My wife and I took the train as a relaxing way to get the canyon and weren’t disappointed.
We had tickets in the dome car in both directions and were under the care of Conya Rae, our Passenger Service Attendant. She did a lovely job of pointing out sites along with the way and sharing history of the train, northern Arizona, and the local area.
Along the way we had musicians who came through the car, a different one in each direction. Both were good, the one on our return was more to our liking but both were solid musicians.
You have about 3 hours at the canyon which was enough for us. We were able to walk the 1.5 miles to Yavapai Point and back with no trouble, taking plenty of time to sit and enjoy the view all along the way.
There’s not a lot of food options, so bring some with you. That is something I wish we had done differently. The restaurants that are there require reservations that are booked well in advance.
The train, when not in pandemic times, seats over 1000 passengers, but they told us that we were at about 1/3 capacity. I felt they did a good job keeping people distanced and cleaning things and wasn’t at all uncomfortable. Though it might be noted that many folks were openly sharing their vaccination status, which may be the new norm.
It is not a quick ride but it forces you to slow down, which I found wonderfully helpful.
You can take the train up and stay the night at a lodge in the park. They will transfer your luggage. We did not do that, but it seemed an equally popular option to the day trippers.