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The Benicia bridge we crossed is barely visible
between
the highway bridge piers. Union Pacific autorack yard below our
train.
It was soon thereafter that I found
myself in Moonlight Dome, the NRHS
Promontory Chapter owned car based on the Salt Lake, Garfield and
Western Railway in Utah. The club had a friendly crew of
five mostly retired men.
The next car in line was the number 511 full length dome Nenana,
Most of the last 20 years were spent on the Alaska Railroad as a
McKinley Explorer car. Replaced with new ones, the old fleet was
surplused to the lower 48. You can ride this car in southwestern
Colorado on the San Luis and Rio Grande Scenic Railway. Nenana
was under the care of Danny Grayson, Jr, from Colorado.
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At
left is a shot aboard the Amtrak Ocean View.
I've been across a good part of the country on this car way back in '06
for the
75th
Anniversary Empire Builder. From what I could tell,
it is still in nice shape, though I have heard that it experiences air
conditioning problems. Maybe it should go to Wayne for some work.
Below, on the Tolani, I spotted this
passenger with a nice shirt.
As I found out a while later, the person in the backround is the car
representative Tom Hazelett. His shirt made me take a double take
after I read "Phil Lesh" on it. Ok, so this is the second sound
media guy aboard. I spoke with Tom at length at this time and
again on the next day. The interior of the Tolani is impeccablely
beautiful. Riding in a coach like this is the usual in a place
like Alaska. Amtrak, not so much. She has large windows and
plenty of legroom.
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Next
is the Overland Trail, a beloved
railcar based in
Los Angeles and the first of the LARail cars
on the FRX. This period restored car is a former Southern Pacific
lounge
barbershop and is out riding the rails often in Southern California as
well as across the country. I've ridden on Overland Trail from
San Diego to San Luis Obispo in separate trips and from Oakland to Van
Nuys to conclude the FRX trip. Overland Trail has been to the
Port of Los Angeles via the Alameda Corridor for the Educational
Outreach Program with the
3751
steamer.. You are assured a comfortable
fun time aboard the Overland Trail whether riding locally or across
country. Owner Bill Hatrick feautres themed rides during the year
ranging from Pearl Harbor to Memorial Day. This is a family run
private car and their attention to hospitality is tip notch.
A great reason to ride Overland Trail would be on
the monthly Santa Barbara Daylight Vino Train. Another LARail car
slated to be part of the FRX, Tioga Pass, was
somehow left in Los Angeles due to a mistake. It would have been
quite impressive to have the Tioga Pass as the first car of the train
with her open platform at the front of the train.
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The
Pony Express is destined to be a meeting point for
many passengers in the next few days. The WP RR Museum had a
table set up with many desireable gifts for sale. On board
handling the cashier duties was Eugene Vicknair On the return
trip, I spent a few minutes racking up a charge which included joining
the museum. "The Pony" as owner Stan Garner calls her, is a
former Canadian Pacific horse baggage car. In fact, large doors
on one end are evidence of a prior life for the Pony. Now, she is
filled with modern day conforts and a nice standup bar. The
baggage doors stay open all the way to Portola and are a great vantage
point for the photographers.
The Silver Splendor is a car which had been under restoration for about
12 years. Newly finished and in demand on the rails, she features
seats and tables in both levels. I managed to steal a ride on her
to home and the dome is the finest place to be to view Point Conception
and Vandenberg Air Force Base. The story of Silver Splendor being
returned to the rails is heartwarming. Not just another dome car
on the FRX, Silver Splendor is a new jewell in the LARail stable.
She is owned and run by John Caestacker.
Chris' story continued "In 1982
Norman Holmes started expressing an interest in forming a
railroad museum in Portola to preserve the history of the Western
Pacific. Several WP employees including myself joined up with Norman to
form the Feather River Rail Society and the Portola Railroad Museum in
1983. Little did we know at the time that we would go down as
being the founding fathers of such a well known and popular
organization and railroad museum. I am proud to have been on the
first board of directors for the society and formed the museum gift
shop in Portola in 1983."
"It was then, that my dream became an
obsession. It was
fueled even more with the 1st Annual Feather River Railroad Days
in Portola held in August of 1983. In 1984 I got into the
rail tour business of which I have been
involved in running train and railroad tours all around the
world. Over the next 25 years I was able to run well over 500
charter trains in 47 countries, but still not one in my beloved Feather
River Canyon."
Feather River Express continued