http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... lley_pubs/


The guide itself:
http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publicat ... 0FINAL.pdf



Now, note that they not only serve fresh cask ale on the train, but the booklet actually encourages riding the railway from village to village on the line in pursuit of--get this!--MORE drinking.

Now some of this is "apples and oranges", UK-versus-US. I struggle mightily to think of any excursion line in the U.S. or Canada that wanders through a preposterously picturesque countryside, hopping from quaint village to even more quaint village (think a David Winter Cottages theme park crossed with the countryside of "Last of the Summer Wine"), each with its own station, where an excursion train fulfils a transport role in addition to recreation. And aside from the obviously upscale "wine and dine" trains, I've only seen one excursion line that actively promoted an alcoholic-consumption-aboard event (Verde Canyon's "Rails and Ales" Oktoberfest). If you presented a proposal like this to most "legal consultants" for American museums, they would be killed by the cardiac arrests that would result, I speculate.

But the next time American rail preservationists wonder "why are there so many more/successful rail preservation projects in Britain?", I'm going to point them to this brochure........

Then you need to do more research.

Mt Rainier Scenic RR offers a wine tasting event, and we've previously done "Rails to Ales" events. I find it very hard to believe that only two operations do them.

http://www.mrsr.com/#!special-events/cpn1




We've also done a "Rails to Ales" event in the past, however I don't see it on this year's schedule of events.

Rio Grande Scenic: 7th Annual Rails and Ales earlier this year.
https://www.coloradotrain.com/beer-tasting-train.html

Colorado Railroad Museum: (granted, they can't offer much of a ride...)
http://www.coloradocraftbrews.com/golde ... ugust-9th/

Georgetown Loop: Ales on Rails Trains
http://georgetownlooprr.com/special-event-trains

Royal Gorge Route: Oktoberfest Train
https://www.royalgorgeroute.com/news/bo ... est-train/

That's just a few I quickly found in CO, certainly not an exhaustive listing!

Uh, what were you saying again? Sandy hasn't done his research?

I tend to discount a "once a year" or "once a season" train (like the Rio Grande Scenic train listed), but I'm happy to hear about a couple more that have expanded their offerings (the Verde Canyon started with, as I recall, only two weekends of trips several years ago, and has expanded to this year's runs every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October.)

Colorado is the home, legally and spiritually, of the Brewers Associationm, the national craft brewers alliance, and you have trouble throwing a stone or empty beer can and not hitting a microbrewery in that state [NOTE: hyperbole, not to be construed literally!], so I'm hardly surprised at their presence in the rail scene there. Many parts of Washington and Oregon have similar density of craft brewing. Suffice it to say that if Oregon were in Britain, there'd be an annual cask ale festival being held in the Brooklyn Roundhouse.......

Probably a lot of it is due to the widely available public transportation network in the UK. If they all had to drive long distances home from the beer and wine trains.....well, the situation would probably be a lot different over there as well. I'm working on an American version of the Tramcar Restaurant (Melbourne, Australia) which could happen in the next year or two, if all goes well.......we'll see if it flies and of so, how it works.

dave

McKinney Ave. Transit Authority in Dallas, Tex. has provided the
transportation part of some restaurant and bar crawling festivities,
but I can't imagine Real Texans drinking ale!
MATA does have a reputation of cooperating with the local businesses.

Nothing wrong with hoisting a few at the right time and place. Happens all the time. Just remember that Rule G still applies to the operating crew.

Also, the British have a grand tradition of walking/hiking, called "rambling". Anyone reading that pamphlet would think naught of walking a mile or two down the valley to the next village and pubs, and it would be its own recreation. Americans waste petrol trying to get six parking spaces closer to the door.

I'm racking my brain and flipping through my guidebooks trying to come up with a scenario even close to what the K&WV is in North America, and failing. To wit: Imagine the junction station has regular service trains stopping with a frequency that rivals some light-rail services in the States--every 20-30 minutes or so on weekdays. Imagine two major cities--Leeds (750K population, in Britain's top five) and Bradford (290K)--within 20 miles (25 minutes by train). Imagine a line five miles long--the length of the Strasburg or the EBT's operation--with a village at the one end and two more en route, each with shops, pretty houses, and pubs.

Can't imagine Real Texans drinking ale? Apparently, they drink plenty of it:

http://www.texasbrews.org/

The US will never be Europe, but there are a few 'beer trains'. Here are some listed on Fun Train Rides.

https://www.funtrainrides.com/special-e ... -rides.cfm

And the topic of the original post does one better:

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... y_Railway/

Miniature railways, miniature pubs!

http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Toast ... story.html

For a number of years now the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic has offered both wine and beer tasting trains.

Link: http://www.cvsr.com/grape-escape-ales-o ... excursions

Heck, the UK even has a beer that tastes like it came out of a steam locomotive!

Garsdale Smokebox: "The smoke flavour makes it difficult to pick out much else, but the creamy mouthfeel adds to the enjoyment. An ashy aftertaste leaves you splashed in ‘Eau de Gentleman’s Club’. A lovely smoked porter."