Verde Canyon Railroad, Clarkdale

The Verde Canyon Railroad is a relaxing way to see some unspoiled and otherwise inaccessible areas of Arizona. The scenery is beautiful, and there is nothing like seeing the bald eagles in their natural environment. Although there were a few glitches in their automated narration, our cabin guide was very knowledgeable and humorous, and filled us in with the missing information and then some. I would give this five stars, but the "soundtrack" they play at times was cheesy and did not fit with the atmosphere. One song in particular featuring a female vocalist sounded like it was recorded using a dinky keyboard and a Playskool tape recorder, and used every cheesy cliche imaginable in the lyrics. It really was offensively awful, and I hate that this horror that was forced upon my ears sticks out so vividly and nightmarishly, when all of my other memories of the trip were fabulous.

I am a history buff, in particular about the old west. FOr me this was a trip back in time I thoroughly enjoyed the trip I would like to have experienced an exploration of the immediate and surrounding area when the train stopped for the return trip. Maybe this can be worked into the schedule? Our first class seating was excellent.

I thought 4 hours ride was way too long for the places that it took us. The scenery wasn't all that, just mountain and rocks; the same thing over and over. If you are into beautiful scenery, sedona is much more nicer. They didn't make any stops, and the only time they stopped was at the end of the trail when they had to switch the engine; there was nothing to admire while waiting for them except to inhale the smell of cow's dung. On the website, it says that passengers have to arrive no later than 1:30 before departure. I thought it was a trick to get us there early to have lunch at their coffee shop because all we had to do was to pick up the ticket and there wasn't any line. Lunch there was overpriced, $9.50 for a dry chicken burger combo. I had first class seating and was expecting a full glass of champaigne, but it was in a sample sized plastic cup. The appetizers included chicken wings (not good), eggrolls (very stale), and some fruits. The pictures of the train look way better than reality. In short, don't waste your day and money on this ride.