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Letter From Your Host My name is Todd Clark and I am your host. You might be wondering who is Coast Rail and how long have we been doing train excursions. I will take this time to tell you about us and our history. In 1997 I started a popular railroad enthusiast web site named Trainorders.com. This site quickly grew into the most popular train hobby site on the internet. Currently we have over 5000 members and we are still growing. One thing about being a railroad enthusiast is you learn a lot about railroading and the way things use to be. My interest in passenger trains really sparked in 1998 when I produced a documentary about the famous California Zephyr passenger train that operated between Chicago and Oakland until 1970 when huge operating losses led to its discontinuance. In May of the following year I operated an excursion aboard two privately owned passenger cars between Los Angeles and Oakland for members of my web site. My wife who had previous culinary experience prepared a prime rib dinner aboard the train while friends helped with service. The passengers were ecstatic with our effort and according to an exit survey, 100% of our passengers were more than satisfied with the trip. Over the next year we conducted additional train excursions, with each one picking up new passengers along with repeat passengers from previous trips. Word started getting out about our trips and each excursion brought us more business. On our last excursion we had a reporter for a major newspaper onboard who appeared to be more than impressed with excursion. (Look for the story in the Los Angeles Times this October) Wherever we go, we receive attention. On one trip a radio reporter in San Luis Obispo happened to notice our rather unique train. I ended up giving him a ride and he was amazed at our special train. His eyes grew wider and wider as he toured our special train marveling at the site of the unique passenger cars and at my hard working crew preparing dinner for the evening. We are quite an oddity in this age of big impersonal mediocre style resorts and sea cruises that are common in vacation offerings. On our train you will find my family hard at work from my wife in the kitchen to my 8 year old son helping with cleanup. It is very much a family affair and we treat our passengers as we would guests in our home. You will find our trips are well organized and well executed. We do not overload our train and we only choose the finest hotel properties. So far nearly all of our trips have been sold out. Putting these trips together requires weeks of preparation and planning so that we can assure that you will have a memorable experience. Many of our passengers are repeat customers, coming back again and again. We pride ourselves on offering incredible meals. Passengers have rated our food service on previous trips as the highlight of their travel with us. We only use the highest quality ingredients. This means choice grade beef, freshly made pasta as opposed to dried, fresh vegetables, and homemade desserts. We go the extra mile! On a recent trip we arranged for delivery of freshly picked strawberries to the train in Oxnard and Salinas for strawberry shortcake served a few hours later. In closing I hope you decide to ride with us. We only offer a handful of trips each year to ensure a high quality standard. Someday this opportunity may pass away just like the rest of the streamliner did over 30 years ago. Don't let the train leave without you. Todd Clark |