Groups looking for an out-of-the-ordinary setting for a meeting or a special venue for a function may want to climb aboard a historic train as it chugs through some of the West’s most endearing landscapes. A ride will take participants back to another time and place, where travel was an adventure and riding the rails gave passengers a chance to unwind, relax and watch the world go by.
And a train trip can be more than just a journey. Some railways incorporate barbecues, train robberies, mystery dinners, cowboy poetry, campfires, wine tastings, and even a white-water rafting experience. Several of these trains are within easy reach of urban areas, others are a bit more remote, but they all offer an option that more planners might want to take advantage of.
One who did, Leanna Granillo, is the unit coordinator of the ICU unit at Sutter Tracy Community Hospital in Tracy, Calif.
The train she chose was the Sierra Dinner Train based in Oakdale, located between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. Her unit has a meeting and team-building experience every other year, and last April its 25 employees had a two-hour meeting aboard the caboose at the railway station and then rode the train.
“Trains offer a sense of relaxation. You can just sit back and check out the view and relax,” Granillo says. “We were looking for an activity that tied in with teamwork, and the train does a murder mystery that gets people to participate in solving the mystery.”
As the daughter of a railroad man, it was a familiar experience for her, but several participants had never been on a train before. She knew she made the right decision when a lot of the participants mentioned they would go back and take the trip with their families.
Planners may want to follow Granillo’s lead and consider one of the following train excursions:
Cumbres & Toltec Historic Railroad
Antonito, Colo. and Chama, N.M.
Located along the border of Colorado and New Mexico, the Cumbres & Toltec Historic Railroad has terminals in Antonito, Colo., and Chama, N.M., which is 108 miles north of Santa Fe. Billed as America’s highest and longest narrow gauge railway, it began its life in 1880 serving the silver mining towns of southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Today groups of 12 or fewer can rent the caboose on one of the regularly scheduled trips that operate from May 24 through Oct. 19. Larger groups can also join a regular departure or charter the entire train and explore the high country, passing old railroad buildings, alpine meadows, the Toltec Gorge, and wildlife that might include deer, elk and even bears. A dining facility at Ossier, a former mining town, provides a stop for lunch or dinner.
Heber Valley Railroad
Heber City, Utah
Dating from 1899, the Heber Valley Railway served the Mormons who settled in the Heber Valley and hauled freight, livestock, agricultural products, and passengers. The train departs Heber City, located 40 miles east of Salt Lake City and 16 miles from Park City, and steams through a variety of landscapes that include sagebrush desert, a lake and Provo Canyon.
It offers a host of special excursions ranging from Raft ’N’ Rails with a Class I and II rafting trip to a ride that includes entertainment by cowboy poets.
Popular with groups are train robbery enactments, hayrides and rides that stop at Soldier Hollow, where guests can enjoy a barbecue on a platform built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and have an option of square dancing lessons.
The train does not have a dining car, but a buffet dinner can be served in the baggage car for up to 200 people, who then take the meal back to their seats to eat.
Kettle Valley Steam Railway
Summerland, British Columbia
The lush vineyards and fruit orchards of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley are the backdrop for this historic railway built between 1910 and 1915, which makes 90-minute excursions with passenger coaches and open-air cars. Among the scenic highlights is Trout Creek Canyon, viewed as the train crosses a 238-foot-high bridge.
Groups of up to 270 passengers can charter the train for excursions that can include live music and on-board wine tasting. A mock great train robbery with the Garnett Valley Gang can also be arranged. The railway’s Prairie Valley Station includes a gift shop, food service and a covered picnic area seating up to 260 people.
Mt. Hood Railroad
Hood River, Ore.
In the heart of the Columbia River Gorge 60 miles east of Portland, the Mt. Hood Railroad has been transporting food and lumber through the Hood River Valley since 1906. There are two trains, and both accommodate groups. The excursion train, which dates from the early 1900s and has a red caboose and an open car seating 60, can carry up to 332 passengers.
Because part of its track was damaged by flooding, the train currently travels only to Odell, which is 18 miles roundtrip and has a picnic ground. In September, the track to Parkdale—44 miles roundtrip—will be finished, and groups can charter the train and rent the Parkdale Grange Hall for inside catering. One popular trip includes a chuckwagon barbecue and country music entertainment. The dinner train seats 144 and can do wine tasting, dinners and murder mysteries, or have live music and magic shows.
Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad
Mineral, Wash.
Departing from the historic logging town of Mineral, Wash., south of Seattle, the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad makes two-and-a-half hour trips up steep grades through evergreen forests and across trestles spanning the Tilton River and mountain streams. Arriving at Divide, the midpoint of the journey, views of Storm King Mountain come into view.
Groups can charter the train, which can either be powered by a vintage diesel engine or a steam locomotive.
Napa Valley Wine Train
Napa, Calif.
Traveling through the vineyards and past the wineries of Napa Valley between the city of Napa and the village of St. Helena, this train includes cars dating from 1915 to 1950. Groups ranging in size from 54 to 370 have a variety of options for chartering various cars. The Champagne Vista Dome Car, which has its own private kitchen, for example, can be charted by groups of up to 56, who may choose a special menu with paired wines.
A group of up to 370 can charter the Gourmet Express half of the train, the Vista Dome and the Silverado Grill. A special wine-tasting car lets passengers sample some of the 40 different local wines available. An executive chef oversees the cuisine throughout the train.
Niles Canyon Railway
Sunol, Calif.
Groups meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area who want a convenient railway excursion should consider the Niles Canyon Railway, which chugs through the canyon between Sunol and Fremont. The tracks were originally laid by the Western Pacific Railway Co. in 1866 and various railway lines operated commercial passenger and freight trains until 1984. In 1988 the volunteer Pacific Locomotive Association restored rail service as a living museum.
Groups may reserve the 20-passenger caboose on one of the train’s regularly scheduled runs on various Sundays throughout the year. Or they can charter the 36-passenger Skunk railbus or the entire train, which carries up to 400 passengers.
Roaring Camp Railroads
Felton, Calif.
Operating for 45 years in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Roaring Camp Railroads operates vintage narrow gage steam trains powered by engines once used to haul giant logs out of the mountains. One of the available excursions is a one-hour trip through redwood groves up to the summit of Bear Mountain, while another travels through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, down through the San Lorenzo River Gorge and through an 1875 tunnel before arriving at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Specialty outings for groups include a Moonlight Trail Party, which pairs an evening train ride to Bear Mountain with a steak barbecue and line dancing. Groups can also take part in the new Outdoor Adventures program, which pairs train rides with naturalist-led mountain biking and hiking excursions.
Several meeting and picnic areas are available at Roaring Camp, including Bret Harte Hall, an 1880s-style building with a stage, catering kitchen and massive doors opening onto a covered reception area and adjacent lawn. Outdoor picnic areas accommodate from 25 to 2,500 people, with catering options available.
Sacramento RiverTrain
Woodland, Calif.
The Sacramento RiverTrain begins in Woodland, Calif., north of Sacramento, and runs 28 miles along the Sacramento River. It passes verdant farmland and the Yolo Wildlife Refuge, home to scores of bird species and other animals, and crosses the Fremont Bridge, an 8,000-foot wooden trestle. Each car dates to a different decade.
When it was refurbished three years ago, the train was given a “plantation” look with ceiling fans, rattan furniture and wood paneling. Companies have chartered the train for onboard conferences (it has PowerPoint capability), as well as social functions. It can accommodate groups of up to 140 for sit-down dinners or 200 with box lunches. Theme trips include train robberies and casino nights.
Sierra Railroad Dinner Train
Oakdale, Calif.
Departing the company’s train station in Oakdale, which lies between San Francisco and Yosemite, the Sierra Dinner Train travels on 16 miles of track through the Stanislaus River Valley with its farmland, almond orchards and cattle ranches, to the old cattle town of Warnerville. Famous for the more than 300 movies and TV shows it has appeared in, the train has cars named after such Yosemite sites as Half Dome and El Capitan. As of last year, it is pulled by a steam engine.
Groups can charter individual cars, seating 40, 48, 60, or 80 passengers, or the entire train, which seats 188. Sunset dinners are the most popular option, but murder mysteries, chocolate-themed rides and Rail ’N’ Raft, with a rafting trip one-way, are also possible. The train station, which consists of railway cars, can also be used for meetings of up to 100 people.
Skunk Train
Fort Bragg and Willits, Calif.
The railroad now known as the Skunk Train began its life in 1885 to haul redwood logs from the backwoods to sawmills along the Mendocino coast. The train received its nickname in the 1920s from the stench created by the exhaust from the gasoline powered motorcar mixed with the smoke of the pot-bellied stove that kept passengers warm. It can carry groups of up to 500 people, or groups may choose to rent a motorcar, an individual trolley-car-like train seating up to 60 people.
The 40 miles of track run between Fort Bragg and Willits, and there is a depot in each town. Although the Skunk Train has no dining facilities onboard, groups can have a picnic or barbecue at Northspur, the midpoint. Companies that want to have a rustic overnight meeting can ride the train to Camp Mendocino, which can be rented out when summer camp is not in session.
Virginia City & Truckee Railway
Virginia City, Nev. and Truckee, Calif.
Sierra Railroad Co., which owns the Sacramento River Train, Sierra Railroad and the Skunk Train, will operate the Virginia City & Truckee Railway when it opens in 2012. Although the train currently has only one to one-and-a-half miles of track in Carson City, Nev., the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway is building a line to Truckee.
The project is estimated to cost $55 million, according to Chris Hart, president of Sierra Railroad Co., whose company is providing the railroad equipment and investing in the train station. Although the details have yet to be worked out, he says the train will probably be part open-air excursion cars and part dinner train.
Verde Canyon Railroad
Clarkdale, Ariz.
Located in Clarkdale, a 40-minute drive from Sedona or about two hours from Phoenix, the Verde Canyon Railroad was originally built to serve the copper mines of Jerome. Passengers on the open-air train cars travel through two national forests and a landscape of towering rocks, sometimes referred to as Arizona’s other Grand Canyon. The ride ends at the deserted Perkinsville Ranch.
Groups can charter one car or the entire train. Eight first-class cars hold between 24 and 38 passengers each. The entire train will carry 410, with 148 in coach and 262 in first class. Themes include casino and murder mysteries. Wine tasting and Ales on Rails, with live music and German-style cuisine, are other possibilities. Groups can eat in the Copper Spike Café before or after the journey or enjoy box lunches or an onboard buffet.
