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| Here is the Wine Train seen at the Napa Station shortly before departure for St. Helena. |
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| Looking out the back of the Cabernet Sauvignon Lounge at the First Street crossing in Napa where new track going in. |
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| Here is yours truly experiencing this world class train! |
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| The Laird Family Estate Vineyard. |
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| The California Veterans Home in Yountville, CA. |
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| The Blankiet Estate Vineyard near Domain Chandon in Yountville. |
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| The sign says it all! |
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The Grgich Hills Estate Winery was the destination for a group of passengers on the Wine Train today as they would take a
tour of the winery then later catch the train back to Napa on its way back.
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| Part of Sutter Home's corporate headquarters. |
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| The Wine Train's station at St. Helena. |
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Looking south in St. Helena from the platform on the Cabernet Sauvignon lounge car. The train's 2 engines will couple up to
this end of the train so as to bring it back to Napa.
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| Nice lantern on the end of the Cabernet Sauvignon car! |
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| The train's 2 FPA-4's running around the train at St. Helena for the return trip to Napa. |
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The power now moving over the switch to back up to the train. FPA-4 #73 runs on Compressed Natural Gas!
Yep, even an
old ALCO can go green!!! |
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With the power on the other end of the train, this was now the view on the platform of the Chardonnay Lounge car. This was
the end of the line in St. Helena as this photo was taken shortly before departing there for the return trip to Napa.
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| Former Southern Pacific bay window caboose on display at St. Helena. |
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| Gott's Roadside burger stand in St. Helena, looks really busy! |
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| I wonder if that guy wishes he was on the train with all of us??? |
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| The V. Sattui Winery which is one of many that are next to the tracks used by the Wine Train! |
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| The Provenance Winery near Rutherford, CA. This train is about as peaceful as riding along the Pacific Ocean on the Surfliner! |
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| Going over a dry creek bed paralleling California Highway 29. |
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| Arriving back at Grgich Hills Estate to pick up passengers dropped off here for a winery tour so as to bring them back to Napa. |
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| Shortly after arriving back at Napa, we see the train getting ready to head into the yard after another great run! |
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| The Wine Train's station at Napa. |
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And now over to the yard in Napa, we see the power from today's train just after being uncoupled from the train which is now
being serviced as there would be another trip (a dinner train) later today.
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| FPA-4 #72 coupled up with #70 as seen in the yard. The Wine Train has 4 FPA-4's on its roster. |
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| A wide view of the Wine Train being serviced next to the main food commisary and training facility for the railroad. |
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| Finally, a wide view of the engine house and the railroad's operations center car (car on the left). |
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Well, what can I say? I've never before had an experience like this by train! This railroad celebrates the luxury passenger train and does an incredible job doing so! If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area or are planning a trip to California and you love trains and fine wine, you need to buy a ticket and take a ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train. Special thanks goes out to the Wine Train's Marketing Department for the tour of the train and the yard along with photography assistance. For more information on this incredible train, visit the Wine Train's official web site! The link is shown below. I drove back to Vacaville and would eventually call it a day. Next up, I take a drive over to the state capital of California, Sacramento, to visit one of the most amazing railroad museums anywhere in the country, click in the link at the bottom of this page! |
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