To Shiny Rails

Check out today’s Central Coast Railroad Festival Announcement Email. Click here. Contents:

Friends/SMVRR Holiday Event This Thursday 12/14/23
Garden Railroad at Atascadero Zoo This Saturday 12/16/23
SLO Railroad Museum Announces 2024 Excursion Schedule
Last-Minute Gift Shopping
Norgrove Seeks a Welder/Fabricator
BSA Railroading Merit Badge Day
SLORRM Winter Newsletter Available
Santa Visited the SLO Railroad Museum
Year-End Giving
LA Rail Charters
Orange County Train Parks/Museums
CRP&A Photo Contest: Conveyance
2024 NMRA National Convention Long Beach, CA
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner
California Railroad Radio Frequencies
Area Railroading Opportunities
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AJ told me about this guy a couple of days ago, and today I finished the last 3 episodes of his trip across America from the southernmost rail station in the country to the northernmost rail station in the country. It was a 10-week odyssey that he documented in 10 episodes on his channel (15 to 25 minutes in length each, roughly). Though I’ve never met him, I’m convinced Michael Downie is a kindred spirit! I highly recommend this series to any rail fan, particularly those of you who like traveling by rail, any kind of rail. He started at Dadeland Station in Miami and ended up at the Fairbanks, Alaska train station ten weeks later (or so). And he hit several iconic, historic, and unique trains along the way. It turns out he hit a few I’ve had the pleasure to ride: the California Zephyr, the Cog Railway at Pikes Peak, the Grand Canyon Railway, and the Alaska Railroad. My next-up bucket list items that Mike’s trip covers are the Rocky Mountaineer Denver to Moab and the Durango and Silverton, both within “easy” reach of Colorado Springs. Mike’s trip starts here on YouTube.

“All Aboard!” Just so I’d have a photo on this post, I threw in the image above of my Dad on our Zephyr trip from Chicago, IL to Emeryville, CA in 2005. This was shot at the Glenwood Springs, CO station. It is pretty hard to beat a train trip across the Rockies in a snow storm!

To Shiny Rails sponsored last year’s San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum’s first annual (hopefully) Photo Contest. Below is the 1st Place photo. The rest of the winners and honorable mentions can be seen here.

First Place
Photo by ERIC PETERSON
Taken March 20, 2022 Location: Gaviota, CA. “Put the Coast in Starlight”: Amtrak 14(20) skirts along bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. Seen in the background are the Gaviota pier, the Gaviota trestle, and the semi-green rolling hills of the Coast Range. Running along the ocean and the coastal areas, in general, gives the train its name: the Coast Starlight.

It just so happened that we were in California when the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum offered a class for Boy Scouts of America to get their Railroad Merit Badge. And, it just so happened that we have two grandkids who are just getting started in Scouting. Match made in heaven! Here’s a link to photos from the afternoon at the Museum: https://www.slorrm.com/221023-merit-badge.html

This was today’s Parlor Car Chat for the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.

This was today’s Parlor Car Chat for the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.