Ted and Sylvia Blishak write

the Leisure Rail column for

Passenger Train Journal

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Information below is reprinted by permission of the publisher, White River Productions, Inc.  www.whiteriverproductions.com

Congratulations, PTJ, on your 40th anniversary! Your survival is a dream come true for readers who need information about rail travel, much of which is available only on your pages.—Ted & Sylvia

Longtime readers who saw the 25th anniversary issue in 1993 will remember that, in our Keeping Track column, we wrote about how Amtrak and VIA have changed their ticketing policies over the years and how that affects you, the rail passenger. Now, 15 years later, it's time to bring you up to date.

We'll also give you lots of suggestions for where to go on your next train trip, and how best to plan it.

When to consult a travel agent—and when not to

In the mid-1990s, the travel industry underwent a major change as the airlines stopped paying agents commissions for issuing their tickets. Those few of us who booked lots of Amtrak and VIA tickets felt, for a time, quite smug as agencies dependent upon airline sales started going out of business by the thousands. However, it eventually became clear that the rest of the industry was heading toward a low, or no-commission policy. Amtrak held out until the late 1990s, but it lowered its payments drastically. VIA caved too, and actually made it impossible for us to continue to reserve space or issue tickets through our agency computers.

Doing business at a loss was not an option, as we were no longer compensated enough to cover our costs. The choice was clear: either stop selling rail tickets, or charge a fee, based upon our experience and expertise, that travelers felt was worthwhile.

Many agents gave up on rail tickets. Those of us who hung in there faced an ironic situation. After decades of trying to educate the public that it didn't cost more to buy tickets through an agency, we now had to explain that it did, and why. Surviving agents needed to define their specialty and graduate to a professional travel consultant status (hereafter referred to as PTCs). Their services needed to be worth the fees they now must charge.

"A good travel agent isn't expensive—he's priceless!" became our mantra. And even with a service fee, travelers may come out ahead by having a PTC arrange their trip, particularly if connecting trains and hotels, car rentals, and air segments are involved. If you're taking a simple round trip or one-stop journey, however, you may do as well on your own.

Although both Amtrak and VIA now promote the web as the best way for consumers to purchase tickets, smart travelers soon learned of the pitfalls involved in a complex do-it-yourself trip. A computer can't explain geography, weather, or scenery—or warn you about the perils of missed connections or habitually tardy trains. VIA's web site has yet to be programmed to book the simplest corridor connections, let alone connections to their tri-weekly trains. Few laymen understand the utter complexities of VIA or Amtrak fares, or the penchant Amtrak has for recommending bus connections when it is possible to remain on a train for the entire trip. After all, if you wanted a bus ride you would call Greyhound.

A PTC can help you make an educated choice. For example, if you ask Amtrak for routes between Los Angeles and Emeryville (the stop for San Francisco) it will offer you, as the first option, a bus to Bakersfield where you change to an inland, scenery-challenged San Joaquin train, missing the Southern California coast altogether. But a travel consultant can describe the advantages: a choice of departure times, new California Car equipment, and a probable on-time arrival in Emeryville. However, tourists almost always prefer the scenic Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Emeryville. It offers through Superliner equipment with no change of trains, no bus, and a private club car for first-class passengers. The disadvantages: only one departure per day, and passengers shouldn't count on arriving on time.

A PTC will accept your check for an Amtrak ticket. If you book your trip directly with Amtrak, they will only accept credit cards, and they want full payment before they will even confirm your booking on their website. At that point, you are subject to Amtrak's change and cancellation fees. Your PTC may delay payment for a few days so you can fine-tune your reservations without penalty.

With VIA tickets, the advantages of using a PTC involve, in many cases, a tax reduction of 3 percent or more for both the rail and hotel portion of the trip. (Booking directly with VIA and various hotels, do-it-yourselfers pay the full 5 percent tax, which is now non-refundable.) The complexities of making connections from one of VIA's three-day-a-week trains to one of its other three-day-a-week trains (which don't always depart on the same days of the week) can be daunting. A PTC familiar with the destinations, scenery, and equipment can be quite helpful, and may place you in a particular location on the train, such as a bedroom in a Park-series observation car, or into a larger bedroom—sometimes at no extra cost. PTCs can describe the Canadian's three options for two lower beds. They can also provide hotels, car rentals, air, cruises, ferries, sightseeing—and a detailed itinerary of all the trip's components.

Do-it-yourselfers may lose money because of currency fluctuations. Let's say that you make your own reservations with VIA while the currency exchange rate is the same—or par—for Canadian dollars. VIA will give you a 30-day payment deadline; this will give you time to book your hotels and car rentals. Thirty days later, let’s assume the U.S. dollar is worth only 95 cents. You'll have to pay an extra 5 percent U.S. for everything you've confirmed. If your entire trip cost is $6,000 Canadian and now $5,700 U.S., you'll have to reach into your pocket to make up the difference.

PTCs can book your entire trip at a fixed exchange rate which would, in this case, save you the $300 currency conversion loss—and save you at least another $180 in taxes.

On the downside, PTCs are sometimes prohibited from offering VIA's lowest discount schemes. But a PTC should know if you qualify for a price they cannot offer, and give you the option of dealing directly with VIA if you choose to. Just press the proper phone button to select English. Canada is a bilingual country like the U.S., except that its second language is French.

Is there a rail vacation in your future? Here are some suggestions

There are many more possibilities for your next vacation than we have room to describe. Your PTC may have brochures for these journeys and can book them, but we're including phone numbers and websites should you choose to go it alone.

If the trip you decide upon doesn't include getting to your the starting point, or if you'd like to modify or extend the trip, a PTC can coordinate your arrangements, plus issue trip insurance to cover your entire trip, including air, Amtrak, or VIA. A tour company will usually insure only its own part of the journey.

Alaska Railroad: How about heading north for a winter vacation? The Alaska Railroad has published a new Winter Adventures brochure that offers hotel and activity packages from late September to early May. Some friends of ours have traveled from Anchorage to Fairbanks and raved about viewing the northern lights while soaking in hot springs surrounded by snowdrifts—just as the brochures says. During the winter, the Aurora Winter Train from Anchorage to Fairbanks operates on Saturdays and returns on Sundays.

The Glacier Discovery Train heads from Anchorage to Whittier and beyond, continuing through the Placer River Valley to Spencer Glacier and the alpine meadows of Grandview. A partnership between the railroad and the U.S. Forest Service will provide whistle-stop service aboard a new self-propelled, two-level diesel MU, built by Colorado Railcar and slated to begin service in 2009.

The Hurricane Turn is a rare flag stop conveyance using self-propelled vintage Budd Rail Diesel Cars and trekking through remote wilderness between Talkeetna and Hurricane, along the Susitna River.

A special double-level dome car with an open-air platform on the upper deck, also built by Colorado Railcar, joined the ARR in 2005. The company has now acquired two more, offering signature GoldStar first-class service that will operate on the Denali Star. By mid-summer, two more GoldStar cars will bring the total to six. One is expected to debut first-class, GoldStar service on the Anchorage-Seward Coastal Classic train.

The ARR creates a number of packages that include various combinations of rail, hotels, and activities. For example, the Deluxe Alaska Sampler is a seven-day journey that begins and ends in Anchorage. Five of the days involve train segments on the Coastal Classic, Glacier Discovery, and Denali Star. In between are dog sled rides, float trips among icebergs, and a back-country Jeep tour. You may reach the Alaska Railroad at 1-800-544-0552 or visit www.AlaskaRailroad.com.

Gray Line of Alaska and the Yukon Territory offers trips aboard the McKinley Explorer glass-top railcars. Heralded as the largest passenger railcars in service in North America (and also built by Colorado Railcar) with open platforms and dining rooms downstairs, they boast more glass area than any other railcar ever built, according to the company. Ride them between Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks over the AAR. Gray Line's unique Yukon Highlights 11-day program also includes the White Pass & Yukon between Skagway and Juneau. Call 1 -800-544-2206 or visit www.graylineofalaska.com.

The White Pass & Yukon calls itself "The Scenic Railway of the World" for good reason. However, it wasn't built for tourists to enjoy the views of mountains, glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls and lakes. If hadn't been for the Yukon gold rush of 1898, it wouldn't exist today. Awarded International Civil Engineering Landmark status, it is a narrow-gauge line that is an incredible achievement.

The WP&Y has acquired another steam locomotive, joining engine 73, and operates Fraser Meadows Steam Excursions each weekend between mid-May and mid-September. Various and more-frequent diesel-hauled options are scheduled during the week during the same time frame, including trips between Skagway and Carcross, in Canada's Yukon Territory. Call the railroad at 1-800-343-7373 or visit www.wpyr.com.

Great Train Escapes Rail Tours offers various guided tours. Its Trains Across Scenic Colorado is a seven-day trip circle trip from Denver that includes five tourist railroads. The Pikes Peak Cog Railway, Royal Gorge Scenic Railway, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Cumbres & Toltec, and the Georgetown Loop Railroad are all reached by deluxe motor coach. Hotels and sightseeing are included.

Reach Great Train Escapes at 1-888-544 RAIL or www.greattrainescapes.com for departure dates and prices. Ask about their Four Scenic Trains of California, too.

GrandLuxe Rail Journeys will head south to Mexico's Copper Canyon starting in December 2008 with seven-day itineraries. This is the most comfortable way to travel into this rugged, yet intriguing part of the world. GLRJ's 2008 seasons began in March with its Antebellum South program followed by various U.S. itineraries that go farther north as the weather warms. Reach the company at 1-800-320-4206, or at www.GrandLuxeRail.com.

Frontiers North. If you've tried to take the train to Churchill, Manitoba during polar bear season (average low temperature is 22 degrees F.) you know that tour companies such as this one have blocked most of the hotels and Tundra Buggies, as well as space on VIA's Hudson Bay train. Frontiers North offers a $6,499 per person (shared double basis) seven-day package called the Tundra Buggy Adventure. Instead of a VIA round trip from Winnipeg however, this tour includes a flight—possibly on the somewhat misleadingly named Calm Air or on a chartered two-propeller plane— in one direction. Contact Frontiers North at 1-800-663-9832 or www.frontiersnorth.com.

Rocky Mountaineer Vacations offers an affordable alternative—although with different colored bears—at $3,599 per person, shared double. West Coast black bear viewing is included on RMV s eight-day Rockies, Whales & Bears trip. (No matter which of the bear programs you choose, you'll be able to fill in your rare-mileage map.) Beginning in either Calgary or Vancouver, a side trip to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island motor coaches passengers to a bear viewing tour. In addition, a two-day trip on the Rocky Mountaineer's all-daylight train over the Kicking Horse Pass route—with GoldLeaf dome upgrade—features the spectacular Canadian Pacific route through the Rockies. For $3,000 less per person than the Frontiers North journey, you can relax in a deluxe glass-top train with gourmet meals.

RMV has discontinued its Winter Rail Adventures this December and operates between late April and October on three different routes. RMV is at 1-800-665-7245 or www.rockymountaineer.com.

Trains Unlimited Tours has chartered a train for a one-time railfan departure on Sept. 10, 2008. The Tibet Rail Adventure begins in Llasa and includes a 12-hour, 719-mile journey aboard two cars reserved for the group on the Shangri La Express. In Golmud, passengers board their own private V.I.P. train to Beijing, with stops at points of interest, such as Xian along the way.

The company has a variety of guided tours scheduled, such as the New England Fall Colors Rail on Oct. 11 which features a private, rare-mileage excursion through Vermont and New Hampshire.

Ted and Sylvia plan to be aboard TUT's Modoc Rail Adventure on Oct. 10. It departs Klamath Falls, Ore., over the former Southern Pacific Modoc Line (now Modoc Northern) tracks to Alturas, Calif., and then continues to remote Lakeview, Ore., on the Lake County Railroad.

TUT has also scheduled several private trips aboard vintage, streamlined former California Zephyr domes.
Trains Unlimited Tours is at 1-800-359 4870 or visit www.trainsunlimitedtours.com.

GW Travel offers deluxe private train trips in exotic locales such as India and Russia. Closer to home, though, is a Sept. 27 trip in Western Canada, pulled by CPR's 1930s-era Hudson steam locomotive No. 2816, departing from Vancouver and ending in Calgary. Rare mileage will begin as the train heads south from Golden, B.C., over the former Kootenay Railway. The 2816 will steam over the Rockies, close to the U.S. border, between Cranbrook and Lethbridge. This daytime-only train itinerary lets you see all the scenery from a 1950s-era stainless-steel dome car.

Overnight hotel stays are included, as are rail museums at Revelstoke and Cranbrook, B.C., and a tourist train in Kamloops.

GW Travel's website is at www.gwtravel.co.uk. You may also book any of GW Travels trips though Trains Unlimited Tours. TUT's number is at 1-800-359-4870, or visit www.trainsunlimitedtours.com.

Mayflower Tours arranges several guided tours with railroads and hotels included. Historic Trains of Arizona featuring the Grand Canyon is a six-day circle trip out of Phoenix, with motor coach transportation to both the Grand Canyon and Verde Canyon railroads. Their Affordable Europe by Train begins in London, zips passengers to Paris on the Eurostar, and continues to Brussels aboard a high-speed Thalys. Call 1-800-323-7604 or visit www.mayflowertours.com.

Newmans South Pacific Vacations offers a 12-day independent tour package called the New Zealand Rail Experience. It is a comprehensive tour of the country with three train rides included: the TranzAlpine, the TranzCoastal, and the Taieri Gorge Railway. The company also handles rail experiences in Australia: The Indian Pacific Adelaide-Perth, the Ghan Darwin-Ayers Rock, and the Sunlander Cairns-Brisbane. Newmans South Pacific Vacations is at 1-800-262-0248, or see www.newmansvacations.com.

Rail Travel Center schedules its own group departures throughout the year. Most trips take place in North America, although they have a few overseas itineraries. New this year is their Appalachian Autumn. Beginning on Oct. 12, it includes train rides on the Potomac Eagle, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia, New Tygart Flyer, Durbin Rocket, Cheat Mountain Salamander, and Amtrak. Rail Travel Center may be reached at 1-800-458-5394 or visit www.railtravelcenter.com.

Depot Inn and Suites, one of PTJ’s advertisers, is determined to help you turn your entire family into rail enthusiasts. The railroad-themed hotel is located in La Plata, Mo., an Amtrak stop. Within walking distance of a restaurant, with an all-weather train-watching hut nearby, is a heated indoor swimming pool. There is a miniature train ride and a putting green as well as a fenced play area. Serious golfers will enjoy the driving range and 18-hole Municipal Course nearby. You'll be met by the staff if you're arriving on Amtrak's Southwest Chief, and a rental car can be reserved in advance for your party.

The Depot Inn and Suites is at 1-888-814 3669 or www.DepotInnAndSuites.com.

We trust that somewhere in this collection of thumbnail sketches you'll find the trip that's just right for you. If not, remember that these tour operators have other trips too numerous to mention, so collect a brochure from your local travel agent, or use the contact information at each write-up to find more information. All Aboard!

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