paul@dual.UUCP (Baker) (09/16/85)
References: Last Labour Day, I travelled from Willits to Eureka and back on the "North Coast Daylight" train. This runs from Willits to Eureka along the Northwestern Pacific line. The line is now operated by Eureka Southern who use it for freight shipments during the week and by the Redwood Coast Railway company who use it for weekend passenger excursions. It has been heavily booked through most of the summer. The are a number of different tours available, all using the train in at least one direction. Connecting buses are offered from San Francisco, which I took. The Railway company will also book hotels in Eureka if required. The tour can all be worked and paid for at one time. I enjoyed my trip a lot and consider the service given to be quite a bit better than Amtrak for example. I would recommend the trip to anyone who feels they would like a seven hour rail trip. The staff all seem to be keen and enthusiastic which is a refreshing change. A package of information is left on the seat giving a milepost guide of things to see and a history of the railroad and also some guides to Eureka. The train has a dome/bar car at the front of the train and a two dining cars about half way along. The food is good and tastes as if it has been cooked on the train. The route follows the Eel River for nearly all the trip, crossing it many times on bridges of various kinds. There are plenty of tunnels as well. The scenery is very impressive, changing from dry scrub covered hills at the Willits end to foggy pine covered slopes at the Eureka end. The only difficulties encountered were: There was rather a long wait for booked lunches on the Eureka bound section of the journey. The office is very busy, so it is hard to get through on the phone. Also, we only got tickets when we boarded the bus in San Francisco. Due to poor track condition, the train does not run very fast, this doesn't worry me and lets one get a good view of the scenery, but if you are expecting the TGV, forget it. The trains are scheduled to run till 27 October although this may be extended if demand warrants. The phone number of the tour organizers is [800] 482 7100 or [415] 398 2994 I hope this is of some interest. Paul Wilcox-Baker.
wje@daisy.UUCP (William J. Earl) (10/03/85)
In article <1099@dual.UUCP> paul@dual.UUCP (Baker) writes: >Last Labour Day, I travelled from Willits to Eureka and back on the >"North Coast Daylight". My family and I also travelled on the North Coast Daylight to and from Eureka, and greatly enjoyed the trip. Lunch can be delayed, particularly if you have a reservation for one of the later seatings. Getting a reservation for the first seating solves most of the problem. For the stay overnight in Eureka, I recommend the Eureka Inn, an old, but refurbished, hotel, which was very nice. I spoke to an officer of the Redwood Coast Railway while on the train. He said that they might keep running into November, if the rains hold off, but they would have to stop during the rainy season, since they were concerned that the rain-softened roadbed might not hold up under the weight of the passenger train. The Eureka Southern right-of-way cost about $10000 per mile per year to maintain during the last several years of Northwestern Pacifc operation, largely due to the unstable geology of the route. Next year, there may be some midweek excursions, with two or three days stopover in Eureka, which is quite a pleasant town. There might well be day trips on the train to Arcata and other nearby points. -- William J. Earl Daisy Systems Corporation, Mountain View, CA