Snow Train, February, 2007

Last updated: January 8, 2008

We went to Reno, NV, February 20 to 22 (Tuesday to Thursday).

In this case, the point was not where you’re going but how you get there: we took the Snow Train, which runs a couple months each winter. We went with Shirley and Ray; the lounge act on the train was Mark Richard, a musician we know.

Thursday February 22: Snow Train, stopped near Colfax

The Snow Train goes from Emeryville (near Oakland) to Reno on Tuesday and returns Thursday. The same train does it again, out Friday and back Sunday, but they call it the Fun Train. Half or more of the people got on/off at Emeryville, and the others at four other stops.

The train usually has about 10 “coaches” (passenger cars holding 60 or 70 people each), a bar/dance car and a lounge car next to each other, a bar/dome car, a smoking car, a couple crew/supply cars, and a couple engines. That’s 18 total.

In our case, an Oakland charity group reserved three coaches and the bar/dance car, so one bar and the dance floor were private. The train seemed segregated, with mostly whites in seven coaches and the black Oakland group in three.

Tuesday, February 20

We drove to Shirley’s house in Cupertino. Ray was already there, and he drove to Emeryville. We got there about an hour and a half early, but the train station parking lot was already full. So, we parked semi-legally nearby, and prayed.

The train left on time, about 10:30 am:

Tuesday: Emeryville: All aboard!

The first few hours were close to sea level, as we made four stops picking up more people:

Tuesday: Sacramento River

Occasionally, a droning voice came on the PA system. It was Al, describing the origin of some town’s name, or explaining the occasional delay, as the train stopped for one reason or another: Our train was low priority, behind freight and Amtrak trains. Also, there are usually two tracks, but one section was being overhauled, so trains went single file there.

Then we started up into the Sierras, and they gave us box lunches about 3 pm:

Tuesday: Shirley and Ray

The train crossed I80 several times:

Tuesday: Interstate 80

The lounge car was next to ours:

Tuesday: Mischel; Mark on keyboard

Mark Richards works both trains. The trip is nominally 7 hours, during which he would play for five, with breaks, but he’s paid a flat fee, and if the train is late, he just keeps playing. One run last year took 19 hours, and he played until 2 am.

Tuesday: Mischel in the lounge car

Shirley sells insurance now, but she sang professionally, and will do a couple numbers when the opportunity arises:

Tuesday: Shirley and Mark

There’s also an entertainer who roams the cars, playing banjo or accordion, or doing magic.

Tuesday: Banjo player

It was late afternoon, and we were getting into snow country.

This is a typical Sierra winter scene: blue sky, green trees, gray rocks, white snow:

Tuesday: Sierra scenery

I took this picture from the smoking car, the last public car:

Tuesday: Train going into tunnel

We got to Reno less than an hour late; for “train time”, that’s considered on time.

The train station is downtown; several casinos are within walking distance. The station is new; the project to lower the tracks 20 or so feet below street level took years.

We walked across the street to the Eldorado and checked in about 7 pm. Mischel upgraded our comp room to a suite, on the back side of the hotel.

The reflection in the window is my camera and finger. The nearer building is the Eldorado parking garage and the far one is the Sands Regency casino:

Tuesday: View from our room

We had prime rib dinner at Fitzgerald’s with Shirley and Ray, then gambled for a while.

We had invited Mark for dinner or something, but he needs his layover days to recuperate.

Wednesday, February 21

Wednesday: Our room

Shirley and Ray met us at our room, before heading out to the Nevada Museum of Art, a nice contemporary art museum.

Wednesday: Ray and Shirley

The Reno public bus has one route, around downtown, then out to the university and around there. Part of the route goes from our hotel to the art museum, but Virginia St. was closed for off-season work, and we couldn’t find a bus before we had walked to the museum.

The featured artist (we had read in a SF paper) was Andy Warhol. The show had a lot of his silkscreens: the Campbell soup cans, Mao and Marilyn Monroe series you’d expect, and some others we had never seen, even at the Pittsburgh Warhol museum, in particular a Jack and Jackie Kennedy series done after he was assassinated.

But, no pictures allowed inside. So I went outside:

Wednesday: Original art: my shadow

Sometimes it’s hard to find meaning in modern or abstract art, but this outdoor sculpture is fairly straightforward:

Wednesday: “Inhale, exhale” sculpture

We found a bus at the museum. Shirley and Ray went to the Auto Museum, and we went back to the hotel. Later, we met them for dinner.

And more gambling.

Thursday, February 22

We walked to the train station. You can see the Virginia St. construction fences. The game chip decorations are new:

Wednesday: Mischel & game chips

The train pulled in at 8:30, on time. They park it in Sparks, just East of Reno. They don’t turn the whole train around; they just move the engines from one end to the other:

Wednesday: Reno train station

In Reno it was just cold and windy, but it soon started snowing:

Wednesday: Mischel in the dome car

Reno is at about 4500 feet, the snow line was about 5000 feet. The pass is about 7000 feet, and it snowed on and off for hours.

Wednesday: Snow along the Truckee

Maybe because of the low light or the water and slush on the windows, my camera didn’t do too well taking pictures through the train windows. The greens turned to grays.

Wednesday: Snow-laden fir tree

Wednesday: Left curve

Wednesday: Vineyard

We were stopped for traffic, but could see cars and trucks moving through the trees, on I80:

Wednesday: Stopped near I80

Finally, back to sea level:

Wednesday: San Pablo Bay

Got into Emeryville about two hours late.

The tracks are welded now, so the “clickedy-clack” is gone, except when crossing switches. Still, there’s constant motion, and although we brought liquor, and could buy it at the bar, I never felt like a drink.

Ray’s car was still there, but it was dark and rainy, so Shirley drove home, where we got our car and finished our trip. Door to door, Eldorado to Campbell, was about 12 hours

The next day, the snow line was down to about 2000 feet, and the East Bay hills we can see from our house had some snow on top.