I enjoy the Barenaked Ladies song “If I Had a Million Dollars.” This week, I’m singing about having a $1,000 to take a train ride. Not just any train ride — for a special excursion aboard a train pulled by a 65-year-old steam engine.
According to the Mercury-Register article, the engine is steam locomotive No. 844 — the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific. The excursion was organized by the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola for the 100th anniversary of the Western Pacific Railroad (since acquired by Union Pacific).
To ride the train this week, it will cost $1,000 to go from Oroville to Portola or $500 to go from Portola to Winnemucca, Nev. The money goes to a good cause — it’s a fundraiser for the Feather River Rail Society.
For people who don’t have a hole burning in their wallets, the train will be arriving in Oroville Thursday, spend the day there Friday for viewing near Mitchell Avenue and depart on Saturday morning.
It would be fun to go on the excursion, but it will be exciting to see a piece of history this week. It’s not just the train, the Feather River Canyon route was one of the scenic highlights for passenger rail travel for years.