FIRST CLASS On The LAST Steam Train to The Grand Canyon

This is the last steam train to the Grand Canyon. Running 60 miles from Williams, Arizona across barren desert alongside the San Francisco mountains, weaving through dense pine forests before arriving at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. And I will do it all while riding in first class and sitting on top of all of it in this 1950s Superdome. From no shortage of wildlife to live entertainment and dining in one of America's most storied railway hotels and a sunrise that quite literally brought the canyon to life. This is one of the most underrated rail journeys and headlined by a century-old steam engine. Oh and did I mention that it's also powered by Doritos and that is a true story. Tell me that is not the coolest thing in the world. This is a fundamentally western experience on the grandest way to get there and it all begins with my flight into Las Vegas and followed by a three-hour drive into the town of Williams, Arizona. Situated along the mother road Route 66, the historic highway stretching from Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier in LA. But more importantly Williams is the gateway to the Grand Canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway. And I was staying at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, a beautiful hotel just steps away from the station platform. I mean check out this beautiful lobby and this really stellar painting of the canyon above the fireplace. The hotel just has such a comfy cozy vibe and yes there's complimentary coffee every single morning. And fully caffeinated the following morning I would head across the street to the former Santa Fe Passenger Depot to grab my ticket. Now every morning starts with the Wild West Super Show which showcases the Cataract Creek Gang up to no good, including making fun of everybody in the crowd including me which this guy here told me that I was two weeks late to basketball trials. But shortly after that the marshal showed up. Because right on cue our train rolled into the depot. But as you already know from the title of this video this is not just any train, this is a steam train. This is engine 4960. She is a Mikado class engine built in 1923 for the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad, also known as the B in BNSF. And she was a freight locomotive until 1956 and she pulled passenger excursions until 1966 when she was retired and placed on display at a railway museum in Wisconsin. That was until 1988 when the Grand Canyon Railway bought her up and following a seven-year rebuild in July of 1996 she began pulling passengers to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Now you should never ask a lady about her weight but this girl weighs over half a million pounds and I mentioned it in the intro of the video but this is the only vegetable oil burning locomotive in the world and that vegetable oil is sourced almost entirely from the Frito-Lay factory the company that makes Doritos only three hours away in Casa Grande. Which means my ride to the Grand Canyon is quite literally powered by Doritos. So I am in first class the Fred Harvey Vista Dome the Super Dome and this is my ticket. And if you get slightly emotionally attached to trains the same way that I do well I don't know if it gets any better than this as this is my home for the next two and a half hours on route to the Grand Canyon. And at 9 30 a.m sharp we pull out of the depot and led by our beautiful steam engine bound for one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Today this is a fairly simple 64 mile run out of Williams to the Grand Canyon but when this route was completed by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1901 it connected all the way west to Los Angeles and east to Chicago as a part of the transcontinental route. It connected the Grand Canyon to literally the entire continent but in 1960 the Santa Fe would relocate out of Williams and east to the town of Flagstaff which is where the Amtrak's southwest chief still serves today. Now passenger service as a whole would cease to exist to the Grand Canyon in 1968 and freight followed in 1974 closing the route for good. But in 1988 private investors would purchase the route and fast forward 38 years the Grand Canyon Railway moves over a quarter of a million passengers annually and doing so only 364 days a year. I suppose they're allowed to take Christmas Day off and it's worth mentioning that it was not the cowboys or the calvaries that conquered the southwest like a lot of people believe it was the iron horse the steam engine. There is just something so cool about watching that steam engine take the corners and working the smoke goes black. And prior to the tracks that we are on being laid down at the start of the 20th century the fastest and only way to the canyon was by wagon and donkey. Although today our donkey is just a little bit more handsome and a lot faster and our wagon is just a bit more comfortable. These seats are like super comfy from the 1950s. So the car that I'm sitting in this is a vista dome this is a full length 85 foot second level observation dome. There's only 30 ever built 20 by the Butt Company 10 by the Pullman Standard Company and of the 20 14 went to the ATSF the Atchison Topeka Santa Fe Railroad and six to the Great Northern. The Grand Canyon Railway has two of the six Great Northern vista domes and the cool thing about this too is you get unlimited hot coffee, tea, apple cider, water. They have a buffet too so they have some fresh fruit which I really liked. They have some donuts, some pastries, a couple other little snacks and treats. They have a whole bar right at the front of the train and Noelle our lovely server she will make anything and everything that you could possibly want. God damn does it look pretty tasty. Almost makes you want to start drinking but I won't. I got sparkling water and coffee instead. Singing Sam. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about in train entertainment with you know live music. That dude can absolutely shred. He only played three songs that he left. I kind of wish played four. I kind of wanted to ask for an encore but I didn't want to be that guy. You could drive to the canyon in an hour but why? Grandest Whaley Canyon dare I say. I'm curious would you choose to ride in the vista dome? Let me know in the comment section below. Now from the outside the scenery may not be dramatic like the Alaskan fjords on the White Pass and Yukon route or like the rushing Animas River in the Rocky Mountains on the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge railroad but I think this is scenic in a very different way. From the pine trees of the high desert that our 15 car consist snakes through as it transforms into the open expanses of the plains about halfway through and maybe I spoke a little bit too soon because well look at that we even have the San Francisco mountains off in the distance. After the flat desert terrain we will start to climb up this three percent grade over a thousand feet in elevation into the Kaibab National Forest as our stainless steel cars really begin to glisten in that Arizona sun as we roll past the ponderosa trees and hey look at that we've even got a few foamers out there and as we pull into the Grand Canyon Depot right on schedule too I might add because unlike other railways there are no freights on these tracks but engine 4960 will reverse us onto the Y track as we come to a stop here on the station platform. Off the train the engineering crews will take 4960 away almost immediately for refueling and a much deserved drink for our return trip back scheduled to depart in three and a half hours from now. Tell me that is not the coolest thing in the world. It really does not get any better than that. But there's one more reason why I came. Wow biggest goddamn hole in the world. Jesus it's only the biggest goddamn hole in the world. Clark watch your language. Make that the second biggest. The Grand Canyon itself is not the deepest or the widest or even the longest canyon in the world but this is undoubtedly the best of all three in one location and first discovered in 1540 by Spanish explorers everything that they found and that we are seeing today was shaped by the Colorado River that runs through it long before humans had begun roaming the earth and today this is the best way to visually represent the effects of water erosion in one location and although it may not seem like it is 10 nautical miles across one mile below to the base of the Colorado River and 21 miles to hike from here on the south rim to the north rim on the other side. I mean this is why it is the biggest icon in the American Southwest and inspired by what I saw I was determined to witness one of the Grand Canyon's famous sunrises for myself and that's exactly what I did the following morning and with scenery like this you really don't need any words because the canyon waking up in front of you truly does all the talking. That sunlight too is nice it was like freezing it was like zero degrees this morning the sunlight in the skin is fantastic. Photos and videos don't do it justice you just have to come see with your own two eyes it is breathtaking and slowly watching the sunlight light up the canyon and bring everything to life this morning well sunrises and sunsets seem the most popular sunsets way easier because everybody's up sunrise is harder therefore less people might be easier to capture also I'm a morning person the second the sun comes up everybody clears out like cattle there's literally like nobody here and I think personally this is nice with the sun coming up behind me going into the canyon lighting up the rocks I think is the best part and seems like most people leave but you did come to watch the last train the last steam train to the Grand Canyon back to that all right I'm going back home I'm going back to bed and that right there that is where I'm going for lunch and this is the Altavar hotel a Swiss chalet style lodge built in 1905 by the Santa Fe railroad and hailed by many today as the crown jewel of the national park and also the most luxurious hotel anywhere west of the Mississippi upon opening now today those rooms are so sought after they are usually sold out anywhere between 6 and 12 months in advance but even if I wasn't going to stay here I was absolutely going to have lunch here and I mean take a look at this gorgeous dining room it's also the only restaurant in the entire park with a view of the canyon and I started things off with our famous French onion soup which has actually been on the menu since opening day in 1905 and after that for my main I went with the seared steelhead trout accompanied by a super vibrant citrus glaze and a blue corn succotash and if you're a regular viewer of my show it's the go-to desserts creme brulee to finish I've still never met a creme or a steam engine that I didn't love including here with a cactus pear infused creme brulee I can't think of a better way to wrap up my visit to the Grand Canyon because we also have a 3 30 departure back to Williams and if you hate watching YouTube ads like me click the join button besides subscribe and become a channel member it's 99 cents and helps keep this channel running so there is a brand new video waiting for you in your subscription box every single Sunday just like this one take a look at this he's just having his lunch beside the bus another one down there too I think that's his lady all right coming back with me here in the chief see the simons in the chief how long the wood trim behind the sea cushions welcome back it looks good but it'd probably look a little better in my freezer and we were sent off with a beautiful champagne toast now I don't drink so apple cider it was oh my goodness this stuff was tasty I definitely had a few more than I would like to admit but we'd pull out of the depot leaving the elt of our hotel behind and with one last look at the Grand Canyon before our 64 mile return trek back to Williams to my dispatch back in Williams that the cataract creek gang has been spotted out here in this area my dispatch also told me that they escaped the Williams jail earlier this afternoon we take over the money packaging watches rings give me your money caught up and get out have a great night folks when you consider that 80 of the self-primed visitors only spend 30 minutes or less appreciating the Grand Canyon the train really produces a much more intimate way to experience it I mean why would you drive there when you can relax spend time with your family or in my case just go solo and converse with a few strangers along the way the train is the way to go and whether it was bringing the materials to build the infrastructure to build the park or the water tanks providing drinkable water when there was none nothing today exists without the railway I mean it truly is the artery of the south rim and this train specifically is just so well curated it is honestly the most comfortable and entertaining way to get there bar none and if for some reason you are still on the fence and unsure if you want to come or not I'm telling you there is no better way to get there than by train and we will emerge from the longest rail tunnel in the entire state of Arizona yep that's the longest one and under interstate 40 before taking the last sweeping curve of the trip and headlined by that beautiful 1923 Mikado class engine at the front and calling it closed to my experience aboard the grandest way to the canyon had the best time perfect it was a pleasure meeting you thank you for the fantastic stories thank you so much that was amazing now I know a bunch of questions will come up in the comment section and I have a few things I want to address that might actually help you with that first off this trip was in April and the average temperature this time of year is roughly 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celsius compared to June through August where it's 85 Fahrenheit or 30 Celsius in the peak of summer and a lot of times temperatures get above that so do keep that in mind also the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel is such a great spot to stay it is literally next door to the station it's got a super cozy western vibe a fantastic buffet with real actually homemade stuff for both breakfast and dinner service it's probably the best buffet I think I've ever been to in my life can't recommend it enough and they also have a gift shop which I probably spent more money than I'd like to admit but it is great if you're looking for some postcards to send home to some people that you care about like me and finally if you are flying into Las Vegas and renting a car the state of Nevada charges pretty outrageous fees for rentals and you have to buy their insurance you can't bring your own so personally probably just fly into Phoenix and drive from there next time both are three hour drives and you just save a couple bucks and less of a headache oh and do not forget your sunscreen I forgot mine and I absolutely paid the price my neck got so burnt it was only 10 degrees on this day of the Grand Canyon would you ride a steam engine to the Grand Canyon or is there a different steam engine that you want to see me cover in a future episode whatever it is leave in the comment section below and if you enjoy this video what are you waiting for hit the subscribe button for more steam engines sleeper trains railway hotels and everything in between because I do new videos just like this every single Sunday I want to say thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next episode