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Train Trips for the Ages

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

Bryson City, North Carolina

If grandparents fear their grandchildren will find a train ride dull, the Great  Smoky Mountain Railroad can add some fun to the experience. The train partners with local outdoor adventure companies to offer options of whitewater rafting, zip lining and jeep tours.

Adventures begin after a gorgeous two-hour ride through the Nantahala Gorge, past Fontana Lake and historic trellis bridge Fontana Trestle. The train makes an hourlong stop at the Nantahala Outdoor Center for shopping or relaxing by the river.

Groups that book the Rapid Transit with Nantahala Outdoor Center can stay longer for a two-hour rafting trip on the center’s controlled Class II whitewater rapids. This trip works for novice rafters, making it a good option for families, and includes a riverside barbecue lunch, a posttrip photo, showers and transportation back to Bryson City.

Wildwater Nantahala Rafting and Canopy Tours offers a zip-line canopy tour of 13 zip lines and panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, as well as a Rail and Trail package for a two-hour jeep ride past waterfalls and lakes.

Groups seeking a calmer experience can choose the Tuckasegee River Excursion for a four-hour round trip to Dillsboro. The route passes by scenery so impressive that it appears in several films that feature trains, including “The Fugitive,” starring Harrison Ford.

Numerous scheduled departures on both routes incorporate the Great American Rails-N-Tales Narration Car for an entertaining learning experience led by local poet Horace Kephart. Throughout the year, the train company also features themed excursions that are good choices for families, such as Peanuts: The Great Pumpkin Patch Express, Freedom Train and the Polar Express Train Ride.

www.gsmr.com

Grand Canyon Railway

Williams, Arizona

Passengers aboard the Grand Canyon Railway keep careful watch for pronghorn antelopes, elk, endangered California condors and train robbers. For each train ride, the Cataract Creek Gangsters ride galloping horses alongside the moving locomotive for an old-fashioned train robbery.

Naturally, the good guys win, and the Wild West entertainment continues with cowboy singers and musicians that stroll between cars and sing old-timey standards by the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Guests can see real cowboys rounding up cattle during treks through wide-open ranchland. Other vistas include the majestic San Francisco Peaks, a ponderosa pine forest and the ultimate panorama at Grand Canyon National Park.

The ride, which lasts about two and a half hours, travels north on refurbished 1950s cars to the South Rim and stops at the Grand Canyon Depot. A National Historic Landmark, the Grand Canyon Depot impresses visitors with its 1910 wood-frame structure. At the canyon’s rim, groups can shop for Native American crafts, hike or combine the experience with a guided tour to learn the geologic and human history of the canyon.

Groups can also time their visit to coincide with a themed excursion, such as the Polar Express Train Ride or the Pumpkin Patch Train. The railway uses a vintage steam locomotive to pull the train the first Saturday of the month March through October.

www.thetrain.com