BLOG 2: Short Stops in Sacramento & Las Vegas

With a rental car, we head from San Francisco over the Bay Bridge towards Sacramento.

The destination there is the “California State Railroad Museum” featuring the only remaining “Cab Forward” steam locomotive of the Southern Pacific Railway.

Its most distinctive feature is the arrangement of the cab and firebox on the front of the locomotive instead of the usual rear. This was primarily achieved by operating a 2-8-8-4 engine in reverse with appropriate modifications. The engineer and fireman swapped sides and faced away from the firebox. The tender remained behind the locomotive to ensure improved visibility ahead. This was possible because the locomotive burned Bunker C fuel oil instead of coal, allowing the fuel to be easily pumped from the tender to the firebox, unlike a coal-fired locomotive. The smokebox coupling was reinforced.

The Cab-Forward design was beneficial in the long tunnels and snow sheds of Donner Pass and other mountainous regions, as it kept smoke, heat, and soot away from the crew, enabling them to breathe relatively clean air even in the tunnels.

The locomotive is 38 m long and weighed operationally 480 tons. Simply a giant!

For Gerhard, as a steam locomotive fan, this was naturally an uplifting experience—especially sitting in the engineer's seat and setting the throttle to “FULL POWER.” At that time, the power was 6000 HP.

Of course, we also admired the other locomotives and cars.

After a brief visit with refreshments at the adjacent historic “Old Sacramento Waterfront,” we head to the airport early. Returning the rental car goes smoothly, but the check-in process is somewhat annoying due to the slowness of the 'Southwest' staff, and at security, Gerhard's beautiful Austrian passport is somehow not recognized by the scanner—resulting in some uncomfortable waiting minutes, but eventually, we got the green light from the supervisor. The exact problem was not communicated.

The 1 ½ hour flight was timely and uneventful, and soon we arrive in sparkling Las Vegas. While waiting for our baggage, the first slot machines start to tempt us….

Since our hotel did not have a restaurant, we were glad that the “Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas” is right next door. While enjoying bratwurst and liver cheese, we can savor the Bavarian-piefkinesisch-American “Gemutlichkeit.”

By the way: we are not here for the casinos and shows—the only reason is to pick up our motorhome the next day.