The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (14 page)

 
National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
Historical photographs, ethnographic displays, and exhibits trace the history of America’s First People through their own eyes.
National Museum of the American Indian, Independence Ave.
&
4th St. SW, 202-633-6700,
www.nmai.si.edu
.

ride historic rails

NATIONWIDE

It would be difficult, indeed, to overestimate the transcendent importance of the part the railroad has played in making the Nation what it is to-day.

—
AUTHOR CHARLES FREDERICK CARTER,
WHEN RAILROADS WERE NEW
(1910)

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From the time the first rail ties were laid down in the early 1830s, railways made remote areas of the United States accessible, kick-starting settlement and tourism from coast to coast. Though interstates and air carriers have since taken over the job, a handful of historic train routes remain.

As you chug up a mountain on a narrow-gauge rail, you get that sense of what an adventure such a ride must have been more than a century ago, when so much of the country was untamed and, to most people, unknown.

“Today’s diesels and the electric locomotives don’t have anywhere near the drama and romance of the old steam engines,” laments science writer Stuart Brown, a longtime railway enthusiast.

Neither, unfortunately, do many up-to-date lodgings. Thankfully, many historic trains are set in woodsy areas where campsites are plentiful—and wallet friendly. Leave the iPod and other modern-day gadgets at home and prepare to truly step back in time aboard these wondrous marvels of transportation.

Mount Washington Cog Railway, New Hampshire.
The British may have pioneered the steam engine, but Americans built the first mountain-climbing cog railway. In 1869, when the Mount Washington Railway opened as a tourist attraction in the White Mountains, it was an engineering coup: 3 miles of track leading up the 6,288-foot-high granite face of the highest mountain in the Northeast. At a 37-degree angle, it remains the second steepest railway in the world—and the only one built entirely on a trestle.

AMTRAK & RAIL CANADA

Today’s commuter rails and long-distance trains do not offer the glamour of rail travel gone by, but they still offer one of the great luxuries of train travel: watching the scenery go by. Promotional sales make it affordable as well.

 
Amtrak
. Though the railway’s routes are more limited than in olden days, you can still roll from north to south and across the United States.
Amtrak,
www.amtrak.com
.

 
Rail Canada
. The railway offers trips from coast to coast; for the ultimate trip, book a cross-country winter jaunt on a train with a glass-domed car.
Rail Canada,
www.viarail.ca
.

MORE HISTORIC RAILWAY EXCURSIONS

 
Copper Canyon, Mexico
. Opened in the 1960s after nearly a century of construction, the
Copper Canyon Railway
(www.mexicoscoppercanyon.com,
www.visitmexico.com
)—the adventurous Chihuahua-al-Pacifico or El Chepe—links the Pacific coast with the desert interior via 390 miles of track in northwest Mexico.

 
Durango, Colorado
. Using reproductions and restored trains from the 1880s, the
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
(479 Main Ave., 970-247-2733,
www.durangotrain.com
) offers year-round service through some of the Rockies’ most beautiful landscapes.

 
Roanoke, Virginia. The Virginia Museum of Transportation
(303 Norfolk Ave. SW, 540-342-5670,
www.vmt.org
) is home to a remarkable collection of vintage locomotives, while the nearby
O. Winston Link Museum
(101 Shenandoah Ave., 540-982-5465,
www.linkmuseum.org
) features stunning railway images by the late photographer that will transform the way you think of trains.

 
San Francisco, California
. The Market Street Railway uses genuine early 20th-century cable cars, and streetcars carry commuters and visitors over the West Coast city’s famous hills as part of the San Francisco Municipal Railroad. Single rides cost $5. Learn about both types of railcars at the
San Francisco Railway Museum
(77 Steuart St., 415-974-1948,
www.streetcar.org
, closed Mon.).

True to the original cars, the railway’s reproduction wooden cars feature open windows, so beware: Even in midsummer the temperature as you ascend the mountain can go from warm to chilly to downright arctic—bring a jacket just in case. Mount Washington features some of the planet’s most extreme weather, as documented and monitored since 1932 by the Mount Washington Observatory, which maintains an interesting mountaintop
museum
(www.mountwashington.org, $3).

The three-hour round-trip ride runs May through November and includes enough time at the top to check out the views and the museum, grab lunch, and listen to the hikers who have made the trek on foot.

Beyond the railway, the beauty of the White Mountains beckons. Local outfitters can help you plan and execute kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and horseback riding adventures. Or just bring your own gear or stick with hiking; the views are free. So are the more than two dozen historic covered bridges strewn about the countryside. This isn’t Madison County, but the romance is just as rich.