Friday, June 19, 2009

"Secret Hotels of California Wine Country"

"Secret Hotels of California Wine Country" by Jaime Gross, © Budget Travel, April, 2007. (Article)

" ... Old Crocker Inn: In the late 1800s, Charles Crocker, one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, purchased nearly 600 acres above the Russian River and built a ranch and summer home there for entertaining his powerful friends and business partners. The ranch has been subdivided and parts have been sold over the years – much of it is now a residential development and a KOA campground – but five of those acres still bear Crocker's name, in the form of the Old Crocker Inn. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

Surviving early rail car

"At the Throttle: Combine car 06 reveals its secrets" by Mark S. Bassett, © The Ely Times, January 26, 2007. (News Article)

" ... Under all of that paint was solid mahogany wood. It was beautiful and as smooth as a baby's bottom! And the discovery scared me; according to the records we had, the car was built in the late 1880's ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

"Train needs makeover before next Hollywood close-up" - The Sierra Railway No. 3 motion picture locomotive

"Train needs makeover before next Hollywood close-up" by DIXIE REID, © NEWSPAPER, January 25, 2007. (News Article)

" ... at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, the far-flung Tuolumne County outpost of Sacramento's California State Railroad Museum. ... In better times, Sierra Railway No. 3 was a star. Her first onscreen appearance was in a 1919 silent-movie serial called The Red Glove. Her first feature-film role was alongside Gary Cooper in The Virginian (1929), the first 'talkie' shot on location. In the 1950s and '60s, the locomotive appeared in a slew of Westerns, from the classic High Noon (again starring Cooper) to TV's Bonanza and Death Valley Days. Also among her 72 movie and TV credits are Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, Bound for Glory and Back to the Future III. ... She needs major work ..." [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

"Weather brings drama to Donner Pass"

"Weather brings drama to Donner Pass" by Mark McLaughlin, © Sierra Sun, November 7, 2006. (News Article)

" ... In January 1890, a relentless barrage of blizzards and a derailed train shut down the railroad for 15 days. Central Pacific used every weapon in its arsenal to clear the line: a rotary snowplow, an armada of wedge plows, hundreds of railroad personnel, and nearly 5,000 civilian snow shovelers who were hired to augment CP crews. Despite their best efforts, the winter’s 66 feet of snow (fourth snowiest on record), overwhelmed their efforts and passenger trains were snowbound throughout the high country. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]