American Orient Express

The American Orient Express, a privately owned luxury train that begins its second season of transcontinental trips between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., on March 23, is introducing three new trips this year: a five-night tour of "The Great Southwest"; a nine-night music festival/opera train that will include performances at the Aspen Music Festival and Santa Fe opera, and a seven-night tour of "National Parks of the West."

The American Orient Express train that traverses the Rockies and Yellowstone is quitting the route after this summer because of increased freight traffic between Denver and Salt Lake City, the Associated Press reported. The company's tours through other parts of the West, the South and Canada will continue. Tel. (877) 854-3545, http://www.americanorientexpress.com. Compiled by Times staff

Had it with hotels? Done with dude ranches? Cruises make you crazy? So ride the rails, darling. Board the sleek, blue-and-white cars of the American Orient Express for a transcontinental tour--plus plenty of pampering. Watch the landscape unfold from a comfy sofa in the leather-walled, brass-appointed club car. Listen to the pianist tickle the ivories on one of two baby grands. Order a drink from the marble-top bar.

There are no bouquets, brass bands or crowds. Still, the American Orient Express arrives at this small town near the Utah border like visiting royalty. Its brakes shriek, and burnished blue and gold cars slow to a stop alongside the Union Pacific Customer Special, a vintage train the freight company uses for wining and dining VIPs. This is a golden moment for train aficionados, a rare chance to see these two grand old luxury trains together.

The American Orient Express train that traverses the Rockies and Yellowstone is quitting the route after this summer because of increased freight traffic between Denver and Salt Lake City, the Associated Press reported. The company's tours through other parts of the West, the South and Canada will continue. Tel. (877) 854-3545, http://www.americanorientexpress.com. Compiled by Times staff

A bit of train history was up for sale last month when 23 of the original Orient Express carriages that ran between Paris and Istanbul before World War II were put on the market in Switzerland. Swiss travel operator Reiseburo Mittelthurgau, which bought the cars in 1993, said it had become too expensive to run its luxury train tours, which go to Moscow and Beijing and also make day trips from Switzerland. Those tours haven't been marketed in the U.S.

There are no bouquets, brass bands or crowds. Still, the American Orient Express arrives at this small town near the Utah border like visiting royalty. Its brakes shriek, and burnished blue and gold cars slow to a stop alongside the Union Pacific Customer Special, a vintage train the freight company uses for wining and dining VIPs. This is a golden moment for train aficionados, a rare chance to see these two grand old luxury trains together.

Rail fans who long to take a luxury train tour but can't afford the longer itineraries might consider a new three-day Rockies trip offered jointly by Seattle-based American Orient Express Railway Co. and Amtrak. Fourteen trips between Denver and Salt Lake City are planned from July 10 through Aug. 7, using restored cars from the 1940s and 1950s.

How I enjoyed Susan Spano's rueful account of her train ride on the American Orient Express ("On Different Tracks: The Rockies," Sept. 10). It brought back such wonderful memories of a cross-country train journey I took as a kid some years before Amtrak took over and gave us by default or design the all-American mall on wheels. And I, like Spano, felt more than a twinge of pain contemplating how "a blissful railroad experience" has nearly vanished, of how quietly and distinctly enchanting a train trip once could be. DAVID LEWIS Piedmont

You ran an article about the American Orient Express trip through the Rocky Mountains ("On Different Tracks," Sept. 10). I have looked at both the American and the original, Europe's Venice Simplon-Orient Express, when planning summer trips. I thought it might be nice to roll through the Rockies. However, I recently went on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, and I can tell you there is no comparison. There never will be a train greater than the VSOE. Comparing the AOE to the VSOE is like comparing a Rolls-Royce to a Lincoln Town Car. MAX JONES Santa Cruz

A bit of train history was up for sale last month when 23 of the original Orient Express carriages that ran between Paris and Istanbul before World War II were put on the market in Switzerland. Swiss travel operator Reiseburo Mittelthurgau, which bought the cars in 1993, said it had become too expensive to run its luxury train tours, which go to Moscow and Beijing and also make day trips from Switzerland. Those tours haven't been marketed in the U.S.

Had it with hotels? Done with dude ranches? Cruises make you crazy? So ride the rails, darling. Board the sleek, blue-and-white cars of the American Orient Express for a transcontinental tour--plus plenty of pampering. Watch the landscape unfold from a comfy sofa in the leather-walled, brass-appointed club car. Listen to the pianist tickle the ivories on one of two baby grands. Order a drink from the marble-top bar.

The American Orient Express, a privately owned luxury train that begins its second season of transcontinental trips between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., on March 23, is introducing three new trips this year: a five-night tour of "The Great Southwest"; a nine-night music festival/opera train that will include performances at the Aspen Music Festival and Santa Fe opera, and a seven-night tour of "National Parks of the West."

Fans of West Coast rail travel have two new options for 1999: a Canada tour that connects with Amtrak's Coast Starlight and Mt. Baker routes, and regular runs of the luxury American Orient Express along the route. From April 29 through Oct. 9, 1999, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours will run a six-day "Coast Starlight Tour."

Canada this year is adding a luxury transcontinental train route and a dinner train up the British Columbia coast.. The Seattle-based American Orient Express Railway Co., which runs deluxe U.S. train tours in restored vintage cars, is expanding to Canada, with nine-day, 3,000-mile trips between Vancouver and Montreal departing Aug. 11, 18 and 25 and on Sept. 1. The $4,990 price includes meals, excursions and lectures; air fare is extra.