Did You Take the First Train?

By Melodie Hilton, Director of Marketing and Public Relations

The Napa Valley Wine Train first rolled out of the McKinstry Street station in Napa, CA on September 16, 1989; and we have been riding the rails ever since. We have served millions of guests on the train, and every day is a new adventure.

If you like suspense and adventure stories, some don’t get better than our first ride, however. Beyond the back story of a well publicized political drama, the first train rolled out of the station in the midst of a gully-washer that killed the electricity.

As our CFO tells the story: The weather was dark and stormy, but that didn’t keep those passengers from showing up to take part in history. The passengers made it to the station to receive their boarding tickets, but upon arrival they took a moment to peer through the glass doors to see if we were even open. Why would they do this? Because we lost electricity from the storm during the boarding procedure. Of course we had plenty of flashlights and candles, right? Think again. We were scrambling to try to read the manifest and match tickets.

Despite all, we did get all the passengers on the Train and now have been going strong for 20 years. We have four of our original employees still here: Tony Giaccio, Ajmer Sing, Darrell Tilcock and Gerald Cavazos.

If you were also on that train, we would LOVE to hear from you! Call or Write Melodie at sales@winetrain.com

And, join us for our 20th Year Birthday Harvest Celebration, Sept. 19. Early bird prices through August 31.