09-07-2009, 04:04 PM
You definitely want to stay on the South side of the Grand Canyon. The North Rim is at 9500 feet elevation and closed in winter. The South rim is at 7500 feet. It gets snow and is cold in winter, but it stays open year round. You might want to consider staying in Williams or Flagstaff and riding the Grand Canyon Railroad to the Grand Canyon. They have some discounted excursions available through AAA that include 2 nights lodging at the hotel (added on to the historic Wiliams Harvey House) 2 breakfasts, lunch at the Grand Canyon, and dinner back at the hotel in Williams as well as a bus tour with tour guide who will stop at 3 overlooks of the canyon. If you do elect to take that deal, an extra $20.00 per person will get you a seat in the dome of the dome car, but I suspect those seats book up early. Don't miss the Verde Canyon Railroad. There are hundreds of Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles that winter in Verde Canyon from Alaska and probably parts of Canada. They literally fly along side of the train in flocks. They arrive sometime in November and fly back north in April.
In California, check the website for the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, I think it is on the third weekend of every month that they have steam up weekends where the train ride is behind their steam engine. Other weekends the train is pulled by an ex-Santa Fe Fp45. They also have a caboose train which consists of three cabooses pulled by an old switch engine, and you can ride in the cuppola if you wish. There are also 2 street cars running around the loop, and all of the trains run all day long. In addition there are car barns with displays indoors and out throughout the grounds. They usually have a restored Pacific Electric red car running on the same track with the steam engine or Fp45. There is a passing siding halfway to the town of Perris and a double track at the museum, so the PE Red Car and the train meet half way.
In old Sacramento, don't miss the California Railroad Museum. I don't know how it is organized now since it has been 15 years since I went through it, but the last time I was there the way to see the Museum for the first time was to view the 15 minute movie before you enter the museum proper.
Another worthwhile place to visit is the other half of the California Railroad Museum at Jamestown in the gold rush country a few hours South of Sacramento. That museum is in the old shops of the Sierra Railroad. The area around Jamestown is an excellent place to camp. It is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains so the elevation is probably around 3000 feet, below the snow level. Near Jamestown is Angels Camp, Murphy's, Sonoma, and Columbia State Park. These are all old historic gold rush towns. Angel's Camp famous for the jumping frog contest of Calaveras County, also "Angel's Flight" which was the nickname of the old branch line on the Sierra railroad that ran between Angel's Camp and Jamestown. The distance "as the crow flies" was less than 20 miles, but the railroad ran from 3000 feet in Jamestown, down into a canyon probably 1500 to 2000 feet deep and back up to 3000 feet at Angel's Camp. That branch was so steep and twisted that the Sierra built special shorty passenger cars that the MDC Overton Cars used for a prototype, and was the only regularly scheduled passenger train that I know of that had to be pulled by a shay because a rod engine would not handle the grades. Columbia State Park is an old Ghost Town that was restored with pennies, nickels, and dimes donated by school children throughout California during the 1930's. There is a fancy restaurant in Columbia that is operated by the local Junior College as a part of their culinary arts, and restaurant and hotel management program. The food is outstanding, the service is 5 star, and the prices are higher than Denny's but not really outrageous. If you are there on a Friday or Saturday, reservations are just about required to get seating.
Farther South just East of the town of Oakhurst on Hwy41 into Yosemite is "The Logger." It is a museum and logging train ride behind an ex-West Side Lumber Company shay. Just be aware that there is a pass between Coarse Gold and Oakhurst that is over 3500 feet and gets snowed in occasionally. They keep it plowed because it is one of the 3 main entrances to Yosemite National Park that are kept open year round. By the way, any of the mountain passes might require chains at any time that time of year, but if you take highway 99 between Sacramento and Bakersfield, you will stay in the valley and then you can just go East off of the appropriate highways to visit the towns in the western foothills of the Sierras.
Going from Los Angeles to San Francisco that time of year highway 5 sometimes gets closed due to snow at Gorman. For the railfan, a better route to take between L.A. and S.F. is to take the 15 out through San Bernardino over Cajon Pass, You will see the tracks off to your side most of the way up the pass, then go to 395 North at the top of the pass to highway 58 which takes you into Bakersfield over Tehachapie. Gorman's summit is at 4500 feet and gets snow, Tehachapie and Cajon are both around 3000-3500 feet and seldom get much snow.
I hope this is helpful. There are more things that are worthwhile seeing, and most don't cost much, but I've lived in California most of my life and I still haven't seen all of it.
In California, check the website for the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, I think it is on the third weekend of every month that they have steam up weekends where the train ride is behind their steam engine. Other weekends the train is pulled by an ex-Santa Fe Fp45. They also have a caboose train which consists of three cabooses pulled by an old switch engine, and you can ride in the cuppola if you wish. There are also 2 street cars running around the loop, and all of the trains run all day long. In addition there are car barns with displays indoors and out throughout the grounds. They usually have a restored Pacific Electric red car running on the same track with the steam engine or Fp45. There is a passing siding halfway to the town of Perris and a double track at the museum, so the PE Red Car and the train meet half way.
In old Sacramento, don't miss the California Railroad Museum. I don't know how it is organized now since it has been 15 years since I went through it, but the last time I was there the way to see the Museum for the first time was to view the 15 minute movie before you enter the museum proper.
Another worthwhile place to visit is the other half of the California Railroad Museum at Jamestown in the gold rush country a few hours South of Sacramento. That museum is in the old shops of the Sierra Railroad. The area around Jamestown is an excellent place to camp. It is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains so the elevation is probably around 3000 feet, below the snow level. Near Jamestown is Angels Camp, Murphy's, Sonoma, and Columbia State Park. These are all old historic gold rush towns. Angel's Camp famous for the jumping frog contest of Calaveras County, also "Angel's Flight" which was the nickname of the old branch line on the Sierra railroad that ran between Angel's Camp and Jamestown. The distance "as the crow flies" was less than 20 miles, but the railroad ran from 3000 feet in Jamestown, down into a canyon probably 1500 to 2000 feet deep and back up to 3000 feet at Angel's Camp. That branch was so steep and twisted that the Sierra built special shorty passenger cars that the MDC Overton Cars used for a prototype, and was the only regularly scheduled passenger train that I know of that had to be pulled by a shay because a rod engine would not handle the grades. Columbia State Park is an old Ghost Town that was restored with pennies, nickels, and dimes donated by school children throughout California during the 1930's. There is a fancy restaurant in Columbia that is operated by the local Junior College as a part of their culinary arts, and restaurant and hotel management program. The food is outstanding, the service is 5 star, and the prices are higher than Denny's but not really outrageous. If you are there on a Friday or Saturday, reservations are just about required to get seating.
Farther South just East of the town of Oakhurst on Hwy41 into Yosemite is "The Logger." It is a museum and logging train ride behind an ex-West Side Lumber Company shay. Just be aware that there is a pass between Coarse Gold and Oakhurst that is over 3500 feet and gets snowed in occasionally. They keep it plowed because it is one of the 3 main entrances to Yosemite National Park that are kept open year round. By the way, any of the mountain passes might require chains at any time that time of year, but if you take highway 99 between Sacramento and Bakersfield, you will stay in the valley and then you can just go East off of the appropriate highways to visit the towns in the western foothills of the Sierras.
Going from Los Angeles to San Francisco that time of year highway 5 sometimes gets closed due to snow at Gorman. For the railfan, a better route to take between L.A. and S.F. is to take the 15 out through San Bernardino over Cajon Pass, You will see the tracks off to your side most of the way up the pass, then go to 395 North at the top of the pass to highway 58 which takes you into Bakersfield over Tehachapie. Gorman's summit is at 4500 feet and gets snow, Tehachapie and Cajon are both around 3000-3500 feet and seldom get much snow.
I hope this is helpful. There are more things that are worthwhile seeing, and most don't cost much, but I've lived in California most of my life and I still haven't seen all of it.