Steam & Excursion > Railtown spreads holiday cheer on the last day of opera

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park wrapped up the 2012 season last Sunday with train rides on the popular Santa Express. There were lots of smiles, laughter, singing, and hot chocolate while Santa listened to Christmas wishes from all ages.

** last word in title should be "operations". I can't seem to fix it when in edit mode. **



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/12 12:28 by msharps.

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Very nice...

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

Good to see Canadian Pacific 599 still in service, although I suspect only the hardier passengers rode the open-air section today. Back in the 1960's the car belonged to what was then Orange Empire Trolley Museum, and was used on fan trips sponsored by my "home road". With the coming of Amtrak, the excursion business dried up, and the car was sold to the Sierra. And yes, when I saw the subject line, I wondered where an opera might be staged in Jamestown or Sonora. Not sure if the Sierra is still associated with what used to be the Yolo Short Line, but the former Sacramento Northern line to Woodland used to terminate near the Woodland Opera House, which dates back to 1895 and has been restored for performances.

A surprisingly large number of "polar bear" passengers prefer the open-air cars on Niles Canyon Railway's nighttime holiday "Train of Lights" trains. www.ncry.org They get the best views of the highly-decorated train winding around the curves. Most of the open-air cars have roofs or canopies, so passengers often prefer to stay there even when it's raining.

This is very good for hot cocoa & hot cider sales.

- Doug Debs
(I'm off to re-stock cider, cocoa, cups, lids, carrier trays, etc. on the Train of Lights!)

You do some nice work. Sure your not related to that guy in Modesto.. what's his name