Luxury Train Coming Next Year to Far East

The luxury train business has had its ups and downs this year. On the plus side, the Venice Simplon Orient-Express will debut the Eastern & Oriental Express--a new luxury train between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok--late next year in restored carriages originally built for New Zealand Railways.

Also getting into the act is Amtrak, which has just inaugurated a luxurious lounge car to accompany its “Pennsylvanian” train between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia. The car accommodates 10 passengers on each of its four-day-a-week trips, and is equipped with a reading room, private dining room and observation area. Meals, including afternoon tea, are specially prepared.

On the minus side, two trains, The Sierra 49er, from San Jose to Reno, and the Queen of Scots, which made a loop from Edinburgh through the Scottish Highlands, have stopped running within the past year. And Holland America Line-Westours Inc. has announced that it will postpone debut of its luxury train through the Canadian Rockies from a planned 1992 launch until 1993. The company is seeking another business partner.

Travel Quiz: What American city cemetery has a grave marker with the legend, “Here lies Les Moore. Four slugs from a .44. No Les, no more.”?

One for the Road: Next year Route 66 turns 66, and a publication called The Mother Road Journal is looking for a few good memories to include in a special commemorative edition. Being sought are stories, pictures and post cards about the highway that sliced through eight states--Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California--until Interstate 40 turned much of the fabled route into a frontage road. Send thoughts on the road to The Mother Road Journal, P.O. Box 27232, Lakewood, Colo. 80227.

Quick Fact: Number of travelers who believe that the most stressful people to vacation with are their own children: 10%. Number of people who believe that the most stressful people to vacation with are the children of others: 41%. (Source: Hyatt Hotels survey.)

Best Baggage: U.S. airlines posted their best baggage-handling record in June since they began reporting baggage-handling complaints to the Department of Transportation four years ago. The airlines that did the best jobs of toting: Midway, Southwest and American. (Airlines have been doing increasingly better since DOT started tracking and making public the number of complaints. In September, 1987, the first month for which data were collected, there were 7.91 per 1,000 passengers, as compared with 5.04 complaints in June, 1991.)

Cholera in Africa: Although the current cholera epidemic in Latin America has been widely reported, less publicized has been the devastation caused by cholera in Africa. Almost 5,000 people have died in the epidemic sweeping 12 African countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. As of the end of July, 4,673 people had died in Zambia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Benin, and Sao Tome and Principe. Zambia has been hardest hit, with 981 deaths. More than 2,900 people have died in South and Central America.

Ski Favorites: Five California resorts made the list of North America’s top 45 ski resorts, compiled by Snow Country Magazine, a mountain sports and living magazine.

California resorts ranked were Heavenly Valley (No. 4), Squaw Valley (6), Mammoth Mountain (12), Northstar-At-Tahoe (14) and Alpine Meadows (25). The resorts were rated by readers and magazine personnel for such qualities as vertical drop, amount of skiable area, length of ski season, accumulated natural snowfall and number and types of lifts. Top 10 on the list: 1) Vail, Colo.; 2) Blackcomb/Whistler, British Columbia, Canada; 3) Steamboat, Colo.; 4) Heavenly Valley; 5) Breckenridge, Colo.; 6) Squaw Valley, 7) Killington, Vt.; 8) Keystone, Colo.; 9) Park City, Utah, and 10) Mt. Bachelor, Ore.

When Bad News Is Good News: It is not a gain as such but a change that may signal end to the pause in California tourism prompted by the Gulf War, the recession and an oversupply of rooms. A spokesman for the California Hotel and Motel Assn. reports that May hotel and motel room occupancy was down 1.7% from last May but that that is actually an improvement. March occupancy rates were down 6.1% from the previous March.

Rising Passport Costs: The cost of a 10-year U.S. passport is expected to increase Nov. 1 from $35 to $55, and the cost of a child’s five-year passport will go up from $20 to $30. The increase, the first since 1983, is needed to cover rising costs, according to the State Department. Department officials said there is still time to beat the increase, and that applying by mail is the easiest way. To qualify for mail application, the applicant must hold a passport issued no more than 12 years ago, and must have been at least 16 years old at the time of issuance. The passport must be sent along with the application.

Comparatively Speaking: Cruise ship sanitation scores for ships inspected in July (a score of 86 or higher indicates acceptable sanitation): Pacific Star: 78. Regent Star: 93. Sea Lion: 95. Starship Majestic: 78. Viking Serenade: 87. (Source: Centers for Disease Control.)

Fair Warning: Flower-covered barges, elaborate sand sculptures and rowboat races will be part of the 39th Begonia Festival at Capitola, near Santa Cruz, Sept. 1-8. Highlight of the festival will be the nautical parade of begonia-covered barges floating down Soquel Creek to the Capitola Lagoon on Sept. 8. The parade starts at 2 p.m., but viewers begin lining up at 9 a.m. for a good view. Other events include a sand sculpture contest Sept. 1 and a fishing derby Sept. 2. For more information, call (800) 833-3494.

Quiz Answer: Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Ariz.