Although the Grand Canyon Railway was out of commission from 1968 until the late 1980s, the train is back up and running.

BBC: Touring the American Southwest in a cowboy��s boots

The canyon was inhabited by native peoples as far back as 10, 000 BC, European explorers braved the inhospitable terrain first in the 1500s and then again in the 1800s, and the canyon became accessible to its first influx of visitors in 1901 when the Grand Canyon Railway was built to service mining claims.

BBC: Touring the American Southwest in a cowboy��s boots

The historic railway runs south to north, from the Williams Depot in Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon Depot, 65 miles north.

BBC: Touring the American Southwest in a cowboy��s boots