To many people, Walt Disney included, a trip by train was the way to travel. Enjoy the sights along the way, meet new friends, sample beverages and meals served in the dining car… A very relaxing trip rather than the rush through airports. Especially now with all that added security and airline add-on charges.
You may have noted that the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco has a new exhibit – here on Micechat? Well, if you have been waiting to take a visit to the Museum, there just might be an opportunity to do so along with a great travel adventure by private railroad car – on the weekend of January 23 through 25, 2015.
Join Roger Colton and Private Car Service for travel from Los Angeles, along the California coastline to Oakland aboard a private Vista Dome railroad car. Along the way, you will enjoy meals and beverages aboard served by a uniformed staff in the traditions of railroad service. And learn a bit of Disney history, too! Former Disneyland Railroad Conductor (and now chief locomotive engineer on the famed Durango & Silverton Railroad) Bill Colley will be sharing tales of his days on the rails. Other speakers will also have some railroad stories of a Disney interest as well.
Saturday, January 24th, the group travels on from Oakland to San Francisco by a chartered motor coach for a day of railroad activities at the Walt Disney Family Museum – including tour of the special exhibition and the 3 pm panel discussion on Building and Running Walt’s Trains. Guests will have the evening free in San Francisco. Sunday will see the return to Los Angeles from Oakland aboard the Vista Dome railcar.
The Vista Dome railcar, first developed by the Burlington Route, may be best remembered from it’s days operating on the Zephyr trains. The California Zephyr offered spectacular scenery between San Francisco and Chicago, seen from the dome seats positioned on the top of the car. All the seats were unreserved, offered to all passengers aboard the train.
The car traveling on this trip is known as the Silver Splendor. Originally a coach with 48 seats downstairs, it has been rebuilt as a dining – lounge car, with a full kitchen beneath the dome where meals will be prepared aboard during the trip. The dome now seats 24 passengers comfortably at tables.
There are also additional tables downstairs in the long end of the car and a small lounge area for beverage and snack service in the other end of the car. As shown in the photos, large windows upstairs and down offer grand viewing of the passing panorama. A good deal of the view along the Pacific coast can only be seen from the train.
Space for this excursion is available from Private Car Service at a cost of $500 per person. That includes the rail transportation between Los Angeles and Oakland aboard the private railcar (round trip) along with meals and beverages aboard. Hotel room in Oakland is not included, but special rates starting at $139 per night have been arranged at the Waterfront Hotel, a short distance from the Amtrak station in Oakland’s Jack London Square. The motor coach transfer, admission to the Walt Disney Family Museum, special exhibition and the railroad panel discussion are not included in that price but have been arranged at a discounted rate as well.
For more information about this great trip to the Bay Area with Roger Colton and friends, contact Roger Colton via email at [email protected] or phone 925-321-0023. In addition, you can find the web page by CLICKING HERE and there’s also a Facebook event page for this epic trip.
Private Car Service is not affiliated with either the Walt Disney Family Museum or the Walt Disney Company.
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