Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Passengers recline in one of the first-class cars during the trip on Sunday. The journey took about 12 hours, and more than 500 people were onboard.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Passengers look through the windows of the observation deck of the Southern Hospitality, a privately owned rail car that was on the excursion train that ran from Roanoke to Shenandoah and back Sunday.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Passengers board an Amtrak train, as seen from the Williamson Road bridge, Sunday morning for a round-trip excursion from Roanoke to Shenandoah on Norfolk Southern tracks. There was another train trip Saturday to Bluefield, W.Va.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Carla Lewis watches the scenery flash by as her husband, Peter Lewis, takes a nap.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Passengers settle into a Pullman car named the Kitchi Gammi Club. There were six privately owned cars on the train ride.

One phenomenon you might notice while riding in a railroad passenger car: When people see windows on a train that's going by, a lot of them wave.

Passenger cars -- like phone booths and full-service gas stations -- are less and less common these days. Transit service in the area ceased in the 1960s, save for train-club treks -- and those ended more than a decade ago.

But over the weekend, about 1,300 people rode the Norfolk Southern rails and got many waves during two daylong excursions presented by the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Adult tickets were $145 to $275.

There were more than 500 passengers on Sunday's 12-hour round trip to Shenandoah; during Saturday's jaunt to Bluefield, W.Va., the train carried 800 and was filled to capacity.

"We're giving people an opportunity to ride the trains, which is something they can't do, and we're preserving history," said Jeff Sanders, chapter president.

The 17-car train consisted of nine Amtrak coaches, two diners and six stylish, privately owned first-class cars. It was driven by three engines and staffed by 60 volunteers from the railway society, the O. Winston Link Museum, the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the Norfolk & Western Historical Society.

"Most of my work has been before the trip," said Sanders, as he went car to car Sunday.

Passengers read papers, slept and gazed at the view, while some tabulated the distance traveled using the passing mile markers.

The vintage rail cars, most built in the 1940s, offered an array of environments -- some had windows shaded by Venetian blinds or cloth curtains; seats ranged from booths to sofas to leather easy chairs. Two cars were topped by glass-domed observation areas.

"You can see 360 degrees around, and you are up above, even over the other train cars," said Tom McOwen, vice chairman of the Ohio Rail Development Commission and owner of one of the observation cars. He bought the 85-foot car in Indianapolis in 1995.

"This is a perfect way to travel," said Judith Damon of Roanoke, who took Sunday's trip with her husband, Herb Detwiler. "You can read, couples can converse, no one has to be conscious of driving conditions. I just wish they would bring it back."

A volunteer from Blue Ridge, Pamela Wefel, said there wasn't much left in the way of colorful foliage over the weekend but added that, without the leaves, "you get to see so much more."

David Burnette of Bluefield, W.Va., said passenger service offers travelers environmental and economic advantages.

"With the initiative to reduce our reliance on foreign energy, you would think the Obama administration would look at railroads," he said. "In Europe, they have a large, integrated railroad network. Here, if you want to go to, say, Myrtle Beach, you need to have your own vehicle."

But while train travel offers advantages -- good scenery, less responsibility, no stopping -- it's not without quirks. Disembarking, along with lengthy and narrow walkways, demands patience and cooperation from travelers.

"Stations in towns aren't prepared for passenger trains anymore," Sanders said. "The logistics are different. It takes a little while to get on and off, but I didn't hear any complaints."

He said both trips landed in the black and he hoped the group would be able to organize more in the future.

Nick White, a member of the Watauga Valley, Tenn., chapter of the NRHS, said he thinks a newer generation needs to develop an appreciation for railroads.

"A lot of younger people don't know about this," said White, using a GPS application on his cellphone to track the route and speed of the train. "We need younger people to keep it going and preserve it, or we're going to lose it."

For more information, go to www.roanokenrhs.org.