The Garlic Train is out of commission until 2006
Gilroy – The Garlic Train is on its way back to Gilroy, but it will be one more year before it arrives for the three-day gourmet food festival.
After three years of weekend construction on Caltrain tracks between San Francisco and Gilroy, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum board of directors and Garlic Festival association board members hoped the summer fun train would return in 2005 for its trek from the Peninsula to South County. But according to members of the museum board of directors the steam engine needed to be rebuilt this year.
“We typically pull it with our steam engine,” said Greg Thornton, vice president of business for the museum, of the engine powering the Garlic Train. “But it is undergoing mandated federal railroad administration boiler management.”
Dave Roth, a vice president of operations, said the steam engine is on a 15-year cycle to be rebuilt and this was the year to do it.
“The number of people needed to support both projects is down,” said Dave Roth, vice president of operations. But he added that they do plan to get it going again for 2006 after the steam engine has been put back together.
Garlic Festival Association Assistant Director Joann Kessler was disappointed to hear the train would not be running this summer and looks forward to its return.
“It brings a different group of people to the festival,” Kessler said. “People who might not come otherwise.”
Starting in San Francisco and making limited stops, the train is close to full capacity by the time it pulls into the Gilroy station. The steam engine pulls 10 cars, each holding up to 160 people.
Roth said the train stops at Burlingame, Redwood City, Palo Alto and San Jose before making the final 35 mile trek to Garlic Town, carrying nearly 3,000 passengers to the festival in two days.
“The train runs on Saturday and Sunday,” Roth said. “It reaches about 90 percent capacity.”
The train leaves in the morning and returns in the afternoon, making only one round trip for Bay Area residents who want to enjoy the garlicky festival without dealing with driving, traffic or parking. The cost for the Garlic Train includes entrance to the festival, a shuttle from the train station to the park and the cost of a round-trip ride.
“We’ve done our own ticketing before,” Thornton said, of the non-profit museum which runs the Garlic Train event with the help of volunteers. “It’s a lot of work. People managing the phone, taking all the information.”
For now, train and garlic fans will have to wait one more year to combine the first-class transportation and food, but museum officials hope to see it return for next summer’s festival.
“We are planning to offer it in the future,” Thornton said. “We like to run excursions and get the steam engine out there where everyone can see it.”
