Ski Trains - The Train Traveler

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Ski Trains

When skiers took to the slopes in the 1930's and 1940's, they traveled by train. There is a famous New Yorker magazine cover, featuring Grand Central Station's Oyster Bar, packed with skiers waiting for their train to the slopes. Various rail lines offered ski trains to take skiers to upstate New York and and New England, including the New York and New Haven and the Boston and Maine. However, the rise of our automobile society in the 1950's paralleled a similar demise in ski trains.

Almost fifty years later, the pendulum is swinging back. Each winter season for the past few years has seen an introduction of new ski trains, and the numbers show that they are well traveled. Now that the snow is finally beginning to arrive throughout the United States and Canada, and you might be thinking about planning a ski vacation, remember that the train is a great way to get to the slopes.

Colorado's Ski Train
The granddaddy of ski trains, for over sixty years the Ski Train has taken skiers and tourists alike from Denver to Colorado's Winter Park Resort. The train includes 14 passenger cars, including 3 Club Cars and 2 Cafe Cars, and takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to make the 56 mile trip to the resort. The spectacular route taken by the train passes through 28 tunnels, including the 6.2 mile long Moffat Tunnel, and stops right at the bottom of the Winter Park ski lifts.
The train also operates as an excursion train, running on Saturdays during the summer season.
Departure is at 7:15 a.m., with arrival at 9:30 a.m. The return trip departs at 4:15 p.m. and arrives at 6:30 p.m. For reservations, Ski Train Reservation Center or (303) 296-4754.
Metro North Ski Train to Thunder Ridge Ski Resort in Patterson, NY
New York's Thunder Ridge offers a ski package, complete with rail fare, all day/all night lift ticket (Saturday night only), shuttle to and from the train station and a $5.00 discount on rental equipment. Patterson is 70 miles north of New York City. For more information about Thunder Ridge's ski/rail package, call (845) 878-4100.
Killington, Vermont
Killington currently has the largest amount of open ski terrain in the east. Take Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express from Penn Station to Rutland, Vermont, in a shorter time than it would take to drive. If you book online or by calling (800) 888-3359, you will receive 10% off your Amtrak fare. Amtrak provides thruway motorcoach connections to Killington as well as to nearby Okemo.
West Virginia's Mountain State Ski Train
The Mountain State Ski Train features day trips, overnight, weekend or entire week-long getaways to ski and winter sports areas in the West Virgian mountains. All meals are provided, as well as lodging, ground shuttle transportation, round-trip rail and guide services. The Mountain State Ski Train serves all West Virginia ski reports, with passenger boarding throughout central Virginia, northern Kentucky, southern Ohio, central Indiana or Illinois. Operating from November 15, 2002 through March 15, 2003. Call 1-304-529-6412 for further information or visit their website.
The Train Traveler's current Amtrak Update column provides more information about rail/ski packages.

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