Whether our entertainment was found on the pages of a paperback, at the movie theater, or at home on a television set, westerns have thrilled both young and old for the last 100 years. And it seems that there was nothing better than when the action took place around an old steam train chugging down the tracks.
   Looking more like a scene from a 1950s Louis L'Amour novel, this modern day setting was found along the Grand Canyon Railway that runs from Williams, Arizona, to the South Rim. With Locomotive 4960 leading the way, it appears that this modern day excursion train could have easily been one of the first trips to the Grand Canyon at the start of the 20th century. In September 1901, the Topeka and Santa Fe completed a railroad line extension to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. By 1905, the El Tovar Hotel was opened and affluent guests flocked to see one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. Working in conjunction with the Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railway, the El Tovar Hotel was operated by the Fred Harvey Company. Here, the Harvey Girls, dressed in their starched white and black uniforms, offered Grand Canyon Railway guests the most impeccable service.
   Today, the Grand Canyon Railway continues to offer daily excursions to the Canyon with six different classes of service, varying from Pullman Coach to Luxury Dome and Parlor cars. The railway offers a special excursion on a steam locomotive once a month and during holidays. A trip on "The Greenest Train in America" is certainly a special treat when only a limited number of steam locomotives still operate in America today.

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