Printer-friendly version    All aboard for the most scenic and relaxing train rides in North America–and beyond…   By Kelly Wieboldt   Are you ready for a unique experience? A great train ride might be exactly what you are looking for! Once you’re snug in your window seat, you’ve already begun.   The joy is in the journey itself. There is a feeling of old-fashioned civility that saturates the experience, while the thrills likewise seem to hearken back to another era–a leisurely conversation with a friendly stranger, sipping cocktails in the lounge car, being lulled to sleep by the comforting hum of clickety-clacking.   Children especially love trains (along with subways, trolleys, whatever rolls on wheels), delighting in the chance to roam the aisles instead of being strapped into a car seat. And in some sense, every time that engineer’s whistle blows, a playful, childlike wonder bubbles up inside all train lovers, young and old.   Popular train trips in North America often sell out, so it’s wise to book two or more months in advance, especially if you’re traveling in summer or if you want a sleeper compartment or other special accommodations. You’ll start to decompress the moment you’re on board, however–luggage stowed, ticket punched and the driving left to someone else.   THE ADIRONDACK   A few miles removed from New York City, past the traffic-clogged George Washington and Tappan Zee bridges, passengers aboard the Adirondack can gaze out at a pastoral scene that the 19th-century Hudson River School painters would have recognized: densely forested hills, tiny waterfront hamlets and, of course, the broad Hudson River itself. This 10-hour trip might feel as if you’re being transported to a foreign land–and you are, for the end of the line is cobblestoned, French-speaking Montreal. En route, you’ll puff into stops like Saratoga, the storied Victorian resort town still popular for horse-racing and soothing springs, and Westport, NY, with its handsome, still-functioning 1876 train station that also houses the Depot Theatre, with a backdrop of serene Lake Champlain and, in the distance, Vermont’s green mountains. New York to Montreal from $62   THE AUTO TRAIN   Best for Families When you and your family ride Amtrak’s imaginatively named Auto Train from the Washington, D.C., area down to theme-park central near Orlando, FL, here’s what you won’t have to deal with: I-95 traffic, airport parking, fumbling with a toddler’s shoes at airport security, antsy kids struggling to escape their car seats, and lineups at the car-rental counter. You won’t even need to forage for food: All meals are included, and one of the five entrees served should satisfy even the pickiest half-pint. With afternoon departures that arrive the next morning, the Auto Train is the equivalent of a red-eye flight–only you get beds, a shower a few steps from your seat, and your own familiar car (and car seats) at journey’s end. Lorton, VA, to Sanford, FL; family bedroom for two adults and two children, plus car, $1,104       CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR   Best for a Little Bit of Everything   Vast heartland plains; two towering mountain ranges; sun-scorched buttes and canyon lands; stops at towns renowned for everything from skiing (Winter Park, CO) to hot springs (Glenwood Springs, CO) to religion (Salt Lake City, UT) to sin (Reno, NV)–all book-ended by the world-class skylines of Chicago at one end and San Francisco at the other. That mouthful only starts to describe the two-day, 2,400-mile route of the California Zephyr. The journey’s literal peak occurs in the Colorado Rockies, where yellow and pink wildflowers speckle grassy meadows in summer. The train doesn’t so much climb the Continental Divide as plunge right through it via the six-mile-long Moffat Tunnel, 9,000 feet above sea level. Even more astounding is the path through the Sierra Nevada, where the Zephyr clings to cliff-sides, zigzags up switchbacks and glides through snow sheds that were built to protect the rails from avalanche. Chicago to Emeryville (San Francisco) from $182, roomette for two from $924   COAST STARLIGHT   Best for a Vintage Experience   A drink might take the edge off after a grueling drive, or make a bad flight bearable. But sipping a Cabernet aboard a train? Well, that’s just one more reason train passengers are rarely in a rush to reach their destination. The one-night, 35-hour trip aboard the Coast Starlight meanders through prime grape-growing regions in Oregon and California. For a nominal fee, passengers can enjoy a daily tasting of wines produced along the route–perhaps a Napa Valley Chardonnay or a Pinot Noir by way of Santa Barbara. The setting is the train’s refurbished, first-class parlour car, but there’s nothing highfalutin about the scene: A table holds self-serve trays of cheese, fruit and crackers, and handwritten descriptions sit atop each of the day’s wines. For novices, the car attendant provides a basic sight-smell-taste how-to. Tastings take place every afternoon–perfect timing to buy a bottle (for about $15) and pop the cork for dinner-with-a-view just afterward. Los Angeles to Seattle from $123, roomette for two from $496   ROCKY MOUNTAINEER   Best for Engineering Marvels   Carving a tunnel straight through earth and rock is difficult enough. In order to traverse some particularly hairy contours in the Canadian Rockies, early 1900s engineers dreamed up two enormous tunnels that each curves three-quarters of a circle beneath the surface. The resulting Spiral Tunnels opened to acclaim exactly a century ago, giving the railway a manageable 2 percent grade. Such inspired design was needed to plot a course up, down, through and around some of Canada’s most dramatic landscapes, taking in Banff’s glacier-carved peaks, 1,980-foot-deep Fraser Canyon and the awesome surge of water through narrow Hell’s Gate gorge. All these are visible from aboard the Kicking Horse route of the Rocky Mountaineer. In a twist on the usual overnight rail journey, passengers on this one-night trip sleep in hotels en route, in the town of Kamloops, rather than on the train–which makes some purists scream heresy,