Rail Platform & MOW
Rutherford Railway Platform and Maintenance of Way equipment
This railroad platform lies in the Rutherford area of the Napa Valley, at the location of the Beaulieu Vineyard tasting room. We can see the Beaulieu stone buildings in the background. Although this structure is no longer in use, the rails are.
The railroad has a long history in Napa Valley, having been founded in 1864 by early California pioneer Samuel Brannan to shuttle visitors between the ferry boats that docked in Vallejo and the upvalley resort town of Calistoga. In 1885 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company purchased the line and operated it for the next 102 years. It was sold to the Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc. in 1987. The Napa Valley Wine Train runs from the City of Napa through the villages of Oakville and Rutherford on the same route that Sam Brannan’s original steam train ran on in the 1800s.
Above info from an article in the Napa Valley Register. Read the colorful and thoroughly entertaining tale here:
napavalleyregister.com/inv/lifestyles/sam-brannan-pioneer...
Beaulieu Vineyards, the story
“Quel Beaulieu” or “beautiful place” in French is what Fernande de Latour said when she saw the four-acre wheat farm her husband George bought for her in 1900. George decided to surprise his wife and the property in the heart of the Napa Valley in a small town called Rutherford, provided the perfect place. The Napa Valleys vineyards had been in the grips of the root louse phylloxera, but with Georges’ knowledge of phylloxera resistant rootstock, he helped rebuild not only his new operation, but the Napa Valley wine industry as well.
Thus was Beaulieu Vineyard established.
www.taylorandnorton.com/newsite/beaulieu_vineyards.htm
Further sources:
www.legendarynapavalley.com/index.cfm
nvmarketplace.wordpress.com/2006/09/29/history-article-oc...
Rail Platform & MOW
Rutherford Railway Platform and Maintenance of Way equipment
This railroad platform lies in the Rutherford area of the Napa Valley, at the location of the Beaulieu Vineyard tasting room. We can see the Beaulieu stone buildings in the background. Although this structure is no longer in use, the rails are.
The railroad has a long history in Napa Valley, having been founded in 1864 by early California pioneer Samuel Brannan to shuttle visitors between the ferry boats that docked in Vallejo and the upvalley resort town of Calistoga. In 1885 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company purchased the line and operated it for the next 102 years. It was sold to the Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc. in 1987. The Napa Valley Wine Train runs from the City of Napa through the villages of Oakville and Rutherford on the same route that Sam Brannan’s original steam train ran on in the 1800s.
Above info from an article in the Napa Valley Register. Read the colorful and thoroughly entertaining tale here:
napavalleyregister.com/inv/lifestyles/sam-brannan-pioneer...
Beaulieu Vineyards, the story
“Quel Beaulieu” or “beautiful place” in French is what Fernande de Latour said when she saw the four-acre wheat farm her husband George bought for her in 1900. George decided to surprise his wife and the property in the heart of the Napa Valley in a small town called Rutherford, provided the perfect place. The Napa Valleys vineyards had been in the grips of the root louse phylloxera, but with Georges’ knowledge of phylloxera resistant rootstock, he helped rebuild not only his new operation, but the Napa Valley wine industry as well.
Thus was Beaulieu Vineyard established.
www.taylorandnorton.com/newsite/beaulieu_vineyards.htm
Further sources:
www.legendarynapavalley.com/index.cfm
nvmarketplace.wordpress.com/2006/09/29/history-article-oc...