Gambling is not an activity usually associated with trains. However, gambler trains have existed, usually as trains that carry gamblers to casino locations such as Las Vegas. Whether trains with official gambling activities aboard existed we are not sure. But certainly there have been countless private games played on trains as they traversed the countryside. Like boats, which have been and still are sometimes floating casinos, passenger and even freight trains are conducive to a gaming atmosphere, offering long, leisurely trips that create relaxation or even boredom, which can be dispelled with lively games of cards, dice or what have you.

    A number of gambler trains—the variety that carry folks to casinos—have risen and fallen since the formation of Amtrak in 1971. There have been trains created primarily to carry would-be gamblers to Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City. Remember the Las Vegas Limited and the Las Vegas Celebrity Train? Remember Amtrak’s five round trips daily between Philadelphia and Atlantic City in the early 1990s? The Reno Fun Train still exists, but all the others are gone. 

    The Las Vegas Limited had its last run on August 8, 1976 after the State of Nevada declined to provide further funding for its operation. It was the third Amtrak Las Vegas train to be discontinued. Earlier, on September 20, 1974, the Las Vegas Celebrity Train made its initial run, with celebrities including Milton Berle aboard to draw attention. Then there was the Pioneer, which passed through Las Vegas but was not designed primarily as a gambler train. It too was later discontinued.

     Recent efforts to start up another Los Angeles to Las Vegas train have not yet borne fruit after several years of planning.  Amtrak’s Atlantic City trains no longer exist, though New Jersey Transit runs what are essentially commuter trains to that East Coast gaming city. Reno, Nevada is still served by the California Zephyr, and undoubtedly many people use it to reach Reno for that city’s gambling resources, but the CZ is only marginally a gambler train.

    Why is it difficult to maintain the operation of such trains? One theory is that the idea of using public funds to provide rail transportation for gamblers runs counter to many public officials’ principles, and their opposition to the service eventually leads to its downfall. 

    There is also a move to build a maglev train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Perhaps if it were built it would prove a more permanent gambler-train service, since once the dedicated line were finished, there would be more incentive to keep it in operation, as there would be no other use for it. 

   Railroad themes must appear at casinos. Without making an exhaustive search of Las Vegas’ many themed casinos, we can still assume it’s likely that train themes will appear somewhere in the fantasyland of gambling houses/theme parks. 

    More numerous are steamboat and other nautical themes among casinos, both on the ground and online. The gambler steamboats of the Mississippi are famous and romanticized in literature, and in fact recreated in modern times. 

   Steamboat casino themes conjure up a nineteenth-century atmosphere in which steam trains would also appropriately fit. There are also Wild West themes, such as at the 49er online casino, which make an appropriate place to bring in steam trains, provided one advances the date by about twenty years. 

   Besides riverboats, other nautical themes abound among online casinos—themes involving islands, the sea, pirates, nautical heroes such as Captain Cook, and various oceanic fantasies. This may arise from the fact that many online casinos are in actuality headquartered on islands where gambling is looked upon more favorably than in the U.S.
 

Review of the 49er Casino--click here.

The 49er Casino is one that has adopted a definite theme--that of the gold rush days of 1849 and beyond, when the discovery of gold in California brought countless fortune seekers to the Wild West. In 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed, making travel to the West considerably easier. But by then the gold rush had mostly played out. Clicking on the 49er banner below will bring you to the online casino, where you can examine details of the site's theme. (Similarly, you can check out any online casino represented on this page by clicking on its banner.)
 


 

The river steamboat theme is brought to a high level of development in the River Belle Online Casino (see banner below), where on its opening page can be found a pleasantly romantic illustration of a river boat from the past steaming along a broad, placid river such as the Mississippi. The era of steam power in transportation included most notably the steam locomotive. We would be grateful to be informed of any casino sites that employ the symbols of other forms of steam travel, including the steam train.

River Belle - The Greatest li` ol` Riverboat Casino
The English Harbour Casino, based in England but playable internationally online, carries a nautical theme into oceanic travel, or perhaps more correctly into symbols of rest and replenishment (with money?) after oceanic travel. The sense of safety and relaxation suggested by a harbor is rather similar to the feelings conjured up by placid river travel. Thus the River Belle and the English Harbour casinos may have more in common than they imagine in their public images.



 With Captain Cook's Casino we move a bit more deeply into nautical matters, paying homage to Captain James Cook, famous 18th Century English explorer who discovered Hawaii and was the first to map the Pacific Ocean. The name is associated with integrity, thoroughness, bravery and contribution of much to posterity and to his native country. Casino users cannot duplicate the feats of Captain Cook, but in gaming they may emulate his brave search for success and riches.

Sands of the Caribbean casino is, like the English Harbour, a safe-harbor themed casino, with images involving the Caribbean Sea and the warm desert sands of the region. So again we have a place offering a sense of relaxation and replenishment. Nautical and land elements are combined into one.