Grand Tour of the Western States

DAY 1

Various flight options from the UK with individual private taxi transfers from the airport to our hotel, the 5-star Kimpton Alton Hotel located at famous Fisherman's Wharf on the scenic San Francisco Bay. After check-in and unpacking we will meet at 6.00pm to take you on a wonderful tour of San Francisco at night by rail.

DAY 2

After breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we again take a ride on one the famous San Francisco Cable Cars, this time on a different route than what we rode on last night. When our Cable Car passes the San Francisco Muni Railway Car Barn we will jump off and visit the very interesting Muni Cable Car Museum. Here at the historic Cable Car Barn & Powerhouse we can view the actual cable winding machinery from an elevated gallery, as well as the path of the cable entering the building and leaving underneath the street. After our museum visit, we continue to Market Street and board our highway transportation to travel south to the Santa Cruz Mountains and the small town of Felton.

At Felton, we board the Roaring Camp and Big Trees narrow-gauge steam excursion that will take us deep into the massive Redwood trees. We will travel over trestles, through towering redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain and return. Upon arrival back in Roaring Camp, we travel to Mountain View where we will catch one of the new electric Cal Train northbound commuter trains to the San Bruno station. Here we will transfer back to the highway and continue north crossing into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where we will have some great views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay and the San Francisco City skyline as darkness falls onto the Bay Area. Afterwards, we return to our hotel to freshen up before our 'Welcome to San Francisco Dinner'. This is a great time to get to know your fellow travellers.

DAY 3

Early hotel check-out after breakfast, we will make our way to the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society's huge HO scale model railroad. We have arranged a special operating session just for our group. This is one of the largest model railroads in California.

After our model railroad visit, we travel by highway to the Western Railway Museum which is located near Rio Vista and preserves the heritage of the Northern California electric railroads. We have arranged to have our own private charter interurban that will take us down the old Sacramento Northern Railroad on an 11-mile round trip rolling through the countryside, with its pristine, unchanged farmland and its views of Mount Diablo and the surrounding Marshlands (with sandwiches served on board). Walking around the Museum, you will be able to see trains that once ran in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Napa, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and many other places across the west, of which many are nearing 100 years old.

After our train ride and museum visit, we travel to Sacramento and visit the famous California State Railroad Museum. You can enjoy this world class railroad museum at your own pace and afterwards take a stroll through Old Sacramento which has buildings dating back to 1849 before we get our rooms at the 3-star Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown.

DAY 4

This morning after breakfast we board our highway transportation and travel eastbound up into the foothills of the High Sierra Mountains and into the famous 49er Gold Rush Country. Our first stop will be a visit to the Nevada County Narrow-Gauge Railroad Museum. We have arranged to take a ride of several miles on our charter narrow-gauge railcar through the woods followed by a guided tour through this museum and into their workshops.

Then departing Nevada City, we travel to nearby Colfax just in time to board Amtrak's eastbound California Zephyr for a spectacular ride over the High Sierra Mountains and famous Donner Pass including the interesting snow sheds at Norden dropping down the east slope of the mountains then following the Truckee River all the way to Reno, Nevada. Transfer to our hotel and check-in at the 4-star Circus on the strip in downtown Reno. The rest of the evening at your own leisure.

DAY 5

After breakfast we travel into the famous Comstock Mining Country and visit the wonderful wild west and historic town of Virginia City. Upon arrival you will have some time to explore downtown Virginia City before we visit the Virginia & Truckee Railroad workshops where you can inspect and photograph their steam locomotives, diesels and other pieces of historic rolling stock. Then we go to the train station and take a ride on this historic railroad, which was organised on March 5, 1868 and is considered the 'Queen of the Short Lines'. The train ride will take us from Virginia City to Gold Hill and return.

Departing Virginia City, we travel to Lake Tahoe, straddling the border between California and Nevada, renowned for its stunning beauty, deep blue colour, and clarity, with the ability to see 70 feet below the surface. We will drive along the eastern shore of the lake making several photo stops along the way. Next, we travel to the Union Pacific summit of Donner Pass at Norden where we will have a picnic lunch next to the railroad and hope a train might come by.

Departing Donner Pass we next go to the Feather River Canyon for a visit to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum which is on the mainline of the former Western Pacific, now Union Pacific Railroad. This museum has 29 diesel engines, 1 steam locomotive, and 1 electric motor plus countless pieces of rolling stock from not only Western Pacific but several other western railroads. We have arranged to have a charter train around the museum grounds for our group. After our museum visit, we return to our hotel in Reno for a second nights lodging.

DAY 6

After breakfast we check-out of our hotel in Reno and head south to Carson City where we will visit the Nevada State Railroad Museum, a cultural resource dedicated to Nevada railroad history. Included in the line-up of equipment are Virginia & Truckee Railroad steam locomotives and even a unique McKeen railcar.

After our museum visit, we continue southbound into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the old ghost town of Bodie where we will have a picnic lunch here at the Bodie State Historic Park which is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Just south of Bodie is Mono Lake and the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve and we will take a walk through the strange Tufa Towers of calcium carbonate which are 13,000 years old. You will feel like you are exploring a strange new planet.

Our last event of the day is a visit to the Laws Railroad Museum and Historical Site a few miles from Bishop, California and, following our visit to this railroad museum, we travel south to Lone Pine for lodging at the 3-star Best Western Frontier Motel.

DAY 7

After breakfast we depart Lone Pine and continue our trek southeast towards the Mojave Desert and Death Valley National Park. Out of all the national parks in the United States, Death Valley holds the record of being the Hottest, Driest and Lowest national park in the country.

As we continue our journey we pass through Las Vegas, Nevada before entering the state of Arizona. Before leaving the state of Nevada we will make a stop to view Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. Half of this dam is in Nevada and half in Arizona. This dam is 726.4 feet high (221.3 meters) and is the 2nd highest in the United States.

After departing Hoover Dam our next city is Kingman, Arizona where we will travel on the famous Route 66 Highway eastbound towards the Grand Canyon following the very busy BNSF mainline. As we make our way east across Arizona, we will stop at a few select locations to photograph some of the BNSF trains and we will find a good scenic location along the railroad to have our picnic lunch. Upon arrival at Williams hotel check-in at the 3-star Quality Inn Grand Canyon.

DAY 8

After breakfast we board the Grand Canyon Railway's passenger train to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Our group is booked in Luxury Dome Car Class which is the best way to see the scenery and includes drinks and snacks as part of the fare. Once at the Grand Canyon you will have about 4 hours to explore the trails that run along the south rim of this spectacular national park before departing for Williams. Once off the train we will take you downtown so that you can get some dinner be leaving by highway for the one-hour drive to Sedona, Arizona. You can unpack and relax as we will spend two nights at the 3-star Greentree Inn Sedona-Oak-Creek.

DAY 9

Today you can relax and enjoy some individual activities if you prefer. We do have reservations for a spectacular train ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. For those tour members interested in taking this train ride we will need to know what you would like to do prior to the start of our tour on October 6. This is a four-hour train ride from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back into Arizona's other 'Grand Canyon' with captivating panoramic views revealed in every direction, exclusively from the relaxed atmosphere of the train. On our way back to our hotel we will make a stop to explore the mining ghost town of Jerome and Jerome State Historic Park. There is no additional cost for the train ride as it is included in your tour.

DAY 10

We have an early departure from Sedona today right after breakfast. We first travel north through Oak Creek Canyon and Flagstaff finally crossing over the Colorado River at Marble Canyon to then enter Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and follow the base of these very colourful mountains until we enter Utah.

Soon we arrive in the town of Kanab, known as The Little Hollywood, as Hollywood has come to Kanab to make 120 movies and TV shows over the past 50 years including The Flintstones, Planet of the Apes, Gunsmoke, and Six Million Dollar Man.

DAY 11

After an early breakfast we enter Bryce Canyon National Park in time to enjoy the morning sun light shining on the many Hoodoos (odd shaped pillars of rock left standing from the forces of erosion).

Midday we depart Bryce and continue eastward across Utah. We will make a stop to have our picnic lunch before entering the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, known for its colourful rock formations that tell a story spanning millions of years. Finally, we arrive in the small town of Torrey and hotel check-in at the 4-star Capitol Reef Resort.

DAY 12

After breakfast we visit Capitol Reef National Park, a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes and bridges. We then continue our trek eastbound making a stop at Goblin Valley State Park which captures and bewilders the imagination, challenging you with its geologic whimsy. After our visit we head towards Canyonlands National Park first stopping for our picnic lunch before continuing. First, we will make a stop at Dead Horse Point State Park with spectacular views of the Colorado River some 2,000 feet below. Next, we will visit the northern section of Canyonlands National Park which is called Grand Viewpoint Overlook where you can look down into the canyon near where the Colorado and Green Rivers merge. Finally, we go on into near-by Moab and hotel check-in at the 3-star Best Western Plus Greenwell Motel.

DAY 13

After breakfast we depart our hotel and take a leisure drive along the scenic Colorado River west of Moab on a country road making several stops including the awesome Castleton and Fisher Towers which are spectacular rock formations near the river. After traveling 43 miles, this country road comes out at the small ghost town of Cisco which is also on the mainline of the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (Now Union Pacific) where we will wait for the westbound Rocky Mountaineer passenger train that is going all the way to Salt Lake City and is the newest train for the Rocky Mountaineer Company. We will follow this passenger train for about 2.5 hours until we reach the Price River Canyon stopping at scenic locations along the way for photos of this train and, afterwards, we will have our picnic lunch before returning to Moab and the visiting Arches National Park where you will discover a landscape of contrasting colours, landforms and textures unlike any other in the world. We will keep exploring this park until sunset then return to our hotel in Moab for a second nights lodging.

DAY 14

After breakfast and hotel check-out we head south towards the Utah / Arizona border stopping in the small town of Bluff for lunch. South of Bluff we explore Goosenecks State Park in southern Utah near the town of Mexican Hat. Goosenecks is on the edge of a deep canyon above the San Juan River with impressive views of one of the most striking examples of an entrenched river meander on the North American continent. We then continue southbound making a stop to photograph the balanced rock called Mexican Hat.

We continue to Monument Valley and cross into Arizona and into the Navajo Nation touring Navajo Nation's Monument Valley Tribal Park before check in. Monument Valley boasts sandstone masterpieces that tower at heights of 400 to 1,000 feet, framed by scenic clouds casting shadows that graciously roam the desert floor. Many Hollywood movies have been filmed here such as 2001 a Space Odyssey, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Back to the Future Part III. Prior to sunset we check-in at the classic 3-star View Hotel for dinner at your own leisure.

DAY 15

Be sure and get up early to enjoy the spectacular sunrise over Monument Valley. You will have a perfect view from your private room balcony. Today we head east towards the state of Colorado making a stop in Dolores, Colorado to visit the Galloping Goose Historical Society's Museum.

Next, we travel to near-by Mesa Verde National Park which offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from AD 600 to 1300. After spending several hours at Mesa Verde, we continue to Durango and hotel check-in at the 3 star Best Western Rio Grande Hotel.

DAY 16

Today we will ride the famous Durango and Silverton Railroad from Durango to Silverton and return a total of 90 miles through the heart of the Colorado Rockies pulled by one of the railroad's former Rio Grande steam locomotives. Before boarding our train in Durango, we will visit the Durango & Silverton Railroad Museum which is attached to the workshops. Much of your trip today will be in the remote and rugged wilderness of the Animas River Canyon. There are no roads in this canyon and the only way in and out is by train. Upon arrival in Silverton, you will step back to 1882 as you explore this classic western mining town high in the mountains of Colorado. You will have plenty of time to get some lunch. We return to Durango for an evening at leisure.

DAY 17

We have an early start this morning right after breakfast as we must be in Chama, New Mexico in enough time to board the steam train on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. This excursion train will take us up and over the Rocky Mountains to Cumbres Summit at 10,022 feet and along the rim of the rugged and deep Toltec Gorge to Antonito, Colorado. Upon arrival in Antonito, you will have the opportunity to photograph the locomotive crew watering and oiling the steam locomotive and visit the workshop area which will have other steam locomotives here. After exploring the yards and workshop area of the railroad we travel the short distance by highway to Alamosa and hotel check-in at the 3 star Best Western Alamosa Inn.

DAY 18

After breakfast we first visit the depot and workshops of the former Rio Grande Scenic Railroad which closed in 2019 but there were still some diesel engines stored here including some classic F units. We then depart Alamosa and travel by highway to near-by Sand Dunes National Park for a short visit before travelling to Canon City, Colorado to board the lunch train on the Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad for a journey through the spectacular and rugged Royal Gorge while enjoying a gourmet lunch. After our lunch excursion we then travel by highway to Colorado Springs and check-in at the 3-star Quality Inn Garden of the Gods. Rest of the evening at your own leisure.

DAY 19

After breakfast and hotel check-out we visit the fascinating Garden of the Gods rock formations which is just a few miles from our hotel. Next, we travel to near-by Manitou Springs and board the morning train on the Boardmore, Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. The 9 miles up to the summit of Pikes Peak is spectacular and breathtaking. At the summit, which is 14,115 feet you will have views of both the Collegiate and Sangre de Cristo Mountain ranges as well as the mining town of Cripple Creek and on a very clear day you may even see the skyscrapers of Denver. Our train arrives back at Manitou Springs where you will then have time to explore the many shops in downtown Manitou Springs and get some lunch. Next, we travel to Golden, Colorado which is a few miles from Denver and home to the Colorado Railroad Museum. Hotel check-in at the 3-star Table Mountain Inn in downtown Golden for an evening at leisure.

DAY 20

After breakfast we drive up into the Rocky Mountains to Georgetown which was founded in 1859. Here you will have time to explore this historic mountain mining town which is known as 'Silver Queen of the Rockies' and is famous for its well-preserved Victorian architecture. We then board the morning excursion train on the Georgetown Loop Railroad scaling an elevation of 640 feet over mountainous terrain, requiring trestles, cuts, fills, loops, and curves to Silver Plume and return.

After our train ride we return to Golden and visit the famous Colorado Railroad Museum which has a large collection of steam, diesel and railcars. They have 11 steam locomotives, 6 diesels, 3 Galloping Goose Railcars, and over 80 pieces of rolling stock including passenger cars and cabooses. We have arranged to charter one of the Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose Railcars so we can take a ride around the museum grounds. Back at our hotel in the evening we will have our Farewell Dinner.

DAY 21

After hotel check-out we take a ride on the Regional Transportation District (RTD) light rail train from Golden to downtown Denver to the impressive Denver Union Station where you will have time to explore this beautiful landmark.

Our last activity of our tour will be a visit to the Forney Museum of Transportation which is a one-of-a-kind collection of over 800 artifacts relating to historical transportation including not just vehicles, but also buggies, motorcycles, steam locomotives, aircraft, fire apparatus, public transportation, sleighs, bicycles, and much, much more! Highlights include the Union Pacific 'Big Boy' Steam Locomotive 4005 and Amelia Earhart's 1923 Kissel 'Gold Bug'.

Finally, it is time to head for the Denver International Airport. If you are flying back home today, we will arrive at the airport at about 1:30pm. Be sure and allow plenty of time to check-in for your flights home.

B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner