Two companies controlled by Denver's Phil Anschutz -- Xanterra and American Railway Explorer -- will be combining to offer luxury train service in 2011 from California's Napa Valley to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.

Though it's not publicized anywhere on the American Railway Explorer website, the firm is owned by Anschutz, and the website is actually served by Xanterra servers.

No word yet on the pricing for the trip, though another Anschutz-owned outlet, the Examiner.com website, is reporting prices will begin at $900 a day per person.

It's not quite regularly scheduled service to Yellowstone National Park and way outside the price range of most Americans, but it's a start. There's been momentum building in Montana for regularly scheduled train service in that state, and one side effect of that movement could be some sort of trunk service to Yellowstone or West Yellowstone.

Photo of Gardiner train station courtesy of Library of Congress.

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