Dani the bartender answers the question.

"We go that way," she says, pointing west, "then back."

About 310 Boys & Girls Clubs members from Casper, Douglas and Glenrock, their chaperones and some 25 board members and invited guests climbed aboard Burlington Northern Santa Fe's 13-car Railway Special on Tuesday afternoon for a ride that spanned just over two hours in real time, but decades in luxury travel.

The question posed to Dani was whether the train would take an out-and-back route or make a loop.

Boarding before the kids arrived at the Burlington Railroad Station on North Wolcott Street, guests were escorted to the Club Lounge, where Dani presided over hors d'oeuvres and the bar.

Pat Hiatte, BNSF's media relations director from Fort Worth, Texas, greeted the group and said the route would be out to Bucknum and back.

Once the train began to move, he advised "three points of contact," usually two feet and one hand touching something solid at all times.

"There'll be some wobble and some side to side," he said, "especially when you move between cars."

Casper was the fifth stop on the 21-day tour that began in Nebraska at McCook and ends in Alliance, Neb., on June 26.

Along the way, BNSF provides rides to Boys & Girls Clubs members in Denver, Casper and Gillette, and Great Falls and Havre, Mont.

Once on the move, guests were escorted to the dining car, where one long table was set with crystal and linen for approximately 25.

Chefs working out of a tiny slip of a galley on the train prepared greens with raspberries, blue cheese and candied walnuts; beef tenderloin with mushroom gravy, baby red mashed potatoes and garden vegetables and a delightful apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream for dessert.

"This is fantastic," said Mary Ann Pasco, wife of First Interstate Bank president Ron Pasco.

After lunch, guests strolled from car to car, visiting the three coach cars crammed with Boys & Girls Club members.

They had dined on Lunchables and had nonstop snacks as well.

Sara Jones, 6, was on the train with her mom and siblings after missing a scheduled trip for BNSF employee families.

"It's really fun," Sara said. "I like seeing all the animals." She mused, however, that she thought trains "were fast."

The pace of Tuesday's ride was not speedy, but then, there was plenty of time to enjoy the cows and spring calves, green pasture and occasional rain shower.

Sara greatly enjoyed her Lunchable and Dr Pepper.

From the upper deck of the observation car, Zak Kamber, 10, a Boys & Girls Club member, characterized the trip as "very pleasant."

"I like the guardrails up here, the downstairs chairs and the snacks," he said. "We had a multiple choice of drinks for lunch and I liked that."

He thinks it would be cool if trains had been like Tuesday's "back then," but said he didn't think they were probably as fancy as Tuesday's ride was.

Riley Hicks, 6, sitting with his sister, Kaylee Hicks, 10, said he liked the wobbly way he walked on the train.

As the train made its way back to the station, traffic at the Bryan Stock Trail bridge was backed up significantly on either side of the crossing.

And then, engineer caps and coloring books in hand, it was time for the passengers to end their adventure.

And it was time for the 20-person crew to head to Greybull, where another adventure awaits another lucky group.

Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520; sallyann.shurmur@casperstartribune.net or read her online at www.casperstartribune.net/dishin