the various add-ons such as 'concession recoupment fee". But, absent having my own auto, renting an auto at destination is simply a "knee-jerk' as it is with most anyone I know.
"Grin 'n bear it"; also "pony up".
A final Amtrak related thought, the whopper increase in Florida auto rental rates certainly makes Auto Train more financially attractive.
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
West Texas. You can't even get a radio station on the regular car radio. Not even in Spanish.
I'll take the California desert thanks.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
RRRich, thanks! I misplaced the decimal point badly.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
This Ken Burns epic has me trying to figure out where the Mrs. and I might go on the train to visit national parks.
We've done Glacier three times, Yellowstone once, Yosemite once and the Grand Canyon once. So those are out.
Hmmm . . . what about the Arches and Canyonlands in Utah? Looks like they're within a couple hours' rental car drive from Green River, Utah, a stop on Nos. 5/6. Anyone done this?
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
We "did"Arches and Canyonlands on a trip west. We did drive the entire trip but I can tell you we stayed several days in Moab and struck out from there. the tourist info from Moab was excellent. I suggest you also stop at Dead Horsepoint for some magnificant scenery and if you go to Canyonlands take food and water. Unless things have changed there is none there. Another park you might consider if you haven't been there and want to drive is Theodore Roosevelt in N. Dakota. Super!! I don't know what train arrangements would be unless you take the Builder to the closest town in ND and drive from there. All my travel logs are packed for moving so my help is curtailed but the National Park Service web site is very good.
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Henry, addenda..Medora is the town close to the park and has a number of motels and restaurants. They always closed on Labor Day but I don't know when they reopen
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
addenda to the addenda.. I think Williston may be the closest town the builder goes to in ND
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Henry: A little off the beaten path, but the Coast Starlight can bring you near a number of places, parks, and monuments that don't get as many visitors as the "biggies", but still worthwhile.
Among them:
Lassen Volcanic Park, about 50 miles east of Redding, Calif.
Oregon Caves National Mounument, just north of the Calif. border.
Crater Lake
Government Camp Park near Mt. Hood in Oregon
Mt. Hood area in Oregon
Further North in Washington:
Mt Rainier
Olympic Peninsula Rain Forest
Richard
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Crater Lake is great. The lodge has a vvey good restaurant. But Mt. Rushmore is in South Dakota. Also we found it very touristy though the rock carving is truly magnificent.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Oops! I posted Mt. Rushmore..I meant to write "Mt. Ranier". Corrected the post. Richard
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
One of the habitues of this forum emailed me that Grand Junction is the best place to detrain and entrain on the Zephyr for a trip to Arches and Canyonlands. Mapquest says Moab, gateway to those parks, is 1 hour 45 minutes by car from Grand Junction. But there's also a "back way" along the Colorado River to Moab.
Now to decide on a good time to go. Maybe early- to mid-March, when things are thawing and daily temps can reach 65, according to the Arches website. (And when roomettes between Grand Junction and Chicago on Nos. 5/6 are still in the $205 range, at least as of today.)
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
A number of years ago, friends of mine and I took the Zephyr to Grand Junction, CO, We then rented a car and drove from Grand Junction down to Montrose, Ouray, and finally to Durango. The stretch from Montrose to Durango was written up, in a magazine, as one of the "the most scenic drives in the country". I can believe it..the scenery along the way was fantastic. After arriving in Durango we took the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge train.
Richard
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
I did the Grand Junction to Moab trip 3 years ago in March with my daughter and it was wonderful. But beware of the AWFUL taxi service in GJT. They have only one cab company. It took them 2.5 hours to pick us up at Amtrak to get to our airport car rental, so we had to do the beautiful trip to our Moab motel in the dark. On the way back I called them 3 hours ahead of our train departure and we almost missed our train. From the airport, which had no waiting cabs! Then they told me they didn't hurry because trains are always late (it wasn't). Both drivers were rude and one smoked and drove with all 4 windows open. This was my 2nd bad experience in GJT with cabs. I tried but Hertz did not have enough staff on hand to pick me up or drop me off.
There were mountain biking events going on in Moab about then so the motels required a reservation. The weather was ideal. We did a loop through Telluride (to ski), Ouray and Silverton and the scenery was magnificent.
Colorado National Monument is also right at the city limits of GJT. The Arches provided awesome hiking opportunities. If only there was a good option to get from train to a rental car in GJT.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
One of the very best websites I have found with info on parks in the American SW is here:
There is Tool Bar along the top of the webpage to change states of interest. A person could spend months sightseeing just in the southern half of Utah alone, and not cover it all properly.
Also don't overlook Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona if you are an avid photographer.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
TwinStar -
2nd your comments -
Grand Junction is the only city I have ever seen where there were no taxis available at the airport.
I dropped a rental car off there about an hour and forty-five minutes before the eastbound California Zephyr was due in 2005.
No cabs.
I called for a cab on the courtesy phone - 'we'll send one out there in a little bit'.
65 minutes later one cab rolls up and picks up all three (I was the first) waiting fares. By the time we have been delivered around downtown Grand Junction, I made it to the Amtrak station about 10 minutes before the CZ pulled in on time.
Short of getting off the train and stretching my legs there, I can't imagine ever needing to visit Grand Junction again.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Hmmm. After reading the horror stories about taxis at the Grand Junction airport, I checked Enterprise Rent-a-Car at Grand Junction on the company's Web site. You know Enterprise -- the one that picks you up and takes you to the office where the paperwork is done. It has a rental office at 406 5th St. downtown, a few blocks from the Amtrak station.
Maybe this is a new development, but I'll check it out further.
Posted by RussM (Member # 3627) on :
I did a coast-to-coast trip by car in 2004, visiting 10 National Parks. All the parks are great, but my vote for most beautiful National Park is Crater Lake in southern Oregon. That is easy to reach from Klamath Falls, a stop for the Coast Starlight.
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
One more addendum: Medora is on the former NP, which runs right through Theodore Roosevelt park. One doesn't expect spectacular scenery in North Dakota, but it's there -- truly spectacular, mountains and rolling prairies, hundred-mile views...
I've been fortunate to have a number of head-end rides on freight trains over the years (all legit and work-related). My all-time favorite memory is of standing on the "back porch" of an SD40-2 as we climbed out of the valley of the Little Missouri River in Notch 8, our five units burning through three gallons of diesel every 10 seconds, as our long loaded coal train spooled out around the curves behind us, stretching more than a mile back toward the river crossing. Hoisting 16,000 tons up a 1% grade uses a lot of energy.
And yes, the Ron Burns series is wonderful.
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
You're right. TR is far from what one expects and the views are spectactular.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
Finally got around to watching the entire series that I had DVR'd. This was quite an achievement, and an amazing series that is well worth the 65$ purchase price, to watch again in the deep, dark, cold Winter months when I'm trapped indoors. This will be a great addition to my home DVD library. We are quite blessed to have such great National Parks that we can all call our own.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)