Santa Maria Valley Railroad's first-ever Customer Appreciation Lunch Special and Dinner Train Excursion on Nov. 9 aboard the former California Zephyr private railcar Silver Lariat were a big success, according to its new owners.

More than 30 railroad freight customers were served lunch prepared aboard the Silver Lariat and had a rare chance to tour the railroad's main line from Santa Maria and Guadalupe.

Representatives from Union Pacific Railroad and the Santa Maria Valley Railroad maintenance of way crew also attended the event.

Later that night, 47 customers boarded the Silver Lariat for a night of gourmet dining as the railroad operated a rare night train, which sold out within weeks even though it wasn't advertised, a company spokesman said.

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad has preliminary plans for a dinner train in spring 2007 and is looking to form alliances or partnerships to continue the dinner trains on a regular basis.

Long-term plans include wine trains, murder mystery dinner trains and holiday dinner trains, the spokesman said.

The Vista-dome Silver Lariat was built in 1948 for use on the famed California Zephyr passenger train. Current owners Al Bishop and Burt Hermey purchased the Silver Lariat from Amtrak in 1985 and restored the car to its full 1948 splendor.

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It is one of the top private cars to charter and is frequently chartered by top executives from Union Pacific Railroad, the spokesman said.

For more information, contact Rob Himoto, president of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad Co., at 922-7941 or

rhimoto@smvrr.com.

Nov. 24, 2006