Sunday, July 1st (L-D)
Our charter motorcoaches will pick up the group at the Garden Railway Convention Hotel (Riveria Hotel) in Las Vegas at 8:00AM. Our first stop will be to visit Hoover Dam. Next we ride the Nevada Southern Railroad out of Boulder City which is operated by a division of the Nevada State Railroad Musuem. After our train ride, we reboard our motorcoahes and head south to Laughlin where we will cross over the Colorado River into Arizona. Loaded buses with luggage are not allowed to cross over Hoover Dam. At Kingman, Arizona we get on historic Route 66 and follow the mainline of the Santa Fe, now BNSF eastward. Mid-day we will have a picnic lunch along the railroad. This is considered the busiest railroad line in America with over 100 trains a day. We will make several photo stops to catch the train action. In the afternoon we will escape the summer heat with a special underground guided tour of Grand Canyon Caverns. After our cool cave tour we will turn off of Route 66 at Ash Fork and head south to the Phoenix area. We have been invited for a special late afternoon and early evening operating session on the famous "Maricopa Live Steamers" and their Adobe Western Railroad. Enjoy riding on five miles of track...Yes, that is correct...Five real miles! We plan to arrive at the Maricopa Live Steamers in Northern Phoenix around 6:00pm..Trains and crews will be waiting for our arrival to take you on a grand tour. Also a special Bar-be-que dinner will be hosted by the club for your enjoyment. After dinner we will go to our nearby hotel for check-in. For those fans wanting a taste of night operations we will bring you back to the layout and you are welcome to play with the trains into the evening.
Monday, July 2nd (B)
Morning departure from Phoenix as we head north into the Tonto National Forest and the high country of Agua Fria National Monument. We will make a stop at Jerome Ghost Town to give you a chance to explore this interesting old mining community before going to nearby Clarksdale. Here we board the popular Verde Canyon Railroad's excursion train running through Verde Canyon. This is a 4 1/2 hour ride through some very remote and rugged countryside. After our train ride we then travel to Sedona for hotel check-in. The evening on your own to explore this very popular town in the Oak Creek Canyon region of Arizona.
Tuesday, July 3rd (B-D)
We depart Sedona in the morning for a drive through spectacular Oak Creek Canyon and then on to Williams to board Grand Canyon Railroad's 10:00AM train headed north for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Arrive at the rim is at 12:15PM and this will give you more than 3 hours to explore the breathtaking views of the canyon. We reboard the train for a 3:30PM departure with arrival back in Williams at 5:45PM. We then board our charter motorcoaches and head east on Interstate 40 across Arizona. A stop will be made for dinner near Flagstaff. We will then continue east to Winslow, Arizona for hotel check-in. We are going to Winslow so that you will not have to get up so early in the morning to catch Amtrak's Southwest Chief.
Wednesday, July 4th (B-D) (B)
Board Amtrak's eastbound Southwest Chief at Winslow which is due at 7:00AM. Entire group to ride the Chief all the way to Lamy, New Mexico which is due here at 2:00pm. Santa Fe Southern's passenger excursion train will be meeting the chief at Lamy and the group gets off of Amtrak and boards the excursion train for the run up to Santa Fe. Buses will run empty with luggage to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Upon arrival in Santa Fe visit the Santa Fe Southern workshops and take a local city tour of Santa Fe. Hotel check-in. Enjoy the fireworks in Santa Fe.
Thurday, July 5th (B-L-D)
Morning departure from Santa Fe for Chama, New Mexico. Steam workshop tour for the group at Chama. Board the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic railroad for the ride up to Cumbres Pass and on to Oiser, Colorado and return. Upon arrival back in Chama buses take the group to Durango, Colorado and hotel check-in.
Friday, July 6th (B)
Full day excursion on the Durango & Silverton Railroad to Silverton and return. Second night in the same hotel in Durango.
Saturday, July 7th (B-L-D)
Morning departure from Durango to go visit Mesa Verde National Park. Afternoon visit and drive through Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona. Then continue on to Page, Arizona. Visit the yards and workshops of the Black Mesa & Lake Powell coal railroad and Glen Canyon Dam. Continue westbound to Mount Carmel Junction , Utah for hotel check-in. This is just outside of Zion National Park.
Sunday, July 8th (B-D)
Enter Zion National Park and spend most of the day. Return to Las Vegas, Nevada around 7pm… End of Tour
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