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»CA.RAILWAY JOURNEYS YOSEMITE MOUNTAIN Sugar Pine Railroad, below; Sacramento RiverTrain, inset, painted gold to reflect the area's Gold Rush heritage, and blue to honor the Sacramento River. connects San Francisco with Sacramento through the state's agricultural heartland. The Pacific Surfliner, a sixhour, Pacific-hugging trip that joins San Luis Obispo and San Diego (via Santa Barbara and Los Angeles), boasts bicycle and surfboard racks, and free Wi-Fi. Access to Yosemite can be arranged via the San Joaquin line to Merced, where a waiting luxury bus will take you to the National Park. 8 0 2 013 travel guide to c al ifo r n i a visitors an opportunity to travel on the historic Sierra Railroad while enjoying a delicious meal and beautiful countryside." Passengers board in Oakdale, 90 miles east of San Francisco (and 70 miles south of Sacramento). Historic Revivals There are a handful of shorter train rides throughout California, providing a taste of what travel was like for settlers in the 1800s. Santa Cruz's Roaring Camp Railroad offers an hour-long Beach Train, or a steam train through redwood groves. The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad provides a four-mile, narrowgauge reminder of the days when logs felled in the Sierra forests were carried to the fast-growing settlements in the Central Valley. A Reminder of Childhood Of all the super-short train rides, few equal the charm of the Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Park, Berkeley. The 12-minute ride—with tiny steam locomotives pulling open cars—churns through rustic tunnels and around bends, offering panoramic views of San Francisco Bay. For $2, it's a real family experience—even dogs are welcome. CA » CATCH A TRAIN! Amtrak amtrak.com Skunk Train skunktrain.com Napa Valley Wine Train winetrain.com Sacramento RiverTrain sacramentorivertrain.com Sierra Railroad: Oakdale sierrarailroad.com Roaring Camp Railroad roaringcamp.com Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad ymsprr.com Redwood Valley Railway redwoodvalleyrailway.com AMTRAK; SUGAR PINE RAILROAD; OPPOSITE: CHINTLA Excursion Favorites Between 1896 and 1930, visitors to Mt. Tamalpais—the Bay Area's signature peak—could ride the Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway: "The Crookedest Railroad in the World." Though that line has been dismantled, there are still plenty of quirky, unusual excursions available to the 21st-century traveler. These include Mendocino's irresistible Skunk Train. Christened in 1885, The Skunk (named for its potent fumes back then) navigates some 30 bridges, trestles and tunnels on its 40-mile journey from the coastal town of Fort Bragg to Willits. Book your tickets early for the popular Napa Valley Wine Train, with three-hour round trips in "meticulously restored rail cars" between Napa and St. Helena in California's wine country. Enjoy a la carte or gourmet dining, depending on your class of ticket. Lunch and dinner trains run daily, with winery tours available. Departing from Woodland, the Sacramento RiverTrain features beer, wine, fine food and live music as it follows the Sacramento River on a threehour, 32-mile trip. There are several specialty rides, including Sunset Dinners, Great Train Robberies (on Saturdays) and Murder Mysteries. Another dinner option is the Sierra Railroad, one of several rail lines built to link the Gold Country with the Central Valley. Today, the excursion "provides