Deborah Daniels
PDT Staff Writer

The Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society in Huntington, W.Va., has announced plans to conduct a trip to Sulphur Springs, W.Va., home of The Greenbrier. This is part of a series of scenic excursions offered by the non-profit society.

The cost is $189 per person from either Huntington or Charleston, W.Va. The trip departs Dec. 14 -- from Huntington at 7:09 a.m. and from Charleston at 8:16 a.m.

Participants are invited to travel by Amtrak rail coach through the 65-mile-long New River Gorge to the Greenbrier Resort and return by motorcoach with a stop at Tamarack, West Virginia's arts and crafts mecca along Interstate 64, said Don Maxwell, executive director and tour director for the society.

Maxwell said a shuttle bus will pick up tourists at the train depot and take them to Greenbrier, where the hotel will be decorated for Christmas.

"That's always special," he said.

Since 1966, the historical society has been sponsoring memorable all-day treks from the Huntington and Charleston areas to Hinton, W.Va., and now once again to the Greenbrier,.

The trip includes Amtrak coach seats from either the Huntington or Charleston Amtrack stations to the Greenbrier Resort, which has an abundance of scenic beauty, more than 50 recreational activities including three championship golf courses, indoor and outdoor tennis courts and a 40,000-square-foot spa. Maxwell said participants will have time to shop or walk the grounds before a tour of the Bunker -- built to house Congress in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War era.

Tourists then will return via motorcoach to their final destinations of Charleston or Huntington. The motorcoach departs from White Sulphur Springs at 5 p.m. with scheduled arrival in Charleston at 9 p.m. and Huntington at 10 p.m.

To order tickets, call (866) 639-7487 or (304) 523-0364 or mail ticket requests to RRHS-Greenbrier Dec. 14 Trip, P.O. Box 393, Huntington, WV 25708. There is a limit of 80 tickets available for the trip.

The group will repeat these trips again next year on Feb. 15, April 26 and June 28, Maxwell said.

DEBORAH DANIELS can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 234.