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The April issue of SUNSET magazine has an 8 page article entitled, "The Rail Thing".
It's a narrative about a special trip aboard three AAPRCO-type private rail cars, hitched to the back of the Amtrak California Zephyr. The 3 cars are from the original Western Pacific California Zephyr: the "Silver Lariat", "Silver Solarium", & "Silver Rapids". Their trip was from Emeryville to Reno.
They detrain in Reno and take a shuttle bus to Virginia City and ride the Virginia & Truckee excursion train, Virginia City, NV to Carson City, NV.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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Thanks for the heads-up on this. I'll have to go out and buy a copy. I know the owners of all three of those cars. Really nice people.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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The article, Smitty, did not say what the 3 car excursion would cost (unless the narrator was a guest and paid nothing). It would be interesting to find out. The article did say, for such excursions, you can expect to pay $100's to over $1,000's.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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It all depends upon how far a person is traveling (and if dead-heading expenses are involved), how large of a crew is needed, and what type of menu the people want. He actually breaks down the charges on his website here:
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Sunset magazine has an interesting history. I believe it originally began as the "on board" mag for the Sunset Limited train on the SP RR. Way back when...and SP eventually sold it off to who-knows-who. It's a pretty ancient publication. Thanks for the reference, yukon oneone. Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Thanks for the info, RR Bob. I wasn't aware of the connection between Sunset Magazine and Southern Pacific. I see Sunset was started in 1898, by the Southern Pacific Transportation Co. (Southern Pacific RR). I guess the idea was to try to combat the negative image of Calif., at the time, which was that of a wild west state inhabited by outlaws and criminals. It publicized a lot of SP interests, such as the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey.
A state of outlaws and criminals? Well, maybe nothing has changed
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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My mother used to subscribe to Sunset when I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs--I didn't realize the magazine had a connection with the SP Railroad.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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