Several tourist railroads in the U.S. still allow riders to safely enjoy platform riding or an open-air car experience. Often linked to first class or premium services, platform cars also come with limited seating, a broader selection of food and beverages – and a higher fare. For example, the Grand Canyon Railway’s standard Pullman class lists adult prices at $67, compared with its luxury parlor class at $226 per adult.
Luxury parlor access gains access to a rear platform and a host of other first class amenities unavailable in other cars. In the U.S., riders can enjoy platform access by upgrading on the Alaska Railroad’s GoldStar service, Rio Grande Scenic Railroad’s Lookout Mountain railcar in Colorado, and the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s New Tygart Flyer in West Virginia. In Duluth, Minn., the North Shore Scenic Railroad offers access to its premier class business car, Northland, on select excursions.
Broadening your travels outside of the U.S. will yield additional platform-riding opportunities.
While not always guaranteed to be the rear-most car, the Rocky Mountaineer’s GoldLeaf service features an exclusive outdoor viewing platform as riders traverse the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian luxury rail company recently purchased new Swiss and German-built bilevel domes featuring lower level platforms. The White Pass & Yukon Route between Skagway, Alaska, and Carcross, Yukon Territory, also features a platform car on its Bennett Scenic Journey.
In northern Mexico, the Copper Canyon’s El Chepe offers platform access on its route between Chihuahaa and the Pacific coast at Los Mochis.
While current policies may prohibit platform riding across Glacier Park on the route of Amtrak’s Empire Builder or on the Southwest Chief in Kansas, visiting these tourist railroads and others across North America will still give you a glimpse into this unique railroading pastime.
It seems that Amtrak just wants to cover their butts. Years ago you could ride mainline excursions in open window coaches. Now, you have to ride tourist lines for open windows. Does UP allow open vestibules on its steam excursions? They operate very few public excursions so as it is. Great Smoky Mountains Railroad has open window coaches and open air cars. New Hope & Ivyland, Valley RR Essex, CT, Strasburg, Reading and Northern all have open air cars with roofs. When 611 returned to service after 20 years, you couldn’t have open vestibules on any excursion because NS forbid it. A safety and liability thing. NS had to cover their butts. But, later this month you can ride behind 611 at Strasburg Rail Road in an open air car or open window coach. Sure it’s not an all day excursion at 40 mph, but the tradeoff is that you get to actually hear 611 while riding. I enjoyed the thrill of riding behind steam on the mainline on two 765 excursions in PA and one 611 excursion in Virginia, but later this month I will be riding behind 611 again at Strasburg on a 9 mile, 45 minute ride in an open air coach. Not a sealed up streamlined coach like the second NS steam program had.
To all Railfans and train lovers Enjoy the experience of riding in an open vestibule or open end observation car until some irresponsible jerk or idiot and one who is not a railfan or has no knowledge or respect for operating rules for railroads falls off the train or gets seriously hurt or even killed. It is a shame when certain people and are really few in number who ruin a good thing for all and the chance to enjoy an experience that rail travelers enjoyed over 100 years earlier. Generations of travelers rode on these cars with no incidents or problems of any kind. But that we must realize what times we are living in now and the generation that lives life in the fast lane and has no respect or knowledge of how to conduct oneself around trains or railroad property or riding in a safe responsible way and still able to enjoy a great train ride and experience railroad history and operations. Of course rilroads and that includes Amtrak have to protect themselves against lawsuits and any unfavorable publicity or press if one of these idiots does something stupid and not only endangers their ownlives but everyone else riding on that train. Amtrak and most railroads being in very shaky financial ground and having to deal with bad press and negative opinions from a hostile an indifferent public on a daily basis don’t need any more grief and trouble heaped on them because of some irresponsible and childish people who think that riding on these historic railcars is another death defying thrill seeking amusement park ride.
I am glad the experience of riding in the open air (vestibule and rear platform) hasn’t completely disappeared, though the opportunity to do so at higher speeds on a busy main line has certainly dwindled in the US over the last 30 years. I have many fond memories of various excursions and other rail trips hanging out in the vestibule.
Once, I even rode in the tender bunker of an eastern European after drinking a fair amount of vodka, but that is a story for a different day.
The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad as one too.
Note that none of these run in the US on Class I’s which are under Amtrak contracts.
Ride the Great Northern A-11 Observation car at the Osceola and St Croix Valley Railway in Osceola, Wisconsin. How safe can we be. With this logic we should outlaw Doritos.