Ridin’ on the Steam Trains

There’s just something about steam trains. That unforgettable whistle. The chug-chug-chug. The anticipation – here she comes, down the track.

Last week my husband and I visited Steamtown near Scranton, Pennsylvania, where we took a brief ride back in time (to the 1930s and 1940s) on a steam train just a few miles beyond the roundhouse where the trains reside. It was fun to have the train’s conductor assist us in climbing up the stairs into the passenger car, call “All Aboard,” and then give us a brief history of the train’s glorious past.

After the ride, we marveled at the trains coming in to the roundhouse and being turned in a different direction on a gigantic turntable. Fascinating. We were just one of a crowd of people snapping pictures and ooh-ing and aah-ing at the interesting sight.

Here in California there’s a terrific steam train (with some open-air cars where passengers can gaze up in wonder at the tall redwood forest they’re passing through) down in Felton at Roaring Camp, near Santa Cruz. This logging train from the 1880s is authentically preserved, with a locomotive dating to 1830. It runs along the same narrow-gauge track from so long ago, and is an unforgettable one-hour trip up a winding grade to the summit of Bear Mountain and then down to Santa Cruz and the bustling Boardwalk.

I’ve flown in many an airplane, been on cruise ships, tour buses, and other modes of transportation throughout the world. But a steam train appeals to my adventurous nature like nothing else. I am immediately transported back to an earlier time when it was anyone’s guess as to what was around the next corner, and travel was, for the most part, a very enjoyable experience.

I knew for sure I was a spirited woman when I started to travel the world, excited beyond belief at the prospect of seeing cities I’d only read about in books. How about you? Do you love to travel? Is there a particular way to travel that you find fascinating, as I do steam trains?

- Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
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Comments

[Linda Jay Geldens]

Thanks for sharing, Susan. Yes, by all means, the Orient Express. A friend traveled on that several years ago and is still talking about her marvelous experience!

[Susan Monroe]

This post brings back the most wonderful memories. My dad was a steam engine buff and photographer, and he would drag me to Richmond, Virginia train yards to photograph steam engines before they went out of service. For me, silly girl, the trains were kind of a snooze -- I wouldn't appreciate the romance until later -- but the time with my dad, when he was at his most relaxed and accessible, was like gold.

Later, I was captured by the TV show, "The Wild, Wild West," where two secret agents traveled from one exciting scenario to the next by train. And of course, who can forget those fabulously subtle and sexy scenes between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in "North by Northwest"? And, hey, now that I think back, a long-ago acquaintance who worked for Amtrak in D.C. was attempting to buy a working narrow-gauge railroad. (Sure wish I knew how that one came out...)

So now, as a fledgling Spirited Woman, I'm considering how to broaden my horizons, literally. What more natural a way to do that than train travel? The Orient Express is still running. The site (www.orient-express.com) describes wonderful journeys in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. This summer, though, I'll most likely get my feet wet with an Amtrak ride to Colorado to visit a friend who's been urging me to visit her mountain paradise.