York 10:50 p.m.” Within that outline, there are a wide vari-
ety of booking options. Ten first class pas- sengers on the Berlin occupy that car for the entire trip. As many as six first class MacIn- tyre passengers occupy Amtrak Business Class to Rutland, then occupy accommoda- tions on the MacIntyre to and from Burling- ton. As many as twenty Parlor Class passen- gers are accommodated in Amtrak Business Class, then move to the Vermont Railway Silver Fleet Saturday morning for the trip to and from Burlington, with overnights in Rutland and Burlington hotels respectively. Finally, a “Day Trip Coach Class” accommo- dation on board the Silver Fleet cars offer Rutland-to-Burlington with a return to Rut- land by bus on Saturday, and Burlington-to- Rutland with a return to Burlington by bus on Sunday. Some intermediate boarding be- tween New York and Rutland may be avail- able as well, depending on bookings. Scott Spencer had these observations
about his venture: “Our service is an out- growth of former rail cruises operating in North America, but is influenced by the growing number of specialty river cruises. Add to that the popularity of bed-and-break- fasts, and the increasing desire people have for unique travel experiences, and you get some idea of our intent.” Costs are all-inclusive, unless there’s a
special event built into the trip that is an op- tion for riders. And while the itinerary is thorough and well-planned, it still allows a lot of time for people to spend on their own: three hours for shopping and sight-seeing in Middlebury, three hours to tour the Shel- burne Museum, up to three hours to shop or sight-see in Rutland, and an evening on your own in Burlington. It’s not an “If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium” experience that often frustrated passengers on the American Orient Express. (Consider the AOE passenger who lamented, as she was hurried out of Sur Le Table in San Francisco to re-board the bus, “Do these tour man- agers have any idea how much money we have to spend on shopping?”) With success, American Rail Cruises LLC
plans to offer additional trips through Christmas of 2014, and undertake an ex- panded schedule for 2015. For the Record: The Berlin began life in
1956 as the Union Pacific 11-Double Bed- room sleeper Placid Lake. It went to Amtrak as No. 2263, and was included in President- elect Jimmy Carter’s “Peanut Special” inau- guration train in 1976. After a wreck in 1980, it went into private hands (1981), and was acquired and refurbished for use on the American European Express, the American Orient Express, and the GrandLuxe. It re- turned to private ownership in 2012 and is available for charter. For more information on the Berlin, go to
www.berlinsleepingcar .com. A Meaningful Aside: Moore pointed out
another distinction the Berlin has to its credit. It is the supporting character in a documentary film titled Johnny Berlin. This 56-minute movie, released in 2005, captures the life and work of John Hyrns, a.k.a. “Johnny Berlin,” a sleeping car porter on the car when it was making regular runs on the American Orient Express. Presented as a monologue, the cameraman follows Hyrns as he completes his tasks on a weeklong run from Seattle to Los Angeles. His commen- tary touches on his work as he welcomes guests and makes his rounds from bedroom to bathroom to shower stall, but he’s more likely to digress to talk of his struggles as a writer, his efforts to sell selected body parts, the problems a railroad man has dating, even his desire to increase the payout on his life insurance policy (it’s for a noble reason). Film critic Michael Perkins says of it that it “is ultimately an intimate, offbeat, and hu- morous portrait of mid-life crisis presented as a traveling monologue.” Another viewer, Margaret Sky, noted that it “will make you laugh, cry and utterly astound you.” Per- haps the best news for those of us who are rail fans is this observation: “You will feel as if you are actually riding this great train to its destination.” You can watch the trailer at
www.tinyurl.com/johnnyberlin. The entire film is available for purchase at Amazon (
www.tinyurl.com/johnnyberlinAmazon) and other retailers around the country.
VERMONT RAIL SYSTEM SILVER FLEET, BELLOWS FALLS, VT. / PHOTO COURTESY OF AMERICAN RAIL CRUISES LLC
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