Our "Rolling" Wedding Reception took place on the Friends of the 261 premium cars
One of the articles that several
of our fans at TrainWeb have asked us to write is the story behind our
train-related wedding proposal and wedding reception; both of which
took place back in 2012. So, we decided to make this the topic of our
August 2016 TrainWeb article.
The two of us met back while we were attending college in Arkansas
(around April 1998). We ended up dating and even sharing an apartment
together that was directly across the road from the Amtrak Walnut
Ridge, Arkansas depot. Robert ended up breaking up with Kandace in
March 1999, and the two of us went out separate ways for more than a
decade. Kandace remained in Arkansas where she married another man.
Robert followed his career dreams of working in radio and television
news, landing jobs in Indiana and Wisconsin. A few months after
Kandace's then-husband passed away, she sent an e-mail to Robert
looking for someone to talk to. After many long emails and phone
conversations, we decided to meet up in Arkansas when Robert was
returning to the state to receive an alumni award from his old college,
Arkansas State University. We both hit it off again, and a
long-distance relationship between Wisconsin and Arkansas ensued for
several months during 2011. When Kandace came to Wisconsin to visit for
Christmas Week 2011, Robert decided it would be the prefect time to
propose.
Our wedding proposal took place on New Year's Day - January 1, 2012.
The day got off to an early start with Robert and Kandace driving down
to the Metra Station in Kenosha, Wisconsin for a ride on the former
Chicago & Northwestern Line (now Union Pacific). The goal was to
get to Downtown Chicago early enough to make the 7:00am "Lincoln
Service" departure from Chicago Union Station to Joliet, Illinois.
Unfortunately, the Hiawathas did not run that early, so Metra was the
only train option we could take from Wisconsin. The reason for riding
Train #301 was because it would be running with Amtrak's Great Dome car
on it. For those of you who don't know, this is the last remaining dome
car in the entire Amtrak fleet. It is usually used by the President of
Amtrak for business and is very rarely open to the public. During
December 2011 and January 2012, Amtrak was running the Great Dome on
various state trains around Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri
to promote its state partnerships. We rode Amtrak #301 from Chicago to
Joliet and Kandace got to experience her first ride on the "Ocean View"
Great Dome. Unfortunately the ride to Joliet was short (around 1 hour)
and the line for the cafe car was long, so I think we spent more time
in line getting breakfast than we did in the dome car. But, it was
still fun.
We returned to Chicago from Joliet on another "Lincoln Service" train
(that obviously didn't have the dome car on it). We went for lunch in
Downtown Chicago and then headed back to the Metropolitan Lounge to
wait on the "Empire Builder", Amtrak Train #7/#27/#807. Robert
worked out the proposal a few months in advance with Amtrak management
in Chicago and Seattle, so everything was planned out just the way he
wanted it to happen. The only thing that didn't go according to the
plan was a delay in the train that required it to go back to the yards.
We finally boarded and were "upgraded" to a bedroom from our trip from
Chicago to Milwaukee. Kandace was under the impression that we were
doing the train ride so that an official with Amtrak's employee
magazine could interview Robert about his then-new railroad route
guidebook from Chicago to the Twin Cities. Just after pulling out of
Union Station, Robert's friend who worked for Amtrak (and was in on the
plan), ushered us to the dining car. He sat us down at the table and
began to "interview" Robert about his book. A few questions in, Robert
admitted the "interview" was fake, pulled out a ring, and asked Kandace
to marry him. She said "yes"... and the rest was history. On the other
side of the dining car was a specially-made cake, balloons, and gifts
from some of Amtrak's "Empire Builder" management and crew. The
proposal was timed so that it took place while the "Empire Builder" was
passing through Robert's hometown of Northbrook, Illinois.
Robert and Kandace on the morning of the proposal, in Amtrak's Great Dome 'Ocean View'
Robert and Kandace on the morning before the proposal - getting off 'Ocean View' dome car in Joliet, IL
Our on-board proposal was delayed when Amtrak's Empire Builder had to go back to the yards
Here's the moment of our proposal, on Amtrak's Empire Builder dining car in Northbrook, Illinois
A specially-made cake that was presented to us aboard the Empire Builder following our wedding proposal
Now
that the proposal was one for the history books, it was time to begin
planning out the wedding and wedding reception. With Robert's love for
trains, he suggested getting married either on Amtrak or renting a
private railcar for the occasion. Kandace liked the idea, but really
wanted to get married in a church. The first compromise of many ensued,
and we decided to have our wedding ceremony in a church, but then have
our wedding reception on a private railcar. We began to look at many
different private railcar options, and unfortunately, all of them were
outside of what we had budgeted for a wedding reception venue. Then,
the solution came! Robert has been a docent with the Friends of
the 261 out of Minneapolis since 2006, providing narration and route
guide services for charters and public excursion. Wanting to help the
new couple, Steve Sandberg, CEO of Friends of the 261 mentioned that
three of his railcars would be deadheading in October 2012 between the
group's annual fall colors excursion in the Twin Cities and the New
River Train in West Virginia. Steve told Robert that he could have the
wedding reception on the cars, if he didn't mind having it take place
on the dead-head move date. All we would have to pay for it the food
and switching cost of the cars in Chicago. What a deal! Steve
made our private car dream for a wedding reception an affordable
reality! For this and many other reasons we will always be
grateful and be a supporter of the Friends of the 261.
Anyway, we then looked at a variety of rail segments we could of
done our reception on through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, and West Virginia. After considering all of the alternatives, we
chose the part of the route from St. Paul Midway Station to Chicago
Union Station. We did this because the route is just gorgeous in the
fall - you run along the Mississippi River with its fall foliage for
nearly two hours. Plus, it's all daylight, so guests would really enjoy
everything out their windows. And, since the cars that would be
dead-heading did not have sleeper space, we could not really do an
overnight run. And, since most of Robert's friends and family lived in
either Milwaukee or Chicago, we could actually using the "rolling
reception" to provide people transportation home in many cases. The
private railcars made stops for attendees at Wisconsin Dells, Columbus,
Milwaukee, Glenview, and Chicago.
So, the plans for our wedding and "rolling reception" went into
full force. Through a friend of ours who lives in St. Paul, we were
able to find a Catholic Church in St. Paul (Saint Frances
Cabrini) who was willing to marry us and work with our date for the
ceremony -- October 13, 2012. We then gave everyone a day to
explore around the Twin Cities before hitting the rails. Our "rolling
reception" took place on October 15, 2012, leaving St. Paul around
9:30am (a few hours late) and getting into Chicago around 6:30pm (still
a few hours late). We packed the cars full of our friends and had an
amazing time seeing 417 miles of scenery along with the
celebrations. One of the best parts was that about half of the
people who participated in our wedding reception had never been on a
long-distance train trip before. A lot of Robert's friends who lived in
Chicago had only traveled on Metra, and until seeing how amazing a
private railcar trip could be, wondered why we wanted to have a wedding
reception for 8 hours on a train. Coming along for part of the ride was
a film crew for a then-upcoming special about private railcar travel
called, "Tricked Out Trains". They interviewed the both of us
about our unusual choice for a wedding reception. Robert's friend
Dick Holt brought along an electric keyboard and provided some live
music in the upper level of the Dome Car. We hired Bob and Amy
Cox, President and Vice-President of the APRHF, to be our wedding
photographers through their business called Show N Off
Photography. We also had pre-recorded train-themed songs played
over the PA and everyone enjoyed getting up and dancing in the aisles
of the dome car. The food was also excellent -- we had a breakfast egg
bake and sandwich lunch prepared by Joey, the Friends of the 261
chef. The bartender on-board was Justin Young, who also serves as
a conductor and restoration manager for the Friends of the 261.
Both the proposal and our wedding were train-themed and so much
fun! Like Robert said -- how often in your life will you have an
occasion to charter a private railcar and get all of your friends --
both old and new -- together for a morning and an afternoon? We
hope you enjoyed this brief article and look into both our
train-related proposal and wedding reception.
Our wedding ceremony at a church in St. Paul, MN on October 13, 2012
We held a small reception at the church after the ceremony for those not able to ride the train
A beautiful fall morning in Minneapolis on the morning of the "rolling" reception departure
Posing with the Milwaukee Road 261, which was undergoing restoration, on the morning of our "rolling" reception
The cars for our "rolling" reception are switched on the back of the Empire Builder, Train #8/28/808 at St. Paul-Midway Station
It's a full house for the Taberns' "rolling" wedding reception; these travelers enjoy the Milwaukee Road Super Dome
Our friend Dick Holt plays the piano for guests aboard the Milwaukee Road Super Dome
Peeking out of the Super Dome during its crew change stop in Winona, Minnesota
We were caught exchanging a kiss in the vestibule of ex-Milwaukee Road Skytop Observation Car "Cedar Rapids"
Kandace
is all smiles on our "rolling" wedding reception aboard the Super Dome
- check out the fall colors along the Mississippi River
Amazing fall colors abound at the site of the only active railroad tunnel in Wisconsin - at Tunnel City, Wisconsin
Our
friend John Kelly enjoys the ride - he's wearing his Trails & Rails
shirt, as he and Robert did the program together for 6 years
Robert and Kandace talk to Robert's best man, Alexander Rubinow, and play with his infant son, Jacob
Some M&M's that everyone got to enjoy on our "rolling" reception train
Robert and Kandace enjoying breakfast on the "rolling" reception
Our friends and family enjoying the ride on Milwaukee Road Super Dome #53
A film crew from the Travel Channel rode along for part of the way of our trip, interviewing passengers and us
While most guests enjoyed the Super Dome and Cedar Rapids, we also had lounge car "Wisconsin Valley" on the train, too
Views along the Mississippi River from our "rolling" wedding reception
Views of the Mississippi River out the windows of the dome car of our "rolling reception"
NEXT MONTH'S ARTICLE - SEPTEMBER 2016
** A look at the private car fleet owned by the Friends of the 261 in Minneapolis Junction, MN
