Silver Splendor Luncheon by the Sea -- LA to San Diego.
Luncheon by the Sea on the Silver
Splendor
Report and Photos by Carl Morrison, Carl@TrainWeb.com
Gourmet Food and Fine Wine, served in a Private Rail Car, while traveling
up to 90 mph
on ribbon rails with Pacific Ocean Beaches just outside
your Vista-Dome window ...
A movie scene? A dream? Yes, but a REALITY
on one Sunday a month between Los Angeles and San Diego, California.
Anyone can live this dream, as my wife and I did Sunday, April 11. Silver
Splendor's ad at LARail.com, gives the delicious details:
Luncheon by the Sea, is a gourmet dining trip, a roundtrip from
Los Angeles to San Diego on select Sundays.
Luncheon by the Sea departs from L.A. at 11:10 am and showcases
L.A. Rail’s newest addition, the Vista-Dome diner-lounge, SILVER SPLENDOR.
Ten to twenty-four guests dine on a four-course meal prepared by chefs de
cuisine John and Heidi Caestecker while viewing the beautiful beaches on
the way to San Diego. Meals are accompanied by especially selected wines
and beverages.
Your adventure promises to be a most enjoyable way to tour the Southern
California coastline.
The SILVER SPLENDOR, built in 1956 as Chicago, Burlington
& Quincy #4735, has just completed a 12-year restoration.
Please visit LARail.com for more information. Price Per Person is $179.
The Schedule of all the LARail.com Private Rail Car Trips can be found at:
LARail.com.
Silver Splendor's Vista Dome at Fullerton, California
(Click any photo below for a double-sized copy;
Click BACK in your browser to return to this page.)
Our Luncheon By The Sea on the Silver Splendor started about 40
minutes after the train left Los Angeles Union Station. We decided
to board in Fullerton because it was closer to our home than LAUS, there
was free parking, and we parked a few steps from the tracks.
Fullerton, California, Amtrak Station
Southbound Surfliners board on Track 3, across
the pedestrian walkway from the station.
The Surfliner arrived on time ...
with the Silver Splendor at the back.
James welcomed us aboard.
John walked us through the lower level dining room
and escorted us to the Vista Dome. Sue and I had a 4-place table in
the dome all to ourselves, and at lunch we had a 4-place dining table to
ourselves also. John and Heidi only take enough reservations so that
the entire party can be in the dome or the dining room whichever they like.
While lunch was being prepared, we were invited
to the Vista Dome for the trip south from Fullerton.
Soon we passed Anaheim Stadium.
Dining takes place in the lower level dining room.
The opposite end of the lower level is a very nice
lounge with a bar. Only enough guests are booked so all can be in the
dome, or other sections. Each group of 2, 3, or four will have a table
in the dome and the dining room to themselves.
The staircase to the done is quite artistic.
Arriving at San Juan Capistrano, flowers were right
outside our window of the dome.
The San Juan Capistrano 'The Vintage' Restaurant,
where our Wine and Train Meetup group meets once a week.
The Pedestrian Walk that crosses the RR tracks
in downtown San Juan Capistrano.
Soon after San Juan Capistrano, the dinner bell rang, and
we were invited downstairs to the dining room where we had the following
delicious lunch:
Silver Splendor's Luncheon by the Sea Menu
First Course
Minestrone Soup
With Fresh Picked Basil Garnish
Second Course
Mixed Green Salad
With Dijon Champagne Vinaigrette
Third Course
Linguini
With Chicken and Artichokes and Garlic Chardonnay Sauce
Fourth Course
New York Cheesecake
With Raspberry Coulis
Snacks Will Be Available Throughout the Day
----------------
We enjoyed chatting with Martin, son of the owners,
who helped his brother, James, serve us food and drinks all day.
Del Mar Racetrack
They were having the Good Guys Car Show on the grounds.
Crossing the San Dieguito River, just south of
the Fairgrounds.
Table flower in the dining room.
Passenger and freight speed limit.
Wave Crest Resort in Del Mar.
Trail along the Del Mar bluffs (above).
Hwy. 101 bridge of the tracks (below).
The open vestibule is a great place to photograph
the tracks trailing behind us as we pass the Torrey Pines Reserve south of
the Sorrento Valley Station.
It is hard to believe that this scene is inside
the city limits of San Diego. California. Once the train reaches
the summit above Sorrento Valley Station, it is in Rose Canyon Open Space
until it gets back to parallel to I-5, then it becomes urban again until
the San Diego Santa Fe Station.
The Santa Fe Depot has the original tiles and name
on the tower.
Two cruise ships were in the nearby port. They
both left during the time we were in town.
John told us that we could detrain immediately,
or stay onboard while the Surfliner (above) unhooked our car and pulled down
past a switch then came back on the adjacent track to head back north on
the next run. Since we were in town for 4 hours, there was no rush
to detrain.
During the time before we detrained, I took a few
interior photos of the Silver Splendor.
The builder of the Silver Splendor is Budd.
Not having been outside since we boarded in Fullerton,
I wondered how the weather was. John has a convenient inside/outside
thermometer so we could find out the temperature (right).
The red wine served onboard.
The white wine served onboard.
In case you wondered how close to the Station the
Silver Splendor is tied up, this is a photo from the vestibule of the
station.
Ready to enjoy 4 hours in San Diego before our
return land cruise.
It looks like future Silver Splendor Luncheon by the
Sea trips will also have the 4 hour layover before returning north to
Fullerton and Los Angeles. Here are some suggestions as to how to
enjoy San Diego during those hours:
Sue and I took the Blue Line Trolley to the US/Mexico Border and
back. Each way is a 56 minute ride, so this is doable without hurrying
and you will still have time for supper before reboarding. Sr. Price
for a day-pass is $5.00. For routes and schedules go to: http://www.sdmts.com/trolley/trolley.asp
If we hadn't just been in Old Town the previous week, we would
have gone there on the Blue Line, northbound, a twelve minute trip. There
is a wine tasting room in Old Town: Hacienda De Las Rosas Winery, open
11:30 to 7 pm daily or 9 pm on Fri. and Sat. 2764 Calhoun St. Suite
G. (760) 788-3918
The USS Midway Museum, 910 N. Harbor Dr, (619) 544-9600. www.midway.org
Open daily 10 - 5 pm
Old Town Trolley Tours, (619) 298-8687, offers a narrated
trolley-bus tour with 11 stops where you can get off and reboard. Next
trolley comes at intervals of 30 minutes.
As you step off the Silver Splendor, you'll
have plenty of time to photograph the car and station before you start your
San Diego Adventures.
Yours truly at the Silver Splendor's vestibule
Station Tower
Original sign on the Santa Fe Station (above).
Walk through the station to the east and outside
the door you will see the Trolley Station (below). There you can purchase
a daypass from the machine for $2.50 and embark on your San Diego Adventures.
We decided to take the San Ysidro/Tijuana Blue Line to the border and
back, a 56 minute ride each way. Upon our return, we got off at the
Civic Center and had supper before walking back to the Silver Splendor.
Original tile work inside
At the America Plaza Transit Center, signs (right)
show where to board either the Orange or Blue line to travel south or north.
Also, there are large signs with the complete route map nearby, or
pick up a trolley schedule in the Amtrak Station. This website gives
the same route guide if you want to print it ahead of time:
We decided to take the Blue Line to the Border, a 56 minute
ride each way. Not much to photograph along the way except the San
Diego Trolley Barn, and the large McDonalds adjacent to the trolley stop
at the end of the line. (Take $.25 to use the bathrooms.)
In San Ysidro, I noticed the San Diego & Imperial
Valley Railroad sign. I'll have to see where that route runs.
The light from the setting sun in the west seemed even
better than 4 hrs earlier, so I took more photos of the Silver Splendor.
The Surfliner that would take the Silver
Splendor back to Los Angeles was nearby and the crew was ready to
hook us up.
"Contact"
To contact the LA Rail group, which the Silver
Splendor is a part of, use this website or phone number, which
is conveniently placed on the door so those who see the car out and about,
can reserve a future ride.
I took some additional photos as we walked around
the car to board on the station side. As you can see, with the Silver
Splendor as the last car heading north, we were an unusual looking
consist with the locomotive neither at the lead nor at the rear.
Sue spotted this interesting reflection in the
Silver Splendor's window of a Surfliner locomotive
on the adjacent track.
Back onboard, Sue and I found a table in the Dome
so we could watch our departure from the San Diego Amtrak Station.
At each end of the car are two 2-place tables so
you can look forward, just like the windshield of a car, or to the side for
an excellent view or the trip.
Goodbye San Diego.
The vestibule view on the return trip.
We ascended Rose Canyon and crossed under Hwy.
101 at South Del Mar.
Looking West from the Del Mar bluffs, at 90 mph.
Looking South from the Del Mar Bluffs.
Powerhouse, now a civic center and park, Del Mar,
CA.
Siding and signals at old Del Mar Station.
Del Mar practice Racetrack, infield lake, and grandstand.
Solana Beach overpass south of the station and
switch for tracks 1 and 2.
Placemat and candle on the Vista Dome table, ready
for dessert.
This was the first trip where Heidi had used the
battery operated candles.
I experimented with some timed exposures. This
photo looks like we had a Ghost for a waiter.
Heidi, Martin, and James detrained at San Juan
Capistrano, to head home in San Clemente. John stayed onboard to see
all the guests off in Fullerton and LA, and to tie up the Silver Splendor
in LA.
I love the way the lighted railings along the staircase
to the Vista Dome look at night ... "Stairway to a Train Lover's Heaven --
A Vista Dome".
My earlier report on the Maiden Voyage of the Silver Splendor is
at:
