Ends December 31. I've lived in a house next to its tracks since fall of 97 and have never ridden it. Money is tight so I don't know if I will make it on for a ride. The best time to ride it is winter. They have big flood lights on the sides of the cars that shine onto the countryside at night.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
I have heard that now they arent shutting down.
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
I would have heard that if it were true. I was on their site just a few hours ago and it still said the last day is 12-31-08. I'm going to try and go on it on the 13th.
I'm riding on it in a dome car on the 14th during the daytime. Should be fun.
Boyd I'm riding on it in a dome car on the 14th during the daytime. Should be fun.
Please, someone tell me how to e-mail or log onto this entity! I had no idea Duluth (it is Duluth, isn't it?) has a tourist train operating in the winter. - al s.
The Minnesota Zepher operates in Stillwater Mn...the Lake Superior Railroad Museum operates in Duluth...only polar express runs for the LSRM in the winter
www.minnesotazephyr.com
Ya their website as of today (12/08) still says it ends the 31st....
http://www.minnesotazephyr.com/
I've never ridden it, but seen it a few times. I live in the same county but we're not really close to it. We were scheduled to ride it last year but a bad snowstorm came in and we had to cancel. My wife wondered if I wanted to do it this year for my birthday (Nov 30) but I told her I figured that I'd like to but the money would be better spent elsewhere.
My family rode/ate on this train at Christmas time 2001. I had mixed feelings about the experience. My opinion/observation is that the car we were in had been gutted and made into a rolling restaurant; with tables and chairs like you would find inside of a building, not a real dining car. The 8 other people in my party didn't care.
There were F units on either end of the train; and on the return trip; we received a cab ride. That was neat. The track wasn't in the world's best shape, but then again, the train never went more than 6 miles an hour; most of the time, we were probably doing 3 to 4 mph. That's not much of a train ride, in my opinion.
The food and atmosphere were top rate. Would I ever do it again? I don't think so. In my opinion, this qualifies as a dinner train only because you eat on a train.
Well I rode on it sunday in the Grand Dome. Yes the track is a little rough. A storm was hitting north of us at the time so there was some fogg that limited the vision to the far side of the St.Croix river. Food was good as was the service. I took video of it and will post on youtube. They also run the train in the evening with the flood lights shining out to the sides of the train. It is best in winter with snow cover. Another scenario better than what I saw would be spring or summer when the countryside is green. But since it ends on the 31st we won't be seeing green from a moving Zephyr again. It would be better with steam power but a bunch of wining baby neighbors around me put an end to that several years ago.
To put it bluntly, it would be stupid to run with steam. Why go through all the hassle and debt to run a steam engine 3-6 mph on poorly maintained track?
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