Colorado skiers eagerly await return of train to the slopes

DENVER (AP) — For decades, a train chugged into the Rocky Mountains west from Denver, snaking through 29 tunnels and crossing the Continental Divide before delivering eager skiers to the base of Winter Park Resort at an elevation of 9,000 feet.

The return of the Winter Park Express marks one of the more exciting developments for Colorado skiers in years, and resort officials say it's already attracting attention worldwide.

Steve Hurlbert, a spokesman for the Denver-owned ski resort, said people from as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia have shown interest in the train, which is set to resume seasonal weekend passenger service Jan. 7.

[...] featured are Amtrak's Superliner double-decker cars, which are designed for longer distances and are roomier than normal passenger train cars.

[...] Amtrak has sold more tickets than expected for the train, fueled in part by frustrated skiers and snowboarders who dread making the painfully slow trip to the slopes on traffic-choked Interstate 70.

The train, which shares tracks with Amtrak's California Zephyr that runs between Chicago and San Francisco, has been a draw since it started running in 1940, the same year the ski resort opened.

Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, said Denver-based employees proposed resurrecting the ski train a couple of years ago, and a conversation began with Winter Park Resort and Union Pacific, which owns the tracks.