Okay, this isn’t about wine.  But it is an incredibly fun activity in Gold Country, especially if you have kids or a fascination with trains.

The Placerville & Sacramento Valley Rail Road, celebrates 150 years in operation this year.  The volunteer organization that maintains the rail road offers train rides on the weekends.  They operate out of Shingle Springs and Folsom, so check their schedule to see where they’ll be on which weekend.  The schedule is here.  They will be at the “Hampton Station” at 155 Placerville Road in Folsom on Father’s day offering train rides from 11am to 5pm.  The rides are about 45 minutes and leave the station every hour on the hour.  Cost is $10 for adults and $7 for children.  The route is from the station to the El Dorado County line and back.

The Hampton Station is behind the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel at the Bidwell/Scott Road exit off of Highway 50.  There is no station building, but look for their tent.

We ran into these good folks recently and had a wonderful time talking about the rail road and their volunteer efforts to keep up the rail line.  They are a really passionate group and I can’t wait to get up there and take a ride.  You can friend them on FaceBook, too.