Sunset

Here's one last photo from the train trip last week - sunset over the water as the train nears the Bay Area.  And don't miss the fisherman!

Red earth

In some spots in the foothills the earth is very red.

Mothball fleet

There are 84 ships in the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration's 'mothball fleet', (ships on standby, sometimes for years) and 57 of them are in Suisun Bay.  There is a good view of the ghostly fleet from the train, even though it's hard to get a good photo from the moving train - and through the window!

The fleet was in the news recently because two of the ships will be scrapped in the near future.  See http://www.thereporter.com/ci_13625176 for interesting details about the fleet.

Oak tree

A lone oak tree seen from the train.

California Zephyr

The tracks through the foothills are often quite curved and once in a while out the window one can see about half the train on one of those curves.  Here are two engines, a mail car and two sleepers.  After the sleepers are the dining car, the lounge car, 2 coaches (our domain) and some special car, private I think.

Donner Lake

Most people see Donner Lake from the north side as they drive to Reno, so here's a different view - the south side from the train.

Attention

On the weekend, Dick and I took a short rip to Reno, going and returning on the California Zephyr; isn't that a wonderful name for a train!  In Roseville's big switching yard, we saw this cautionary sign.  You'd think that anyone working for the railroad (and who else would/should be there?) would know this.  But then I guess there may be trespassers.

Peat and stumps

From the Train of the End of the World we saw meadows of peat and the stumps of all the trees the prisoners cut. The timber was used not only for building but for fuel. Then natural gas was found in the area and trees were no longer needed for heating in this rather cold climate. This area is about 55 degrees latitude South, so its climate is about like Ketchikan, Alaska in the North, with the seasons reversed, of course.

Estacion del Fin del Mundo

Here we are (Dick and Margie) at the Station for the Train of the End of the World.
The train was originally built as a freight line to serve the prison of Ushuaia, specifically to transport timber. It now operates as a heritage railway into the Tierra del Fuego National Park and is considered the southernmost functioning railway in the world. It is a small train of small cars carrying tourists over part of the old route, though peat bogs, waterways and vast areas of stumps where the prisoners cut timber. We were served a lunch and a drink of our choice during the scenic trip. A sort of Argentine Wine Train! For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_of_the_End_of_the_World