On Friday evening my wife and I rode on the "Train of Lights." It is a Christmas train sponsored by the Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) in Niles Canyon, CA. The train runs from the town of Niles to the town of Sunol and back. It's about an hour train ride. It was an interesting consist. At one end of the train was an SP Black Widow GP9. At the other end was a WP GP7. In between the two locomotives were about 15 cars of all sorts. There were cabeese, dome cars, Pullmans, Harrimans, and open air cars. All of them were beautifully adorned with Christmas decorations and lights. We had tickets to ride in an Southern Pacific Club Lounge Car. This car was originally built in 1914. In the 1940's the SP totally remodeled in an "art-deco" motif. It was actually used up until 1963. When it came into the possession of the GGRM, they restored it. They served cookies, hot chocolate and hot apple cider (with brandy if you wanted!). Santa even made an appearance! When we first got there it was still light and I snapped some pics then. After we got back to Niles, I took some night shots. It was a lot of fun! Merry Christmas! Enjoy! Matt
