|
| |
2026 California Zephyr trip with Mark and Lindsay
Written by Lindsay Korst
gngoat@gngoat.org
Tuesday May 26
CZ_Day6
I am up at 5am. Not much planned today. The
California State Railroad Museum
doesn't open until 10am. Neither does Old Sacramento. I putzed around using
Google Maps, and discovered a K Street pedestrian underpass (I-5) to Old
Sacramento from the south entrance of our Holiday Inn. 10 minute walk. Great.
Exceptin' the south entrance doors were not working. Ya gotta walk around the
entire building.
Mark got the shock of his life when we hit the hotel's breakfast buffet. $35.
Each. My google search had turned up no nearby breakfast places. They've got us.
After filling our plates, I spoke to the waitress and she knocked off 15% from our
bills because I am an IHG member with Holiday Inn Express. To further torment
himself, M then calculated in the CDN 40% exchange rate. Ouch. Poor guy.
Dinner's on me tonight. Yeah, Cali sucks.
It's a short walk under The Five to Old Sac. They've done a good job
making the otherwise drab concrete a colorful experience.
We emerge above ground at 2nd & K streets. Note the sheriff on horseback
approaching. Hmmm... I wonder if that acupuncture comes with a happy ending?
Kinda blah CSRM facade, but it's what's inside that counts. Mark bought our
tickets this morning ($12x2 -- thank you, big brother!!). There used to be a
wonderful short movie as an introduction to the museum, but they tell me at the
counter...it's out of order. Oh, Cali... Still, after a leisurely stroll, this is the
first thing you see:
Central Pacific #1, the "Governor Stanford". Built in Philadelphia and shipped
around Cape Horn and up to Sacramento, it was
Central Pacific Railroad's first
locomotive.
That's me and the "construction boss" pointing out that landslide coming right
at us!
Very well-done displays of building snow sheds and surveying a route through the
Sierra Nevada.
The interpretive sign reads as follows: THE 10-MILE DAY
Near Promontory, Utah, a sign once stood marking April 28, 1869, when the Central
Pacific laid 10 miles of track in one day. Union Pacific Vice-President Thomas
Durant had wagered Charles Crocker that the CP could not out-do the UP's one-day
record of seven miles. Crocker took the bet.
A select crew of Chinese and Irish set to work, directed by construction boss
James Strobridge. They labored throughout the grueling, 12-hour day, refusing to
yield to a relief crew standing by. Working with military precision, they
handled 25,800 ties, 3520 rails, 55,000 pounds of spikes, 7,040 splice bars and
14,080 bolts - 4,362,000 pounds of material. When the men stopped work, over 10
miles of new track lay in place. The record set that day still stands.
The famous picture by Andrew J. Russell of the completion of the first
transcontinental railroad in 1869.
The CSRM has some exquisitely-restored passenger cars on permanent display. In
order are: 1. Virginia & Truckee #16 baggage & express combine; 2. Nevada
Central Railway coach, "Silver State"; 3. Monterey & Salinas Valley #1 combine;
4. Georgia Northern #100 "Gold Coast", former private car of Lucius Beebe and
Charles Clegg.
North Pacific Coast #12 "Sonoma" is a beautiful
narrow gauge 4-4-0 built in 1876
by Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Skookum! This was the surprise encounter of the trip for me. This long-time
Pacific Northwest resident (Columbia River Belt Line Railway #7) had a unique
2-4-4-2 wheel arrangement and was recently restored to operation. I had heard it
was privately owned and in use over on the Niles Canyon Railway, but didn't realize it was on loan
to CSRM. Kick! (Mark is watching a Santa Fe Super Chief promotional film from
1950.)
Another surprise was seeing the Dayton (Virginia & Truckee #18) which I last saw
at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City (circa 2018).
THWACK! You can almost hear the crane arm slamming into the mail pouch at speed.
Yep, that's how they delivered the mail back then (some would say a better
system than today).
This is Great Northern #42, a Railway Post Office car built circa 1951 by
American Car & Foundry. The car usually worked on
GN's Empire Builder from
Chicago to Portland/Seattle. That's Mark talking to the docent inside the car.
The last steam engine we'll look at, is this massive
Southern Pacific Class
AC-12, 4-8-8-2 "Cab Forward". Smoke was a big problem in the tunnels and snow sheds over Donner Pass, so someone got the bright idea to
turn the engine around and place the cab in
front. Viola! Better visibility and the smokestack is behind the crew. SP had
Baldwin build 256 of these articulated monsters for them.
Drumheads! Yeah, we like drumheads. And neon tail signs.
Get Ducked! This little guy (from CSRM's enormous gift shop) now graces Baolu's
red Jeep Jeep.
I took many more pictures but...the above is enough. You're welcome.
Back to the rooms for a nap and for both of us to check in for tomorrow's
flights home.
1600. We finish off Mark's Crown Royal Black on ice and consult about dinner. My
suggestion of an Irish Pub in Old Sacramento is agreeable.
1700-ish we headed over to a so-named Irish Pub on account of online recommendations
and a good looking menu. We walk in to VERY LOUD and ANGRY rap “music” blasting at us. We sit down briefly at a table and quickly
realize this is not the place for us. We can't even hear each other
speak.
Talk about mis-labeling. That was not the least bit Irish. I'm not even going to
name the place, it was that bad.
Time for Plan B.
Sean Finnegan’s Pub. Okay THIS one is Irish. I had a Guinness and Mark had his
usual mixed drink. We started with some Mac & Cheese Bites and we both had the
Finnegan’s Favorite sandwich (roast beef and cheese) which was quite tasty! As
stated before, dinner was on me to soothe Mark's expensive breakfast trauma.
Good chewings. Highly recommended.
 
 
|
