FILLMORE : Dinner Trips Pick Up Steam for Train Firm

A Fillmore-based tourist train has scheduled an additional barbecue-dinner train trip after recent trips sold out.

The Fillmore & Western Railway offers trips that whisk passengers into the countryside for an evening of food and live music. Tickets, meal included, are $38.50 for adults and $31.50 for children ages 8 through 12. A hot-dog meal for children younger than 8 costs $10.

Like most of the tourist excursions offered by the railway, the dinner trips are an experiment, said Larry Jensen, the railway’s passenger traffic manager. The dinner trains have proved more popular than expected, he said. Four more will be offered, including the added date of Aug. 26.

The company makes most of its money by renting its trains to filmmakers for use in such movies as the new “A Walk in the Clouds” but wants to expand its passenger business. It has spent the year testing different events and rides to gauge interest.

Passengers take the train from downtown Fillmore to a clearing in the orange groves outside the city. There, they can feast on barbecue chicken and dance to a live country band before riding back into town.

Trains board at 5:45 p.m., depart at 6 and return at 9:30 p.m. Reservations are required for the remaining trips, scheduled for Aug. 26 and Sept. 2, 16 and 30. Call 524-2546 for reservations or more information.