Saturday, January 07, 2006

On The Train to Reno, Part 2



The Reno Fun Train started climbing through the Sierra foothills...



...which were almost psychedelically green.



Though most of the passengers were fairly advanced in age...



...there were also a few young people...



...mixed in with all ages.



Part of the afternoon...



...I spent chatting up this retired government employee above who had some interesting stories to tell about some of his ex-colleagues who were horrified by what they were seeing occur during the Bush administration...



...and whether or not he would have had the courage to be a whistleblower himself.



In the dome car...



...everyone was drinking...



...and enjoying themselves immensely...



...as we finally neared the summit of the Sierras...



...at Donner Pass.



We finally came to the snow line...



...just in time...



...for a great sunset.



The light even managed...



...to turn the snow pink...



,,,and give us a thrill before nightfall.



A couple of singers were wandering up and down the aisles of the train...



...serenading us with "railroad songs"...



...before we finally pulled into Reno.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is some peotry in taking the train in America that you can't find anymore in Europe. Except when you reach Venezia maybe, or when you are lost in the Hungarian countryside.

I don't know why. I used to take the train twice the week in France, and I'm excited and thrilled everytime I take it here. Magic? I love it!