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Spiffy train crawls to town photos by Bob Pennell Engineer Dave Elwood climbs down from the Mount Olympus locomotive in Roseburg. Shiny new Mount Olympus will open for tours today Over bridges, through farmland and lumber mills, and past hundreds of spectators at crossings along the way, Amtrak's Mount Olympus passenger train wove its way into Southern Oregon Friday. Starting in Eugene, the 244-passenger train crawled through the wilderness, stopping in Roseburg and Glendale for tours. The train will stop in Medford today for tours and will make three runs between here and Ashland. Bill Burgal, Kathy Schamp and Ed Immel relax in the refreshment car aboard Amtrak's Mount Olympus Friday as it makes its way south to Glendale. The public can tour the $10 million train and its $2.5 million locomotive at the Medford Depot on Front Street. Inside the train's 12 plush cars Friday afternoon, Oregon Department of Transportation and Amtrak officials enjoyed a ride through the trees. The train is designed in shades of soft green and pink, set off by stainless steel outfittings. The dining cars, equipped with bar stools and booths, feature ceiling maps with tiny shining lights representing cities. Televisions are mounted in each of the cars; Amtrak plays films with each ride. Although the train's optimum speed is more than 100 miles per hour, it crawled along Southern Oregon's rickety freight train tracks at speeds of 15 to 25 miles per hour. "It gets pretty boring up here at 25 miles an hour," said engineer Tom Crone from the staff car. "(At higher speeds,) I'm less likely to take a mental vacation. One of the hardest parts of coming down here is keeping your mind on your job because the scenery is so beautiful." The train slipped past blackberry bushes, purple wildflowers and walls of rock, wobbling on the freight train tracks. Amtrack cannot run the train at its usual Oregon speed of 79 miles per hour because the track is old and frail. Conductor Ronda Romine said the cost to build heavier rail to support a high-speed train would be $1 million to $2 million per mile. Crone said he has run a similar train at 90 miles per hour, and its handling is "sweet." Freight trains cannot compare to the ride of the sleek passenger train, he said. "Comparing this to a freight train would be like comparing a Corvette to an 18-wheeler," Crone said. From her fabric-covered seat in one of the coach cars, Mayte Stroud sat back and enjoyed the view while her 2-year-old, Marc, napped. Stroud's husband, Donold, helped design the train, so the family got a chance to ride it. Marc treated the trip as a "huge adventure," Stroud said. "He was really excited." But the slow-moving train trip soon bored Stroud. "Sometimes I think it would be faster walking," she said. Claudia Howells, manager of ODOT's rail division, said the idea of train service between Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass is "certainly worth studying." The train's visit to Southern Oregon comes after years of lobbying by local train supporters -- led by Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt. They are pushing for a resumption of passenger rail service in Southern Oregon. Sara Hamlen, manager of government affairs for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, took the ride from Eugene to Glendale. She spent much of her time peering out of windows to see the spectators. Cars of onlookers followed the train along its route. "They're popping out of the bushes," Hamlen said. "It's great to see that enthusiasm." About 75 people -- a mixture of senior citizens, off-work loggers and families -- awaited the train's evening arrival in Glendale Friday. Earlier in the day, in Roseburg, a crowd formed to tour the state-of-the-art train, including many children. "It's pretty cool," said Mitchel Brendan, 13, as he waited in the gravel beside the train. Brendan's father, Mike, said they weren't planning to tour the train -- just look at it. "The line is too long," Mike said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA