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The C&TS, built in the 1880s as part of a rail empire connecting commercial outposts and mining camps, cuts a meandering 64-mile-long swath through frontier history along the mountainous border between Colorado and New Mexico. From Memorial Day weekend to mid-October, steam-driven locomotives, restored to mint condition and fired by tons of hand-stoked coal, maneuver around bends and across streambeds and pant up grades as steep as 4% on a track measuring just 36 in. between the rails.
Two trains depart each morning from opposite ends of the line and meet in the middle. One begins a rugged northeastern climb out of Chama, N.M., crosses two 100-ft.-high trestles and wends through the high point, Cumbres Pass (elevation 10,015 ft). The second locomotive fires up in Antonito, Colo., and chugs southwest. It threads through two 360-ft.-long tunnels, one of which was blasted out of 1.7 billion-year-old rock a dizzying 600 ft. above Toltec Gorge. You won't find a carload of snakes like the one Indiana Jones encountered. But do keep your eyes open for deer, black bear, bobcat, mountain lion and eagles.
The trains rendezvous in Osier, a ghost town accessible only by rail or dirt road. As crews prepare the historic trains for their return descents, you can relax and drink in the mountain views over lunch, before reboarding to return to your starting point or switching trains to continue your journey to the opposite point www.cumbrestoltec.com 888-CUMBRES). --By Adrianne Navon
PERU DAY TRIPS SLOW TRAIN FROM CUZCO
The main streets of Cuzco, the majestic Inca capital of Peru, are still slumbering in the half-light between dawn and day as minibuses and taxis take tourists to the small San Pedro rail station. There, behind the chaotic stalls of the city market, crowds jostle in the entrance waiting for the three services that run from Cuzco to the famed Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. The most comfortable and costly of the three services is the one-stop, 3 1/4-hour Inca service that leaves Cuzco at 6:15 a.m. daily for Machu Picchu. For railroad buffs, this 70-mile Cuzco-to-Machu Picchu line--another of the few remaining narrow-gauge passenger services still operating in the world--is one of the great rail experiences.
The other train ride from Cuzco departs from Wanchac station and is memorable more for the railway experience itself. The diesel train sways as it chugs bravely for more than 10 hours through the thin air of the altiplano that links Cuzco with Puno near the Bolivian border. You can see herds of huddled alpacas and women in layers of skirts and bright shawls as the train ambles by. Halfway along the 239-mile Cuzco-to-Puno trip, it crosses the highest point of any standard-gauge passenger train service in the world at La Raya, 14,172 ft. above sea level (011-51-84-238722, or fax 011-51-84-222114). --By Jane Holligan
NAPA VALLEY WINE TRAIN DAY-TRIPPING ON THE BACCHANALIAN EXPRESS
The French proverb "a day without wine is like a day without sunshine" fits the Napa Valley to a T. Even on the rare cloudy days, there's plenty of sunshine aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train, a 10-year-old cruise ship on land that offers white-linen dining--and plenty of the local agricultural product--on a three-hour rail voyage through the heart of California's famed wine country.