April 18, 2006 > A Toast to Spring

by Linda Stone

Springtime in Niles Canyon signals the wildflower season, and what better way to enjoy the bountiful burst of color than taking a trip on the Niles Canyon Railway's Wildflower Train while sampling wines from local vintners!

This year, the Niles Canyon Railway is offering wine tasting from area wineries on selected trains for their "A Toast to Spring." View the canyon in its glory on this tour ablaze with colors of mustard flowers, Lupine, Poppies, Rosemary, and wild Almond on this one-hour trip.

During the train ride, patrons can walk through the train to sample premium wines each Sunday through May 28 and listen to docents giving interpretive tours on the train's origins and history of the canyon. If you like, you can bring your own food on board.

Also added is a stop at the new Niles Depot where people can get off the train and browse the Essanay Film Museum and visit specialty shops and catch a later return train. This additional service "has proven to be very popular this year," said station agent Al McCracken who encourages people to just "climb aboard and have fun!"

The Pacific Locomotive Association, a nonprofit corporation, maintains and operates the Niles Canyon Railway offering train rides to the public year-round from the 1880s depot in Sunol on steam or diesel locomotives.

Each week a different winery will pour samples of their premium wines on the noon, 1:30 and 3:00 p.m. trains. Trains operate rain or shine and offer enclosed and open coaches and no reservations are required.

Below is a list of wineries that will be featured.

April 23 - Wente Vineyards
April 30 - Fenestra Vineyards
May 7 - White Crane Winery
May 21 - Murrieta's Well Winery
May 28 - Chouinard Vineyards

For more information on the Wildflower Trains call (925) 862-9063 or visit www.ncry.org. The Sunol Depot is located at 6 Kilkare Road, Sunol.