Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Tag: train

  • Niles Canyon Railway

    A few months ago, I caught a ride aboard the Niles Canyon Railway. Finding the station was simple enough, though the location of the parking lot was far from obvious. As it turns out, a parking lot is located next to the station.

    If you drive down the path alongside the railroad tracks, the lot will be on your left. But, this path looks nothing like a paved road, so I was not certain that vehicle access was even permitted until I had already parked outside, walked down to the station and then spotted the parking lot.

    Nice, big locomotive, though not as friendly in appearance as Thomas the Tank Engine.

    The inside of the glorious coaches. The train is totally kid-friendly with both a restroom and a snack bar. If you don’t mind sitting outside, you can sit in the open-air coach that offers unobstructed views of the surrounding canyon.

    The round-trip journey from Niles to Sunol passes a rail yard, where you can spot other railcars lounging in the sidings.

  • San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, CA

    I spent a chilly New Year’s Eve at the San Francisco Zoo We were greeted by polar bears and snowmen at the entrance.

    I saw a lot of free range peacock leisurely roaming around the park. This one was strutting around the reindeer pen. The reindeer must still be exhausted from their Christmas Eve deliveries because they just sat on the ground. I saw absolutely no reindeer games.

    Didn’t see any lions at the Lion House. I did see two tigers circling around in their pens. The Lion House is a great place to warm up. Nice and toasty inside.

    The cold weather did not bother the penguins. They were frolicking around in their pond.

    This tapir was one of the more active animals. The tapir pen is next to the rhino pen. In cartoons, rhinos are often portrayed as bullies or foot soldiers, but the one we saw seemed quite docile as it busily munched away at a lunch of lettuce and celery. The missing horn also made the rhino look less intimidating.

    Four dollars buys two spins around the track of the Little Puffer steam train.

    The San Francisco Zoo features a lot of bronze animals just waiting for children to climb on top.

    I spotted a pink color bear. I think the polar bears got dyed for the holidays.

    At the South American Tropical Forest exhibit, I spotted a pair of macaws engaging in some tomfoolery.

    Kangaroos! Last of the fun animal exhibits.

  • Day Out With Thomas – Roaring Camp

    Day Out With Thomas offers a ride aboard Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as other fun activities. Our local Day Out With Thomas was hosted by Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, California. Tickets were $18.00 per person (2 and older) with a $7.10 service fee if purchased in advance online. Add in a $7.00 parking fee and the total comes to $50.10 for a party of two.

    The Thomas line ran on the beach train. However, it did not make the hour-long trip to Santa Cruz. Instead, Thomas traveled backwards for 15 minutes in one direction , and then reversed course and went forward along the same track.

    In addition to the train ride, Day Out with Thomas offers photo opportunities with Thomas the Tank Engine and Sir Topham Hatt, as well as coloring stations, jumping houses, temporary tattoos, face painting, clowns, puppet shows, videos and more.

    The line for Sir Topham Hatt’s meet and greet was a bit slow, so we didn’t make it all the way to the front of the line. The coloring station offered stamps, crayons and water colors for coloring and decorating the various coloring pages. At the tattoo station, children could pick from various Thomas themed tattoos to place on their arm or face.

    Day Out With Thomas also offered various stations where your child could play with various Thomas toys. And, for those who want to take some of these toys home, Day Out with Thomas also has a Gift Shop for purchasing a whole range of Thomas memorabilia from shirts and pajamas to lunch boxes, flash lights and toys, toys and more toys. Although the train ride is short, Day Out with Thomas offers more than enough activities to keep the little ones busy for a few hours.

    When we went to Day Out with Thomas, we booked the 8:30 AM ride aboard Thomas the Tank Engine. During our drive to Felton, Highway 17 was foggy at parts, but Roaring Camp itself was clear. The weather was in the mid 50s, but it didn’t feel cold at all. A light jacket was more than sufficient. As it turned out, 8:30 AM was the perfect time because we scored a great parking spot up front and the park was not crowded even after the conclusion of our train ride. The junior engineer was able to participate in a number of activities without having to wait in line (except for visiting Sir Topham Hatt). By around 10 AM, the clouds finally cleared, the place started to heat up, and the crowds flooded in. So, if you are looking to visit Day Out with Thomas at Roaring Camp, consider the early morning ride. The Weather Channel has an awesome hour-by-hour weather forecast, which is quite useful when deciding when to schedule your ride. Also, the ride along Highway 17 was clear in the early morning out to Felton; however, 17 slows down considerably as the day progresses. When we left around noon, we could see the traffic slow down in the westbound direction towards Santa Cruz.

    dowt-roaring-campdowt-thomas-the-tank-enginedowt-coloring-station

  • Dole Plantation Pineapple Express

    Pineapple ExpressThe Dole Plantation offers pineapple fans a delightful peak inside a pineapple farm. Located in Wahiawa, the Plantation includes a store that sells all sorts of pineapple food products, including fresh pineapples, dried pineapples, pineapple jams, and pineapple ice cream. For children (and fun-loving adults), the Pineapple Express offers a 20 minute train ride around the plantation where you can see fields and fields of pineapples, as well as tropical fruit trees, such as mangos and bananas. If your traveling companions only understand Chinese, the narrated train ride can be broadcast in Mandarin. All aboard!