Amtrak is again running the Dome Car from albany, NY to Montreal, Canada. This is a two story train car whose roof is a glass greenhouse. It can't go south of Albany because of the tunnels, bridges and vandals; but pack a bottle of wine and kick back.
http://blog.timesunion.com/business/amtraks-dome-car-on-adirondack-run-through-nov...
Wish I was closer
Sounds like a nice trip, so long as the engineer doesn't drive it under any low bridges.
I live in leaf-peeping land, and that sounds great. Trains go through many, many areas that are untouched by roads and strip malls, and often next to streams/rivers. Will be looking into this.
Less A-holes parking in the middle of the road and gawking at the trees, so yes this is a good thing. (BTW i live in costal maine so i know how bad they can be)
In reply to 914Driver:
Where was this when I lived in Albany? That's pretty cool.
We're heading into the mountains this weekend. In Colorado, it's golden aspen against evergreens without the variety of maples found out east - but it's still pretty gorgeous. We're going to head over Imogene Pass, a good off-road adventure that will put us right in the middle of the color. Should be good.
Hmmm, I had the idea that this topic had to do with some kind of obscene behavior that involved Nissan's new electric car...oh, well.
it does sound dirty no? My father lives outside of Boston.. he has NOTHING good to say about peepers
As one who blisters through the mountains of Vermont with a few two wheeled friends, I can't explain the pucker factor when almost dragging a knee around a corner at light speed only to find Ma & Pa Kettle stopped straddling the center line pointing at frikkin trees.
I like leafs, 
leaves. I like them dried, crushed and marinating dead meats.
Dan
Hmph. Get up around Greenville/Asheville during leaf turning sometime. Talk about idiots...
In reply to Keith:
We should be on Imogene this afternoon after taking black bear over from silverton! Been here since Tuesday, the colors are amazing!
Looks safer than the MegaBus.
But is it safer than "The big bus"?
914Driver wrote:As one who blisters through the mountains of Vermont with a few two wheeled friends, I can't explain the pucker factor when almost dragging a knee around a corner at light speed only to find Ma & Pa Kettle stopped straddling the center line pointing at frikkin trees.
You should slow down and enjoy the scenery more.
And for Keith and Strizzo, I'm sitting in the Ridgway Chamber of Commerce/Ridgway Railroad Museum looking up at where you're at - great day, enjoy. If you're in Ouray tonight (Saturday), consider the Elks Lodge annual charity fundraiser dinner - open to the public, steak and shrimp at 6:30 PM for $25, bingo at 8, or if you're inclined, I'll be running karaoke downstairs in the club room starting at 8:15. Come on out, have a beer, tell racing lies, and embarass yourselves on mike singing. I'll give you a tour of our great historic building.
Jim Pettengill
1988RedT2 wrote:914Driver wrote:As one who blisters through the mountains of Vermont with a few two wheeled friends, I can't explain the pucker factor when almost dragging a knee around a corner at light speed only to find Ma & Pa Kettle stopped straddling the center line pointing at frikkin trees.
You should slow down and enjoy the scenery more.
On a bike, you get to enjoy the scenery on the way up. 
mad_machine wrote:But is it safer than "The big bus"?
How many race cars can you pack in that thing?
The results of the leaf peeping: very good. Although based on the photos from Janel's family, they're actually better on the Grand Mesa right beside Grand Junction! But we had bonus off-roading. Strizzo, we were in a white Grand Cherokee, bone stock except for disconnected sway bars. Jim, sorry we missed you but we were back in GJ on Saturday night.
From yesterday:
After a while, we kinda got above the trees. Janel, always the navigator, points the way.
And found this at 13,000'. I was surprised to see the generator. Turns out it was a pumping station to feed the Tomboy mine on the other side of the pass, and some poor soul had to live up here year-round to keep the pump going. Finding this sort of thing is my favorite part of exploring the mountains.
In reply to Keith:
Wow! Dat's cool!
probably better than living/working in the mine
That looks like Ptarmigan Lake, just below the top of Imogene Pass - there's a small stone fort at the top of the pass called Fort Peabody, named after the Colorado Governor who stationed National Guard troops there during the labor strikes at Telluride in around 1903. The troops were there to keep deported strikers from walking back into the Telluride mines over the pass from Ouray. They were there all winter - this is at about 13,200 feet at the Fort!!!
Yikes - not my idea of a great place to spend the winter! A super 4WD trip, though.
The big round thing with the holes is a steam boiler - most of the mines used steam power, mostly powered by coal after all the trees were cut down, and this site is way above treeline anyway. This led to the world's first commercial AC power plant at nearby Ames, Colorado in about 1891 or 1892.
Fascinating area to come explore, particularly with 4WD - most trails are moderate in difficulty. Peak color averages around October 1st, plus or minus a week.
Wait, people do this? I thought it was just a joke on Family Guy.
The foliage is big business in New England and upstate NY.
Jim's right, that's Ptarmigan Lake. The boiler powered a big steam engine that spun the Westinghouse generator - you can see the alignment of the parts when you're there in person. There's a second, smaller generator sitting around as well. The boilers are a fairly common find in the area but it's the first time I've found a generator. I think I found the pump that lifted the water as well, although it was fairly small given the amount of lift it needed - the water went over that ridge in the background. It did drop down quite a bit on the other side, so there might have been a siphon effect at work.
These high altitude mines really show how hard people are willing to work. Just think of how much effort it took to get that boiler up to 13,000'. The steam engine came from NY! And it would be a long, long winter feeding that boiler. This is the first time I've actually made it over Imogene Pass, it's been snowed in every other time: not melted on the 4th of July, and fresh snow on September 20th a few years back.
