It`s peak season for leaf-watchers, those folks who find the changing colors of fall as breathtaking as the Impressionists` gallery at the Art Institute.
So the logical thing is to pack up the kids, jump in the car and head to a prime leaf area-say along Terrapin Ridge in northwestern Illinois if you have only a day to spend, or to New England or the Rockies if you have time.
There`s only one problem: You can`t gape at the scenery and drive at the same time; or at least you can`t drive safely.
Besides, you drive that car all week long. Why not use the excuse of a fall foliage tour to try something different, like a steam locomotive built in 1907 for the Northern Pacific Railroad? Or a diesel locomotive built in 1945 for the U.S. Army? Or a gambling riverboat, in which the gambling is real, but the boat a replica?
Want to bring along 40 of your best friends? Charter a bus-excuse me, a coach-and make it a party, complete with a designated driver.
There`s nothing like autumn color to spark interest in transportation.
Amtrak, the nation`s major passenger train service, doesn`t add routes in the fall, but it starts a publicity blitz in mid-summer to promote its lines that travel through some prime scenic regions.
Many of the nation`s small tourist railroads, usually restored historic locomotives and cars that run on short segments of what used to be part of the nation`s major freight lines, also have fall promotions to attract customers at peak color.
And Greyhound Bus Lines, still trying to reorganize after a painful strike, has resumed accepting charters for fall foliage tours. The bus line halted charters during the summer.
”Previously we did a lot of fall foliage tours,” said a Greyhound charter representative in Chicago. ”We`re starting up again.”
People in the Chicago region have two advantages in seeking fall color.
First, the city is a major transportation hub. Besides being the starting point for Amtrak or Greyhound routes, Chicago has a wealth of alternatives available, such as bus charters.
Second, the city is strategically located, with tiny historic railroads and scenic regions within hours in any direction.
You can head east to Ohio, with an abundance of tour railroads; northeast on Amtrak into the winemaking areas of Michigan; southeast on a chartered coach to the covered-bridge area of Indiana; west by rail or bus to the bluffs of the Upper Mississippi along Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
For a daylong or weekend trip, the best bets are to take a short train trip or to gather a group and charter a bus.
Amtrak`s Lake Cities route, for example, goes from Chicago to Detroit and Toledo, a trip that takes all day one way. This route goes through Michigan`s winemaking country, and crosses the Huron River repeatedly-11 times between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor alone.
If you want to leave and return the same day, the Pere Marquette, from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Mich., takes less than four hours each way.
Bus charter companies say fall foliage tours are a staple of the business. ”Senior citizens love it,” said Gloria Swain of Coach Travel Unlimited Corp. in Posen. ”A lot of these people can`t drive.”
Another advantage of a bus charter is that the customer can set the route and the pace while enjoying the comforts of air-conditioning, reclining seats and toilet facilities on board. And, of course, a charter passenger by definition isn`t going to be driving.
”That`s what makes people want to get aboard coaches,” Swain said.
”They have a designated driver. They can have hot toddies.”
One of the most spectacular sights in the Midwest in any season is the Upper Mississippi River, whose meandering waters follow startling bluffs and are dotted with islands; in the fall, the colors blaze. Bus charter companies say one-day trips to the Mississippi and back to the Chicago area are among the most popular fall foliage tours.
But an even better way to check out the Mississippi scenery is from a boat, and the recreational traffic on the river during the peak color season attests to that.
You don`t have a boat? There are no shortage of tour boats, but the biggest names in the business, such as the Delta Queen, are booked months in advance.
In recent years, however, river towns have seen an increase in dinner-excursion boats. And the recent legalization of riverboat gambling in Iowa, with Illinois following, has only increased the options for tourists who want to travel by water.
The Dubuque Casino Belle, for example, puts no pressure on passengers to gamble and stresses entertainment and scenery as much as moneymaking. The riverboat has several cruises daily that will continue far beyond peak fall color season.
The same is true for the gambling boats in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa.
Bus charter companies in this region say they do a healthy business taking groups to Mississippi towns for riverboat gambling.
”People this year are combining fall foliage tours with riverboat gambling,” said Swain of Coach Travel Unlimited.
Other popular fall destinations for Coach Travel Unlimited are Rockville and Bloomington, Ind., the heart of that state`s covered-bridge region; and Eau Claire, Wis., for apple-picking in the fall, Swain said.
Probably the greatest variety for scenery, however, is by train. Several of Amtrak`s scheduled routes out of Chicago cross some of the most stunning scenery the United States has to offer.
If you`ve got the time, take the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco. The region between Denver and Salt Lake City ”is a big deal year- round,” said Amtrak spokeswoman Deborah Hare. ”It`s considered our most scenic route.”
The trip takes parts of three days, with two nights on board.
Amtrak`s Pioneer connects Chicago to Portland and Seattle via Salt Lake City, offering terrific fall color along the Columbia River and the Columbia Gorge.
The northernmost train route in the U.S. is the Empire Builder, which leaves Chicago and after forking in Spokane, Wash., ends up in Portland, Ore., or Seattle. No other route shows as much variety: the Wisconsin Dells, the bluffs of LaCrosse, and hardwoods and lakes of Minnesota, across the flatness of the Great Plains to the majesty of the Rockies, through Montana`s ”Big Sky” cattle country and Glacier National Park, along the Columbia River, through the apple country of Washington State and the logging region of Idaho to the Puget Sound.
For folks heading east, Amtrak`s Capitol Limited leaves Chicago in the late afternoon. Morning finds you in Pennsylvania, going through Civil War country and the Alleghenies.
The Cardinal, from Chicago to New York via Cincinnati and Washington, takes a more southerly route than the Capitol Limited and is considered even more scenic, running through the New River Gorge of West Virginia.
Both are recommended for eastbound travelers, because the most boring region is passed at night. If you`re headed westbound, you`ll be sleeping through the most scenic regions of Pennsylvania.
Once you`re in New York, it`s a simple matter to switch to the many trains that go through New England, often considered the most beautiful part of the U.S. in autumn. Similarly, from Portland, Ore., or Seattle you can switch to a train headed into Canada.
Besides the variety of scenery, there`s an added bonus for taking Amtrak westbound out of Chicago: the most modern equipment.
Superliners, bi-level passenger cars that feature observation domes and more generous seating, operate on long-distance routes west of the
Mississippi. ”They don`t fit under the tunnels in the East,” Hare said.
Amtrak has bought about 140 Superliners that will be used on key westbound routes, such as the California Zephyr and Empire Builder, she said. ”We`re currently turning passengers away during peak periods,” she said.
”The ones we`re operating now are not new; they`ve been in operation since the early `80s, some the late `70s. The ones we`re bringing on line are of the same variety. These are the last cars the Pullman Standard Co. built before going out of business. When the last car rolled out, they literally shut the doors and went out of business.”
”Superliner” refers to a fleet of traincars, including passenger coaches, dining cars and lounges, Hare said. They are bi-level, so they hold 75 passengers rather than the 44 by older coaches.
”Bombardier Corp. of Canada purchased the rights to Superlinr cars,”
Hare said. ”They will be building them for us. There is no American railcar builder left, although Bombardier will assemble in the U.S.”
Superliner cars have some sleeping accommodations, though most passengers simply stay in reclining seats, she said. There`s also a full-service dining car-two for the segment between Denver and Salt Lake City because of demand.
”The lounge car substitutes as an observation car,” Hare said. ”The ceiling is all glass. These are double-decked cars, so when you`re sitting on the upper level, the walls and ceiling are glass. You have pretty much a limitless view.
”Passengers tend to stay on the upper level. It makes for a very smooth ride because you`re that much further removed from the track.
”We position the seats so they look outward. At night, when there`s no scenery, we show movies.”
Of course, not everybody is going where Amtrak is headed. And for many Americans, a vacation-even a weekend-without a car is unthinkable. If you must drive, some of the most beautiful routes, not surprisingly, follow lakeshores or rivers.
For example, in Illinois, the American Automobile Association-Chicago Motor Club suggests that drivers take the Great River Road along the Mississippi River between Galena, Ill., and the Quad Cities or between Knox and Green Counties. Illinois Highway 2 from Rockford to Dixon also is considered a prime route for fall color, as is Grand View Drive in Peoria.
And U.S. Highway 12 between Gary and Michigan City, Ind., is considered beautiful in the fall. Also in Indiana, the AAA recommends Turkey Run State Park and U.S. Highway 41 between Rockville and Terre Haute.
If you`ll be traveling in Iowa, the AAA suggests you follow routes along the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers; in Kentucky, stick to the Ohio River or Cumberland Gap National Historic Park; and in Michigan, follow the signs for Circle Tours of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior.
Just about every region of Wisconsin qualifies for prime fall viewing, but Wisconsin Highways 78 and 60 along the Wisconsin River get special mention.
But even if you decide to drive, you don`t have to skip the train ride altogether. One of the fastest-growing segments of railroading is the historical or tourist line, usually a few miles of track sold or abandoned by a major freight carrier, then bought by a company that offers short rides featuring vintage locomotives and coaches. There are more than 200 such lines in the U.S., not counting train museums, and many of them are in prime fall driving areas.
For example, the AAA suggests that the Hocking Hills area of Ohio is one of the most beautiful fall routes. That region also is home to the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway, which offers 70-minute or three-hour trips.
Dinner trains may be the most popular form of tour trains. For these excursions, the scenery is, at best, secondary.
But there are dozens of trains in the Midwest that are linked to history, not food, and run through areas noted for fall color.
For example, Wisconsin boasts the Kettle Moraine Railway in North Lake, and the Riverside & Great Northern Railroad in the Wisconsin Dells. Theaona & Northern Railway, in Laona, Wis., uses a 1916 steam locomotive to take passengers on 15-minute trips through forestland and an old logging camp.
In Freeport, Ill., about two hours northwest of Chicago in Stephenson County, the Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad features a 36-ton Heisler locomotive, reportedly the only one operating in the U.S.
One of the most scenic regions of the upper Midwest, Stillwater, Minn., is home to the Stillwater & St. Paul Railroad, which takes passengers on a six-mile trip including climbing a stiff grade out of the St. Croix River valley. The train line has two diesel locomotives, formerly used by the Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railroad, and a 1907 steam locomotive formerly owned by the Northern Pacific.
The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad leaves Boone, Iowa, for a six-mile trip that crosses a 156-foot-high trestle over the Bass Point Creek. The line uses old South Shore and Rock Island cars and has old diesel and steam locomotives.
The Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Ind., began as a commercial railroad in 1865. Today it takes tourists on a 16-mile trip along an old canal.
Passengers of the Junction Valley Railroad in Bridgeport, Mich., ride in old freight cars; don`t worry, seats have been added.
The Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway, which runs on former Cheasapeake & Ohio Railroad track between Owosso and Paw Paw, Mich., features open-window coaches. So does the Little Traverse Scenic Railway in Alanson, Mich.
And if you`re a military buff, you may enjoy the Tennessee Valley Railroad out of Chattanooga. The line usually has hourlong rides, but adds fall foliage trips in October. The railroad has three steam engines, dating as far back as 1904, and a former U.S. Army diesel built in 1945.
