A rail cruise company is organizing a two-day excursion next month from Chicago to St. Louis that will shadow much of Route 66 in Illinois and give participants a chance to see the countryside from a 1950s domed dining car.
The cruise by Zephyr Route will be April 23-24. The train will make stops in Summit, Joliet, Dwight, Pontiac, Bloomington-Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville and Alton.
According to the Alton Telegraph newspaper:
This excursion, organized by Zephyr Route of St. Charles, Illinois, will feature volunteer interpretive guides from the non-profit 501(c)(3) American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation Rail Rangers program. Rail Rangers guides will point out various historic landmarks along the route and provide on-going narration about various topics, including the I&M Canal, Route 66, Abraham Lincoln, coal, and the Mississippi River. […]
All passengers who purchase tickets for this excursion will ride in the glass-enclosed dome car, which offers great views of the scenic countryside as it passes by. Meals on-board the train and one night of overnight accommodations at the DoubleTree Hotel at St. Louis Union Station are included in the package price.
More about the St. Louis Springtime Rail Cruise may be found here. The cost of $695, which includes lodging, meals and round-trip travel, is lower if you get on the train in Bloomington or Springfield.
(Images of the domed dining car via Zephyr Route)
It’s a good idea to ride the rails along the old route. I’ve ridden on Amtrak on the very same route when I took the train to California several times. Let’s hope the zephyr doesn’t get in the way of Amtrak when they ride the rails. I wonder if this Zephyr is the same train I once took with my family back in the days from E Dubuque to Minneapolis on the Zephyr? It has the same vista dome.
Sounds like fun.
How about bicycling the route! Then you will “see and experience” the route. PACTOUR has that ride for you!
I’m guessing this will be pulled behind an Amtrak Train on regular schedule.