anybody ever ride these trains?

[jendf]

My in-laws run a Bed and Breakfast inn in Williams, and send their clients on the Grand Canyon railway frequently.  My wife used to work for GCRW before she met me, and we finally got to ride the train together last year (4 year old loved it).  Ya gotta watch out for yer valuables though, there's still "train robbers" in those parts. 

Yup. They hit us up too. 

I really enjoyed the whole experience. My only complaint was I would have liked to have explored the canyon for another hour or so before the train headed back. I was so taken aback by the beauty of the canyon, I missed out on visiting the village to do some shopping.

I was blown away though by how close you are to the canyon once you stop. I was expecting to have to walk a little ways or take a shuttle. No way!

And I went in late October so the weather was spectacular. Honestly, it was one of the best trips I've ever had.

[franksolich]

Hey, jendf, you're avatar's great.

I'm looking for one similar, but can't find it despite a whole lot of "image searches."

It's another painting by Norman Rockwell, perhaps the most emotionally powerful and compelling picture in American art of the 20th century.

It's the one where the grandmother and little grandson are saying grace over the table in a bus-stop restaurant, while two or three coarse hardened truck-drivers look on in awe and respect.  Circa 1950, probably.

To me, that's THE best Norman Rockwell painting, THE best American painting of the whole entire 20th century.

[jendf]

Hey, jendf, you're avatar's great.

I'm looking for one similar, but can't find it despite a whole lot of "image searches."

It's another painting by Norman Rockwell, perhaps the most emotionally powerful and compelling picture in American art of the 20th century.

It's the one where the grandmother and little grandson are saying grace over the table in a bus-stop restaurant, while two or three coarse hardened truck-drivers look on in awe and respect.  Circa 1950, probably.

To me, that's THE best Norman Rockwell painting, THE best American painting of the whole entire 20th century.

Thanks, frank. I'll look around and see if I turn up anything.

[franksolich]

Thanks, frank. I'll look around and see if I turn up anything.

I'm guessing it's maybe in a private collection, and hence not on the internet.

I just checked one of my books of Rockwell; it's Saying Grace, for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, November 24, 1951, "Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ken Stuart."

So it might not be on the internet at all.

It's a very compelling painting.

[jendf]

Is it this one?



I found it here.

[franksolich]

Found it.  It's amazing how easy Google is when one uses the title of a painting, rather than the name of the painter.

[jendf]

Found it.  It's amazing how easy Google is when one uses the title of a painting, rather than the name of the painter.

It's a nice painting. Whenever I see a Norman Rockwell print, my heart swells.

[franksolich]

We must've been posting about the same exact time, but I'm slower (and a slower computer)--thank you, madam!

Rockwell was great, undeniably the best American painter of the 20th century.

It's very powerful, the emotions his paintings evoke when one's looking at one.

[Lacarnut]

I'll bet that was the City of New Orleans, of the Illinois Central, the pride-and-joy of that railway.  From Chicago to Seattle, it could've been any one of scores of trains.  And then from Lost Angeles back to New Orleans, it could've been the Sunset Limited, the pride-and-joy of the Southern Pacific.

That is, assuming the parents were affluent enough to afford "extra fare" trains, which they might, or might not, have been.  But even an ordinary passenger train in 1941 and 1946 probably offered better service, better accomodations, than Amtrak trains today.

I do not remember what trains I rode on; could have been the Panama unlimited to Chicago. We had private rooms with bunk beds. After our first trip, my younger brother and I tried to get back on the train a couple of weeks later. We wound up getting a police escort back home. Just one of the stunts that I pulled as a kid. Don't know how my mom survived.

[NHSparky]

I looked at Amtrak prices for someone here that was going on vacation.  They were ungodly expensive... $160 a day for coach (one seat, no cabin, no bed).

Believe it or not, a trip from here to NYC wouldn't be a terrible thing.  It's roughly the same price as a plane ticket from Manch-Vegas or Boston to either LaGuardia or JFK, and there isn't the delay involved.  I've found planes on the East Coast are ALWAYS delayed past 10 AM, particularly if you're flying into/through Philly, JFK, or LaGuardia. 

I've taken a few short trips by train when I lived in LA--mostly to either Santa Barbara or San Diego.

And yeah, I've taken the Eurostar from London to Paris.  Three hours.  WAY cool.

[franksolich]

I do not remember what trains I rode on; could have been the Panama unlimited to Chicago.

Damn, I forgot all about the Panama Limited.

I knew the Illinois Central had two famous trains, Chicago-New Orleans, but could remember only the City of New Orleans.

And of the two, the Panama Limited was the more famous.

[Wineslob]

Excellent Rockwell painting, and like you both, one of my favorite American painters along with Maxfield Parrish.