I just added a tab to my home page that will allow you to check out what is next in the way of private varnish trips. After last year’s trip to Milwaukee was a huge success, and then 70% of those riders reserved on this years trip to Durango, it is a huge ‘vote of confidence’ that we’re doing something right!
Next year’s National N Scale Convention is going to take place in Sacramento, a town that I grew up in. (That is a big reason why I love the Western Pacific and the California Zephyr. I lived there in the sixties, and I have lots of memories of trains in that town. But more of that in another blog!)

Anyway, I went to work on putting together a trip up the famed Feather River Canyon. The specifics of that trip can be seen on the web with a link here… This trip is a ‘Special’, which is a term meaning that we will have our own train, as Amtrak does not run those rails. That brings a level of complication to a private train, but I am relying on the expert that has put trips like this together before. The trip is one day only. It will include three meals and scenery that will be unbeatable! Since it is planned for the Sunday before the week-long convention, it was a surprise to find out that Sunday June 21, 2015, will be Father’s Day. As I say, any excuse is a good one to ride a train, so this trip has become the ‘Father’s Day Special’. There needs to be a minimum of 130 people to make it work, and I know there are that many folks that would like to take this trip, but getting the word out there will be very important.

Knowing that the ‘Father’s Day Special’ has a level of complication that could terminate the plans, I have come up with a second train that is much easier and more in the liking of what I have done the past two years. Our Disneyland Adventure will take a single car on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Emeryville, bussing from Sacramento’s convention, and heading down California’s coast line to Los Angeles. We will spend two days in Disneyland, and California Adventure, before returning back to the town of origin on the fourth day. All the details are listed on the link from my web site and here, as well.

What are you doing next summer?

Lowell & Barb outside of the Silver Smith.