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Photo by Ken Rattenne, below photo by Don Rattenne (click to enlarge)

Forty-Niner Farewell

The Sierra Forty-Niner Express

Not many outside of California ever heard of the Forty-Niner Express, and not surprisingly! This privately-owned and operated luxury train, which ran between San Jose California and Reno, Nevada, operated for less than six months before being discontinued due to passenger disinterest. 

The Forty-Niner Express, owned and operated by Transisco Tours (which also operated the successful Texas Southern Dinner Train), featured three ex-Burlington Northern F45 locomotives and a trainset of rebuilt ex-Southern Pacific gallery cars that had previously seen service on SP's San Francisco-San Jose commuter operation. 

Though the train was well-publicized, passenger loadings were disappointing from the start. This was due mostly to Transisco's lack of understanding of the market they were trying to serve.  While Bay Area residents indeed wanted a comfortable and worry-free means of traveling to the gambling dens of Reno, they didn't want to spend a lot of money to get there. And the Forty-Niner Express was no economy-class service. Those that did ride (including this author's parents) were treated to full-length dome-lounges and picture-windowed booth seating in the dining car. One could even dance to a live band on the Forty-Niner's dance car. 

In spite of the lavish amenities on the Sierra Forty-Niner Express, the train ran up huge amounts of red ink for owner Transisco. Thus, on April 28, 1991, a scant five months after its December 7, 1990 inauguration, the Sierra Forty-Niner Express made its final run between Reno and San Jose, a full week before the advertised "last run." 

In the photo above F45 No.1002  leads the final westbound Express out of Tunnel -- at Newcastle, California, in the Sierra foothills. The photo below illustrates the poor passenger loads, with a live band playing to an empty dance floor in the train's Dance Car. 

- Ken Rattenne



Photo Details
The main image was shot with a Nikon FM2 using a 75-210 Nikon E-Series lens using Kodachrome 64, exposed at 1/500th at 5.6. The second photo was shot with a Minlta SRT 101 with a Rokkor 50 mm lens using Kodak 400 print film. Exposure is unknown. 

Text and photographs copyright © 1999-2018 by Ken Rattenne & KPR Media Services