One Of America's Oldest Trains Takes Riders On A Scenic Trip To The Grand Canyon's South Rim

Even before the Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919, it had trains running to its South Rim from the gateway town of Williams. When the Grand Canyon Railway began operating in 1901, Arizona hadn't even become a U.S. state yet. It was still just a territory, one of the last to be admitted into the Union. That would happen in 1912, so considering its seniority, there's a real sense of history aboard this railway, which has been ridden by U.S. presidents like Eisenhower, FDR, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Most passengers will board modern-looking diesel locomotives on the Grand Canyon Railway, but the line itself ranks among the oldest vintage trains you can still ride today. Seasonal rides aboard a vintage steam locomotive are available every first Saturday from March to October. The railway has two steam engines in its fleet, both of which used to haul iron ore. The first, No. 29, was built in 1906. The second, No. 4960, was built in 1923 and has been retrofitted to run on waste vegetable oil. As such, this environmentally friendly train operates on Earth Day, too.

If you grab some diner food in Williams first, you could be riding a train powered by the same oil that made your French fries greasy. Gas station paraphernalia also lends the Grand Canyon's gateway retro charm, and it serves as a reminder of how road trips eventually superseded the railroad as the go-to way of accessing the park. However, while it's not necessarily the cheapest or fastest option anymore, the railway helps keep the Grand Canyon beautiful by reducing the number of incoming cars by 60,000 a year.

There are six different service classes aboard the Grand Canyon Railway, which offers a leisurely 65-mile, 135-minute ride to the most-filmed national park in the U.S. A round trip costs between $69.98 and $239.98 for adults, depending on which class you choose. The restored Pullman cars are the cheapest, and they'll let you experience what it was like to ride coach circa 1923. In addition to no air conditioning, that means bench-style seats that flip so your group can sit across from each other (and/or one stranger if you have an odd number of people).

You can also ride regular coach, first class, or in the observation or luxury dome cars, all of which receive visits from live musicians like fiddlers and banjoists. In the luxury parlor, you'll have access to a private bar and an open-air platform where you can see the view from the caboose while you sip sparkling wine. The train passes through America's biggest contiguous ponderosa pine forest before moving across the high desert to the South Rim. It gives you over three hours in the Grand Canyon, but if that isn't enough, you can spend the night and catch a train back the next day.

On the way back to Williams, don't be alarmed if you see masked bandits riding up alongside the train on horseback. It's all part of the show. Every day, the fictional Cataract Creek Gang attempts to rob the Grand Canyon Railway. Every morning, you'll also see the gang engage in a mock shootout outside the train depot, which is conveniently located next to the railway's hotel and RV park.