American Orient Express - tourist package

Travel America, July, 2001 by Dave G. Houser

Pampered passengers relive the golden age of railroading

Rail buffs are rejoicing at the resurgence in recent years of luxury trains as a domestic vacation option. Such travel offers a nostalgic return to the 1940s and '50s, when passengers boarded the great streamliners bound for points across the country. The 20th Century Limited, Santa Fe Super Chief, California Zephyr, and others played an intricate role in weaving the fabric of 20th century America.

Foremost among this country's private high-end train operators--and the only one offering a multitude of long-distance itineraries in keeping with the golden age of rail--is American Orient Express. While it has borrowed its name from the world's most famous luxury train, this is a thoroughly American organization (based in Downers Grove, Illinois). It has sunk $15 million into the restoration of more than a dozen vintage carriages that retrace some of North America's most scenic rail routes on seven different itineraries from February through November. The company launches a second train in 2002.

Joined by my wife Jan, I heeded the all-aboard call last March to experience AOE's 8-day/7-night "Antebellum South" tour from New Orleans to Washington, D.C. As a youngster I'd traveled by train quite often and was keen to reconnect with the excitement and romance of the rails--the "clickety-clack of the railroad tracks" that was so synonymous with travel before flying became practical and affordable.

New Orleans is, of course, a great place to kick off a vacation, and most who join the "Antebellum South" tour plan a few extra days to laissez les bon temps rouler, or "let the good times roll," in the Big Easy. We did again what we always seem to do in New Orleans--roaming about the French Quarter, eating and drinking far too much. But this time we made it a point as well to visit the new National D-Day Museum. Heralded by the media and patrons alike since it opened last year, this remarkable museum focuses on the massive Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 that changed the course of World War II--and that served as the setting for the recent movie Saving Private Ryan.

AOE's package includes a Saturday night stay at the Hotel Inter-Continental, or sometimes the Hyatt Regency, where the tour check-in, briefing, and introductions take place prior to an included dinner. Following a Sunday morning walking tour of the French Quarter and a motorcoach visit to the Confederate Museum and one of the city's famous above-ground cemeteries, guests join the train for a 3 p.m. departure, bound for Vicksburg, Mississippi.

A welcome-aboard dinner served en route in the tandem dining cars Chicago and Zurich sets the standard for the pampering style of service and fine dining that prevails for the entire week. Built in the 1940s for Union Pacific, dining cars are paneled in Honduran mahogany and accented in brass to reflect an elegant, club-like atmosphere. Service is provided by an attractive young wait staff decked out in black ties and tuxes that dish up Alaska salmon and corn-fed filets on gold-monogrammed imported china. Amtrak this is not.

Vicksburg is a new stop for 2001 "Antebellum South" tours. It replaces Mobile, a change reportedly forced by poor track conditions in and around the Alabama port city. The AOE arrives at Vicksburg about 10 p.m. for a quiet overnight stay. Next morning guests are welcomed to join an included tour of Vicksburg National Military Park, a lovely but haunting Civil War memorial to the 47-day siege and ultimate Union victory in the summer of 1863. It was a monumental victory, giving the North control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy in two. Walking among the headstones and cannon emplacements, I couldn't help thinking about the Normandy invasion I'd seen so skillfully chronicled the day before at New Orleans' D-Day Museum. Although more than 80 years apart, both battles changed the course of--and helped shorten--a deadly war.

A pleasant mix of broadleaf forest and wildlife-rich marshland fades to darkness as the AOE wends eastward along the Gulf on an overnight run to Savannah, Georgia. Passengers are never dependent solely on the scenery for entertainment. AOE hosts noted guest lecturers such as William C. Davis and James Robertson, Virginia Tech professors and authors of an award-winning book on Stonewall Jackson, who hold forth in one of the two comfy club cars. Whenever under way, there's an afternoon tea replete with fresh-made pastries. There are bars in the Seattle and Rocky Mountain club cars as well, plus card tables, grand pianos (tickled nightly by a talented pianist), and, above all, plenty of conversation.

In my view, one of the beauties of going by train is the intimacy it affords travelers. We made a number of new friends on the journey, four of whom we've stayed in touch with since. A few folks find the experience a bit confining or, let's say, too close for comfort. So, if privacy is your vacation objective, you'd probably be happier in a rental car or a small sailboat in the Aegean.