Scenic Arizona railroad to fly tourists in from Vegas casinos

Monday, Feb. 28, 2000 | 10:46 a.m.

An Arizona-based airline will sell a Wild West experience to Japanese tourists, using Las Vegas as a pivot point.

Farwest Airlines, Chandler, plans two flights a day beginning April 2 between Las Vegas and Northern Arizona, catering primarily to international tourists looking for a taste of the old West.

Farwest is partnering with the Grand Canyon Railway, which operates a 65-mile train ride between Williams, Ariz., and Grand Canyon National Park.

Farwest and the railroad, which are both owned by Grand Canyon Railway Co., Flagstaff, are developing tour packages that initially will be marketed by Japanese tour operators to customers planning to visit Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

"Japan is the first push," said Jerry Thull, public relations manager for the Grand Canyon Railway.

Eventually, the packages also will be marketed in Las Vegas to all visitors.

The train is a refurbished version of the railroad that operated between Northern Arizona's Amtrak line along historic Route 66 and the Grand Canyon. The original Grand Canyon Railroad began operations in 1901 and was an alternative to stagecoach travel to the landmark that eventually was designated a national park.

Thull said the railroad is attempting to increase train ridership among international customers and developed the partnership with Farwest to expose the train to more overseas travelers.

Farwest will fly four-engine deHavilland Dash-7 planes between McCarran International Airport and two Northern Arizona airports. Some flights will drop passengers off at Flagstaff's Pulliam Airport for a northbound train trip and some will fly to Grand Canyon Airport at Tusayan to meet a southbound train.

Farwest, which has a fleet of three of the 50-passenger planes, will have the capability of adding a second aircraft if the number of bookings exceeds the capacity of one plane.

Jim Jefferies, president of Farwest Airlines, said Las Vegas passengers will be picked up at their respective hotel-casinos and bused to McCarran, where they will be driven directly to the aircraft, which will be parked near the Signature Executive Terminal.

Farwest will fly established routes to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon airport, so the flights will not be considered scenic air tours.

Jefferies said because planes will be based in Flagstaff and the last run of the day ends in Las Vegas, the airline is considering offering a regularly scheduled daily charter flight between Las Vegas and Flagstaff with an early departure from Flagstaff and a late return from Las Vegas.

But putting passengers in the seats of the train is the primary goal of the airline.

The railroad offers one-day train trips from Williams that include a 3 1/2-hour layover at the park during which passengers tour the canyon rim on buses. Overnight packages include accommodations at a park lodge or at the railroad's 196-room Fray Marcos Hotel in Williams.

At the Williams depot, actors perform a 20-minute Wild West show and there's a free museum for visitors.

The trains are pulled by vintage steam-engine locomotives in the summer and diesel engines in the winter months.

The train ride between Williams and the Grand Canyon takes two hours and 15 minutes and on the southbound trip features a staged "train robbery" by actors who board the train along the route.

The train offers five classes of service. Western characters and period musicians also stroll through the cars to entertain passengers.

Thull said prices for the plane-train packages start at $321. The company's website advertises a Farwest Las Vegas day tour starting at $259 per person based on two passengers.