America's most beautiful train journeys

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And where is the Cumbres and Toltec?
It runs between Antonito, CO, and Chama, NM. I believe passengers can ride in either direction but it is not possible to ride round-trip in one day. I stayed in Chama the night before, rode the dedicated bus to Antonito in the morning and rode the train back to Chama. Many people wax rhapsodic about the journey, and I don't regret having made it, but I do not plan to do it again and (knowing what I know now) would not have regretted skipping it.
 
It runs between Antonito, CO, and Chama, NM. I believe passengers can ride in either direction but it is not possible to ride round-trip in one day. I stayed in Chama the night before, rode the dedicated bus to Antonito in the morning and rode the train back to Chama. Many people wax rhapsodic about the journey, and I don't regret having made it, but I do not plan to do it again and (knowing what I know now) would not have regretted skipping it.
I know where it is and have ridden it. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I should have added "in this article" since they left it out.
 
It runs between Antonito, CO, and Chama, NM. I believe passengers can ride in either direction but it is not possible to ride round-trip in one day. I stayed in Chama the night before, rode the dedicated bus to Antonito in the morning and rode the train back to Chama. Many people wax rhapsodic about the journey, and I don't regret having made it, but I do not plan to do it again and (knowing what I know now) would not have regretted skipping it.
Why would you not want to ride again?
 
Why would you not want to ride again?
That question carries an implication that might not be correct. It isn't that I would not want to ride it again, it's that I would choose alternative ways to spend my time in the southwest. The Cumbres and Toltec ride cost too much in time and and especially inconvenience for too little reward in scenery and experience. Fans of The Big Bang Theory might recognize the reference when I say the train ride was "fine." It's not that there was anything wrong with it (although the lunch was disappointing and hurried, but that could have been a one-off), but it wouldn't make the cut when I consider what to do on a future trip to the southwest.
 
It isn't that I would not want to ride it again, it's that I would choose alternative ways to spend my time in the southwest. The Cumbres and Toltec ride cost too much in time and and especially inconvenience for too little reward in scenery and experience...

You're reminding me of Samuel Johnson, who when asked his opinion of the Giant's Causeway, a remarkable geological feature on the far north coast of Northern Ireland, replied "Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see."

(For the record, when I was visiting friends in Taos, NM, I badgered them into riding with me on the Cumbres & Toltec. They still thank me. It was magical. Even though for days afterwards, whenever I blew my nose, it came out black.)
 
You're reminding me of Samuel Johnson, who when asked his opinion of the Giant's Causeway, a remarkable geological feature on the far north coast of Northern Ireland, replied "Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see."
That's a reasonably accurate synopsis.
(For the record, when I was visiting friends in Taos, NM, I badgered them into riding with me on the Cumbres & Toltec. They still thank me. It was magical. Even though for days afterwards, whenever I blew my nose, it came out black.)
If I were visiting friends in Taos, or if I lived in Taos, it would change the whole assessment of "worth going to see." Although blowing my nose and having it come out black would be a larger detriment in my opinion than it appears to be in yours.
 
I rode the Strasburg Railroad, and enjoyed it and the nearby museum very much. But I would not characterize the journey as "beautiful." It was mostly just cornfields. Same with the kudzu on the Crescent.
I don't mind cornfields, personally
 
I rode the Strasburg Railroad, and enjoyed it and the nearby museum very much. But I would not characterize the journey as "beautiful." It was mostly just cornfields. Same with the kudzu on the Crescent.

Well the scenery is always going to match the location of the railway. It would be odd to see a Colorado Canyon in the middle of Amish Farmland.
 

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