I arrived at the Wine Train's Napa Station in time for the 10:30am check-in. I headed to one of the ticket booths inside the station and was given my ticket after providing my reservation information. I then started to "mingle" with a few other passengers just before a Wine Tasting seminar was to start. I had a brief conversation with four people who were visiting from Australia! After meeting these people, I now knew I didn't travel the farthest to get there but oh well, I may have been the only person there from New York as I didn't meet anyone else from the Empire State! After chatting a bit, the Wine Tasting seminar began and everyone in the station was given two types of wine to sample. Both of the wines were very dry (I'm not much of a wine drinker but I do prefer a sweet wine myself). The first wine was called Gewurztraminer and the second was called "Rescue Red" which was a mix of Cabernet, Zinfandel and Merlot. We were taught different things about how to tell if the wine is "healthy" (by holding it up to a light and swirling it in the glass) as well as how to swirl it in our mouths so as to fully taste the wine and get the most out of the experience!
A good friend of mine in the San Francisco Bay Area had a contact at the Wine Train and told that person I was coming (You know who you are, thanks for letting them know!), so they arranged a tour for me of the train just before we all started boarding. I would also get a tour of the yard after the trip later in the day! Just after the seminar ended, a member of the Wine Train's Marketing department called me back to the ticket counter so as to go take the tour. As I walked out to the platform, I had my photo taken by a professional photographer who was on the platform (I would purchase that photo later) and the tour began. I walked through every car in the train and took several pictures along the way. Back home in New York, I'm a member of the Western New York Railway Historical Society and have assisted over the past several years in the restoration and upkeep of our 5 former New York Central Budd passenger coaches. Therefore I have a very strong appreciation for what it takes to keep a train like the Wine Train running. I was just completely amazed by the craftsmanship of the interiors of the cars on this train. The woodwork in the cars was nothing short of incredible. I can honestly say I've never been in a train like this in my entire life! My "seat" in the train would be in the Vista-Dome car which is where I would have lunch a bit later.
After the tour ended, I headed to my seat in the dome car and other passengers were now filing in as well. We departed Napa at 11:30am bound for St. Helena where the train's 2 locomotives would be run around so as to pull us back to Napa. The consist for today's train is shown below: |
| |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
ALCO MLW FPA-4 |
|
1959 |
|
ALCO MLW FPA-4 |
|
1959 |
|
Lounge Car |
Cabernet Sauvignon |
1915 |
|
Dessert Car |
Merlot |
1915 |
|
Vista Dome Car |
Champagne |
1952 |
|
Dining Car |
Le Petit Gourmet |
1915 |
|
Kitchen Car |
Le Chef de Cuisine |
1915 |
|
Dining Car |
Le Gourmet Express |
1915 |
|
Dining Car |
Silverado Trail |
1915 |
|
Dessert/Wine Tasting Car |
Zinfandel |
1915 |
|
Lounge Car |
Chardonnay |
1915 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
As part of what's included with my ticket today, I was served a glass of Mumm Napa Brut Prestige Sparkling Wine. Shortly thereafter, the servers came around and took everyone's order for the food all at once and would serve each course separately throughout the ride. The train would be travelling at a speed of 18mph powered by two ALCO MLW (Montreal Locomotive Works) FPA-4's, one of which as been converted to run on Compressed Natural Gas! The electric power in the train is supplied via Head End Power (just like on Amtrak). The menu does suggest a different wine to go with each course of the meal and all of the wines suggested are available on the train for a separate charge. The Appetizer was served first. I selected the Flourless Yam Ravioli stuffed with House Smoked Goat Cheese and topped with Grape Relish. I had never eaten a yam ravioli or goat cheese before and this was quite tasty! I took several pictures of the passing scenery as well as chatted with a few passengers from Japan who were seated across from me throughout the ride. The First Course was next: I selected the Red and Green Apple Endive Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese, Hazelnuts and Mustard Vinaigrette dressing. This salad was delicious! I never thought of hazelnuts being used in a salad before! Next up was the Main Course: I had the Grilled and Roasted Beef Tenderloin with a Potato Sauté topped with a Roasted Mozzarella Artichoke Heart. The beef tenderloin was cooked and seasoned perfectly and overall everything was delicious! I would have one other glass of wine outside of the one that came with my ticket. I chose the Hagafen Riesling since Riesling is one of my favorite wines. It cost an extra $12.00 but it was worth it, it was a great wine! Throughout the ride, the servers would point out different wineries along the way. A couple that I remember hearing about were Sutter Home and an affiliate of Kendall-Jackson whose wines are very much available back home in New York! I told a few people on the train that where I'm from in New York might as well be the "Napa Valley of the East" because the wine industry back home is huge! Take a short drive outside of Buffalo along the New York State Thruway and you'll pass vineyards everywhere! Like in Napa Valley, there are certain grapes that grow best in the soil conditions in Western & Central New York which makes the wine industry so big back home!
During lunch, the train stopped at the Grgich Hills Winery as a group of passengers on the train (not in the dome car) would be going there for lunch and a tour of that winery. Those passengers would be picked up by the train on the way back to Napa later. After lunch, I decided to go walk out to the Cabernet Sauvignon Lounge car as we were getting close to St. Helena which is the end of the line and the place where the power would be run around to the other end of the train to take us back to Napa. I got a few photos of the power passing the train and coupling onto this end of the train. I then decided to walk through the train to the other end and stand on the platform on the end of the Chardonnay Lounge car to get some photos looking out the back of the train at the beautiful scenery of Napa Valley!
I spent about 25 minutes on the platform on the end of the Chardonnay Lounge car (until we got back to the Grgich Hills Winery) taking pictures and noticing we got a lot of cars beeping their horns at us and people waving to us as we rode along California Highway 29 which parallels the the route of the train! I then walked back to the dome car to have dessert which was Apple Crisp topped with Vanilla Ice Cream. This was absolutely delicious!!! I decided to just relax the rest of the way back to Napa and I chatted a bit more with the 3 passengers from Japan who were sitting across from me. I'm not a big wine drinker and thus I didn't have anymore wine the rest of the way back. At about 2:30pm, the train arrived back in Napa. I wanted to get roster photos of the train so I walked over to the road crossing at First Street to take photos of the train as it departed the station and headed into their nearby yard. I got photos of every engine and car in the train as well as the station in Napa, then headed inside to meet up again with the Marketing representative who would be giving me the tour of the yard. I also purchased the photo the professional photographer took of me when I boarded for $25.00. It included 3 extra copies of the photo along with a folder-type frame. I drove over to the yard and was given the tour. Their yard facility is where the train is serviced and where their food commissary is based as well. This is a company who truly goes the extra mile to take care of the passenger! The train is kept in top condition and the staff really loves what they do and it shows in the level of service they provided!
And now, here's lots more pictures taken on my ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train...Enjoy! |
| |
|
