Napa Valley Wine Train

      Would take the trip again in a heartbeat...

Thanks for posting. I never got the time to get up there when I was working, then they had the fires in the area, then I left the state. I'm thinking about taking a trip up there now that I'm retired.

BTW, if you find one at a good price, years ago K-Line did a heavyweight car set decorated for the Napa Valley Wine Train and a pair of their O-27 Alco FA's to match. It would be cool to replicate that train in O scale.

For a recent birthday, my daughter surprised me with tickets for the Napa Valley Wine Train. She had researched train rides across the country and thought I would thoroughly enjoy the ambiance of the ride and the fabulous views. Now the only remaining issue is that the train station is 2,780 miles away from where we live!

Mrs. Lionelski and I had a fun ride and great meal on the Napa Valley Wine train a couple years ago. We enjoy dinner trains (she likes the food, I like the train ride).

A couple pics and a narrative of these excursions is towards the end of this Blog post: "Trains is a Winter Sport" - Not! (warrenvillerailroad.com)

Matt I know those K-Line HWs  exist, and they are very nice! However, of late, they seem to be built of unobtamium. The shorty O-27 cars are usually easier to find. But I did not see any of either at York yesterday.

Chris

LVHR

We were in Napa Valley three weeks ago on a tasting/buying trip. Saw the train go past on Thursday, only three cars pulled by a decrepit looking switcher. On Friday there were 5 cars when it went past but the same switcher for motive power, no FA's.

It is a GREAT trip!  Unbeatable as a tourist RR.

As AmFlyer wrote ... the train is no longer pulled by the Alcos.  We were there in December of 2019 - just months before the shutdown - and we were told that Alcos were "retired" & we road behind the switcher.

Too bad.  The switcher doesn't have the swag of the Alcos.

One would think that after almost three years the owner/operator of the train could have found a way to put a nice paint scheme on the switcher.

If anyone is thinking of going to Napa and taking the Wine train experience be aware some things have changed. All winery tastings are now by appointment only and some can fill all their booking slots months in advance. It is no longer possible to get off the train and just walk into nearby wineries. Same with restaurants. For the better ones bookings will fill up weeks in advance. It takes advance planning and reservations to do anything now in Napa or Sonoma.

Just picked this up at auction.

K-Line O Gauge Napa Valley Wine Train AA Units and passenger cars

@AmFlyer posted:

One would think that after almost three years the owner/operator of the train could have found a way to put a nice paint scheme on the switcher.

If anyone is thinking of going to Napa and taking the Wine train experience be aware some things have changed. All winery tastings are now by appointment only and some can fill all their booking slots months in advance. It is no longer possible to get off the train and just walk into nearby wineries. Same with restaurants. For the better ones bookings will fill up weeks in advance. It takes advance planning and reservations to do anything now in Napa or Sonoma.

...regarding GETTING OFF THE TRAIN...after having Champagne, wine, before lunch cocktail(S), and after lunch cocktail(S)...when my wife and I got off the train...I feel ASLEEP in the rental car for about an hour before I could drive....but that was in my youth (mid 50's)...