Napa Valley Wine Train

The Napa Valley Wine Train[1] is a privately operated excursion train that runs between Napa and St. Helena, California. Much of the rail line parallels State Route 29 after leaving the City of Napa and passes the towns of Yountville, Rutherford and Oakville. The route passes by many the region's vineyards and wineries located in Napa County.

For Northern Vermont Railroad (reporting mark NVR), see Northern_Vermont_Railroad.

Napa Valley Wine Train
Locale	Napa County, California, USA
Connections	Union Pacific Railroad and California Northern Railroad
Commercial operations
Original gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Operated by	Napa Valley Railroad
Reporting mark	NVRR
Stations	4
Length	18.0 mi (29.0 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
1864	Started
1869	Purchased by California Pacific Railroad Extension Company and becomes California Pacific Railroad
1895	leased to Southern Pacific Railroad
1898	Southern Pacific Railroad takes over
1905	Electrification and renamed San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway
1985	Southern Pacific Railroad notified the ICC of its intent to abandon
1987	Freight service ceased
Closed to passengers	1929
Closed	1987
Preservation history
1987	NVRR established
1987	NVRR acquires right-of-way
1989	Began operation
Headquarters	Napa, California
Website
http://www.winetrain.com
Napa Valley Wine Train Calistoga Krug Winery Charles Krug winery tours St. Helena Sulphur Springs Creek Thomann SR 29 / SR 128 (St. Helena Hwy.) Grgich Hills Grgich Hills winery tours Rutherford Yountville Domaine Chandon winery tours SR 29 (St. Helena Hwy.) Napa Napa River maintenance yard California Northern Railroad & Union Pacific

The Wine Train is operated by the Napa Valley Railroad (reporting mark NVRR). Some of the NVRR equipment is marked NVR.

History

Early years

The railroad's track is part of what was originally the Napa Valley Railroad founded by early California pioneer Samuel Brannan in 1864. Brannan established it to bring tourists to the resort town of Calistoga, California which he also founded. The railroad's 42 miles (68 km) of track ran from Calistoga to Vallejo, California where it connected with San Francisco Bay Area ferry boat service. California Pacific Railroad Extension Company purchased the Napa Valley Railroad Company at a foreclosure sale on June 9, 1869. Later that same year on December 23, the railroad was renamed the California Pacific Railroad. The track was leased to Southern Pacific Railroad on April 1, 1885 and was soon connected to their main line in Suisun, California. California Pacific Railroad was acquired by Southern Pacific on April 14, 1898. The line was extended to Benicia, California in 1904. The electric interurban railroad San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway was built parallel to the NVRR and opened in 1905 until the 1930s. The NVRR track was utilized by Southern Pacific as a freight branch line for the following 58 years until 1987 when the railroad petitioned for abandonment.

Birth of a new railroad

The NVRR operating company was formed in 1987 by local entrepreneurs and headed by Vincent DeDomenico. DeDomenico was a veteran of more than 50 years in the food business and was formerly the president of Golden Grain, a company founded by his father and famous for its Rice-A-Roni. DeDomnico purchased the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in 1964 and sold both it and Golden Grain to the Quaker Oats Company in 1986. The NVRR acquired the right of way for $2.5 Million after Southern Pacific notified the Interstate Commerce Commission of its intent to abandon the line in 1985.

The new company's plans to create a tourist-oriented Wine Train were strongly opposed by local community activists and several city governments. Some people disliked the noise and pollution of an active passenger train line in their midst, while others felt that the train would attract even more visitors to the Napa Valley, which they saw as already over-saturated with tourists. The project's opponents persuaded the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to order the company to comply with the rigorous requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). However, in a 4-3 decision handed down on March 19, 1990, the Supreme Court of California [2] held that the PUC had no jurisdiction to require CEQA certification because the train fell under the CEQA exemption for "the institution or increase of passenger or commuter service on rail lines already in use."[3]

The gap in actual usage during the prolonged transition from Southern Pacific freight use to the proposed Wine Train service was not enough to take the line out of use, although the many years of deferred maintenance necessitated the investment of approximately $20 Million to rehabilitate the line before trains could be safely operated on it. The rail line connects to the Union Pacific Railroad and California Northern Railroad and has hosted special trains from Amtrak as well as private excursion trains.[4]

Operations

The Napa Valley Wine Train has been in operation since September 16, 1989, and has now carried more than two million passengers. This original train has a capacity of 320 passengers and typically makes two runs a day. The train is normally pulled by two of the four late-1950s era Alco FPA-4 engines in the company's inventory. These engines were originally built by Montreal Locomotive Works and first owned by Canadian National Railway and later by Via Rail. Two of the engines were modified by the railroad to run cleaner on a combination of natural gas and diesel fuel. One was dual fuel (NVR 70), and the other was 100% CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) (NVR 73). Presently, #70 has been converted back to 100% diesel, while the #73 remains 100% CNG.

In June 2009, the St. Helena City Council voted to allow the Wine Train passengers to disembark in St. Helena on a trial basis on the first Friday of the month (May–October). [5] Following the death of Vincent DeDomenico in October 2007, [6] [7] DeDomenico family members chose son-in-law Gregory McManus to step into the position of CEO.[8] The DeDomenico family sold the Napa Valley Wine Train to Noble House Hotels & Resorts in partnership with Brooks Street in 2015.[9] In 2017, Noble House Hotels & Resorts announced plans to build a 5-story, 148 room hotel on the railroad's property on McKinstry Street in downtown Napa.[10]

During the 3-hour-long, 36-mile (58 km) round-trip between Napa and St. Helena, passengers on the original train can choose to enjoy a meal prepared on-site. They can also sample several of the region's wines available at the wine bar located in one of the lounge cars. The original train offers optional stops for tours and tastings at Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, Charles Krug in St. Helena, and Raymond Vineyards in St. Helena for an additional fee. The train hosts several special events throughout the year including murder mystery dinner theater, vintner's luncheons, and holiday excursions.

In June 2016, The Napa Valley Wine Train announced a new 36-seat Quattro Vino experience, a new culinary and wine tour that features stops at four of Napa Valley wineries – Robert Mondavi, Charles Krug, Merryvale and V. Sattui – and a four-course Napa Valley style meal curated by Napa Valley Wine Train's executive chef, Donald Young. Seattle-based Mallet, a design firm known for designing the first Ace Hotel and many Seattle restaurants, was commissioned for the railcar transformation.[11][12]

In May 2017, the Napa Valley Wine Train announced several new experiences including the expansion of its inaugural Quattro Vino tour to include new tours – Legacy, Estate, and Collective – that offer culinary and wine stops at three Napa Valley wineries aboard renovated 1915 Pullman railcars. In addition to day-time experiences, the Napa Valley Wine Train introduced all-new Twilight Private Tours that allow guests to enjoy an evening train journey to Raymond Vineyards or Grgich Hills Estate. Twilight Private Tours include appetizers, wine tastings, dessert, and coffee upon return, in addition to transportation to an evening dining experience at the wineries, open only to Napa Valley Wine Train guests. The Quattro Vino Tour was the first new experience to debut under new ownership, and honors the Italian heritage of Napa Valley, from Robert and Peter Mondavi, to Dario Sattui.[13]

The company announced in February 2018 that it would be leasing 5 passenger cars, a locomotive and power car from the Sierra Railroad Company while renovating the interior and exteriors of several cars in its fleet.[14]

Equipment

The Napa Valley Wine Train currently runs nine cars on its passenger train consisting of lounge, observation and dining cars originally built by the Pullman Company in the early 1900s for the Northern Pacific Railroad. These cars were later sold to Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1960 and used for the Ski Train between Denver, Colorado and Winter Park, Colorado before the NVRR purchased them in 1987. The cars were extensively refurbished and modified by NVRR before the railroad placed them back into service. Modifications included adding air conditioning and 4 inches of concrete to the car floors in order to stabilize the ride due to the train's low speed. The interiors were remodeled using Honduran mahogany and plush fabrics. The railroad added a Super Dome car to its fleet in 1997. This car was originally built in 1952 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and had logged more than a million miles for that railroad prior to being acquired by the NVRR. After the railroad bought this car, the exterior was rebuilt by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train repair yard in Palmetto, Florida while the interior was restored, updated, and customized by NVRR.

A modified box car containing a 400KVA generator was added to the consist in 2013 in order to maintain constant power to the train during the time that the locomotives are run around to the south end of the train, for the return trip from St. Helena. The generator was placed inside a specially made, sound proof room—with a passageway on the opposite side, to allow passenger to walk the length of the car in comfort. This boxcar remains the world's only walk-through generator car. During the modification process, the roof of this car was lowered by two feet in order to preserve the view from the dome car and weight was added to the side of the car opposite from the generator in order to balance the load.[15]

2015 controversy

On August 22, 2015, an 11-member book club group was removed from the train for laughing too loudly. The book club, Sisters on the Reading Edge, consisted of ten African-American women and one white woman, their ages ranging from 39 to 85.[16][17] A reporter on the train expressed dismay that they were removed,[18] and book club members described the experience as "humiliating."[19]

A post from Napa Valley Wine Train on their Facebook page accused the group of "physical and verbal abuse towards other guests and staff."[20] The post was subsequently removed.[21] Two days later, Napa Valley Wine Train hired crisis communications expert Sam Singer to apologize for both the incident and the Facebook post which he described as "incorrect." [22][23]

After the story was picked up by the local and national press, the Twitter hashtag #laughingwhileblack was used to express concern about racial bias, white privilege, and the actions of the wine train staff.[24] Fallout from the incident caused two book club members to lose their jobs. The book club filed a lawsuit seeking $11 million in damages, and after private mediation, reached a settlement in April 2016 for an undisclosed sum.[16]

Locomotives

NVRR Diesel locomotives #70 & #72

The Quattro Vino, a train to four wineries introduced in 2016

Name	Builder / Model	Date	Builder Number	Notes
Locomotive #52	GE /65-ton switcher	July 1943	17871
Locomotive #62	ALCO RS-11	1959	83416[25]	Bought from California Western Railroad-1989
Locomotive #69	EMD Rebuilt EMD GP9R	October 1958	[25]	Formerly Portland and Western 1804. Entered into revenue service on November 2. 2016
Locomotive #70	Alco MLW/FPA-4	October 1958	82269
Locomotive #71	Alco MLW/FPA-4	February 1959	83153
Locomotive #72	Alco MLW/FPA-4	April 1959	83165
Locomotive #73	Alco MLW/FPA-4	April 1959	83168	Rebuilt to burn natural gas & has an EMD 12-645E prime mover.[26]
Locomotive #57	GE 80-ton switcher

[27]

The 80-ton switcher has been renumbered #57. There are two locomotives on lease from outside owners: #48 & #5076.

Plans

The NVRR track is currently utilized for limited daily scheduled passenger excursions of the Napa Valley Wine Train and occasional freight service. A July 2003 study [28] examined the feasibility of acquiring right of way between St. Helena and Calistoga and adding commuter service on the route. This study included consideration for connecting with other mass transit services beyond the Napa Valley and increasing freight service.

Developers of the proposed 3,200-unit townhome Napa Pipe project have proposed a private venture shuttle service that would utilize a portion of the NVRR line from the southern terminus of the line north to Redwood Road and Trancas Street. The proposed shuttle would continue south on Union Pacific Railroad-owned right of way to American Canyon, with trains leaving every 20 or 30 minutes. The developers have held preliminary discussions with NVRR as well as Union Pacific. [29] [30] Backers of the proposal to add commuter service released a business plan in early 2012 revealing that the service would need to carry 1 to 1.5 million passengers per year in order to achieve a profit.[31] Members of the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency have expressed some initial interest in the proposal. [32]

See also

• List of California railroads
• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• List of heritage railways
• List of San Francisco Bay Area trains

References

1. http://www.winecountrytourshuttle.com/napa_valley_wine_tours.htm
2. Supreme Court of California opinion from California Continuing Education of the Bar
3. "'Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc. v. Public Utilities Commission, 50 Cal. 3d 370 (1990)". Jusita US Law. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
4. Doyle, Jim. "Chugging along / After 13 years, Napa Valley Wine Train rolls to a profit". SFGate. Hearst Communications Inc. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
5. Duarte, Jesse (June 12, 2009). "Wine Train to stop in St. Helena". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
6. Kilusk, Bill (October 19, 2007). "Wine Train founder DeDomenico dies at 92". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
7. Guthrie, Julian (October 22, 2007). "Vincent DeDomenico dies - invented Rice-A-Roni, built wine train". San Francisco Chronicle. Napa, CA. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
8. Courtney, Kevin (March 30, 2008). "Staying on Track". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
9. Huffman, Jennifer (September 21, 2015). "Napa Valley Wine Train sold". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
10. Huffman, Jennifer (June 3, 2017). "Napa Valley Wine Train owners plan $100 million resort development". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
11. "The Napa Valley Wine Train Announces New Journeys | Luxury Travel Advisor". www.luxurytraveladvisor.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
12. Mathew, Viju (2016-05-25). "Drink, Dine, and Dash on Napa Valley Wine Train's New Quattro Vino Tour". Robb Report. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
13. "The Napa Valley Wine Train Expands Quattro Vino Tour to Three New Journeys". Retrieved 2018-02-23.
14. Huffman, Jennifer (2018-02-05). "Napa Valley Wine Train borrowing rail cars while it spiffs up its rolling stock". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
15. Huffman, Jennifer (2013-08-18). "No huffing and puffing at Wine Train". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
16. http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/04/18/east-bay-book-club-members-kicked-off-napa-wine-train-settle-lawsuit/
17. Jr., Stephen A. Crockett. "11 Black Women Kicked Off Napa Wine Train for Laughing While Black". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
18. "Another View: Let laughter roll down like wine | Auburn Journal". www.auburnjournal.com. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
19. UTC, Marcus Gilmer2015-08-25 03:00:56. "Book group protests ejection from Napa wine train for being 'too loud'". Mashable. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
20. "Book club group kicked off Napa Valley Wine Train". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
21. "Booted book club shrugs off Napa Wine Train's apology". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
22. "Removal of black women from Napa Valley Wine Train sparks outrage". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
23. "Black women's book club ordered off California tourist train | Al Jazeera America". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
24. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/lonnae-oneal-laughing-while-black-not-on-the-wine-train/2015/08/26/93dd9718-4bf2-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html
25. "NVRR - NAPA Valley Railroad Company Locomotive Roster - Railroad Picture Archives.NET".
26. "NAPA VALLEY WINE TRAIN". Retrieved 2010-05-03.
27. Edward Lewis Short Line Railway Guide (page 212)
28. Napa/Solano Passenger/Freight Rail Study funded jointly by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Napa County Transportation Planning Agency and Solano Transportation Authority
29. Jones, Jillian (September 17, 2008). "Rail system for Napa?". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved September 21, 2008.
30. Noonan, James (September 13, 2011). "Investors hope to bring light rail to Napa". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
31. Jensen, Peter (January 11, 2012). "Napa Valley rail system would need a million riders". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
32. Jensen, Peter (January 20, 2012). "Transit agency cautious about supporting rail plan". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved January 20, 2012.

External links

• Napa Valley Wine Train official website
• Napa Valley Railroad Police Department
• The Antidote to Amtrak: The Napa Valley Wine Train
• Article about the early years of Napa railroad history
• Napa Valley wine route