Passengers learning about Lewis, Clark while riding the rails

ABOARD THE ANN RUTLEDGE -- Two centuries ago members of the Lewis and Clark expedition coated themselves in grease to keep off the swarms of mosquitos as they pulled a keel boat the size of a railroad car up the Missouri River.

Now, as this Amtrak train glides along steel rails next to the muddy river, children and adults sit in air-conditioned comfort to hear tales of adventure and look at replicas of artifacts from that time.

Though Kaela Williams had learned about the expedition in school, the 13-year-old said the education she received while traveling from Kansas City to St. Louis aboard the Ann Rutledge with her Girl Scout troop was something altogether different.

"It's pretty cool to learn about it while you are riding along where they were," she said.

That was the reaction the National Park Service and Amtrak wanted when they joined forces to provide a Lewis and Clark education to passengers aboard four trains that pass along the explorer's historic route. Volunteers also talk to travelers about the preparations that preceded the expedition on one East Coast route.

The storytellers who joined Williams' eastbound train on a recent June day were two St. Louis-area retirees -- one a former schoolteacher, the other the president of the St. Louis chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society. The men unpacked an assortment of beads, fake animal pelts and other props before searching the train for an audience.

Within minutes, they had packed the lounge car of the train speeding toward St. Louis, the jumping off point for the Lewis and Clark expedition.

In a presentation filled with props, Mike Barkon, the teacher, said grueling, backbreaking labor greeted the travelers. For much of the trip, he said they had to use ropes to pull the boat up the river.

"It was a terrible hard job," he said, "and they ate a lot. Nine pounds of meat a day. Nine 16-ounce steaks. Try it for dinner."

Estelle Tunley, 54, of Millersville, Md., said she wasn't expecting to get a Lewis and Clark education when she boarded the train. But the Kansas City native was soon caught up in the history of the region where she grew up.

"I think it's interesting to hear the little-known stories ... the real everyday stuff," she said. And she added of the speaker "he's so passionate about telling the story and making sure people understand it. It's neat to see when people really enjoy what they do."

The Lewis and Clark program has its roots in an experiment that started in 1994 when the Park Service placed volunteers on a route from New Orleans to Lafayette, La., to talk about the history of the area. Soon volunteers were added to other routes where they talked about the passing scenery or historical events that happened near the route.

The program was so popular that the partners signed an agreement in 2000 to expand the Trails & Rails program nationally. Last summer, the Park Service said 250,000 travelers participated in the Trails & Rails program, which now is available on 24 Amtrak routes.

First on a route that passed through North Dakota and Montana and later elsewhere, volunteers began talking about Lewis and Clark. But Anne McGinnis, who coordinates the Trails and Rails Program for Amtrak, said the Lewis and Clark focus wasn't made official until last year.

McGinnis said the focus on the bicentennial will continue at least through 2006.

Mike Haley, who listens to the program as he dishes out food and drinks to travels aboard the Ann Rutledge, counted himself among the program's fans.

"It brings the trip alive for the people," said Haley. "Rather than just looking out the window at the river, they get a little bit of history of how the river came to be and was settled. It's neat for the passengers, and that's what we're in business for. Entertaining the passengers."