Hey George - t3h tra1n!
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A neighbor was just telling me how her trip with her kids (I guess they were around age 10) from Minneapolis to Glacier National Park via train was the best idea evah. She said... no flights, no RVs, no driving.... you can walk around while traveling on the train, you can view the scenery, the food, the sleeping, etc.
I talked earlier about how I'd like to do an RV circuit of the west (as south as Grand Canyon, as north as Glacier), but hot damn if a train (WITH KIDS!) isn't a great idea, no?
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A neighbor was just telling me how her trip with her kids (I guess they were around age 10) from Minneapolis to Glacier National Park via train was the best idea evah. She said... no flights, no RVs, no driving.... you can walk around while traveling on the train, you can view the scenery, the food, the sleeping, etc.
I talked earlier about how I'd like to do an RV circuit of the west (as south as Grand Canyon, as north as Glacier), but hot damn if a train (WITH KIDS!) isn't a great idea, no?
@89th the ride from St. Paul to Glacier is an overnight trip. You board at about 10PM. The next morning finds you in a long refueling-crew change stop in Minot. Then, you spend hours and hours and hours going through the open prairie. Every time I do this ride, I'm reminded of what Lewis and Clark must've thought when they saw hundreds of miles of ... nothing.
The highlights of that leg of the trip are crossing the Gassmann trestle, about 10 miles west of Minot.
It's such a smooth ride that, unless you know you're up there, you never notice it. Being the last car of the train has advantages. I can shoot video like this:
Link to videoThere's another high trestle in Cut Bank.
Arrival in Glacier, if you're running on time, is in early evening.
I would never consider doing this trip in coach, however. It must be a private room because, well, sleeping in coach is a challenge.
