A Dragon is in the Valley
The Founding of the Napa Valley Wine Train
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In 1983, Southern Pacific Railroad decided that, in the chill of declining freight business, the Napa short line that was being used for transporting wine, should be abandoned. At that precise time in history and urged on by a friend, Dr. Alvin Lee Block called Southern Pacific, representing himself as a potential purchaser of rights to the valley rail line. Thus began a series of meetings and discussions with the railroad that culminated in the formation by Dr. Block of a tiny investor group. Their coming together was paradoxical since they had absolutely no experience with railroads, minimal knowledge of them, little money, conflicting personalities, and significantly different motives.
But over the next four year, the mystique and romance of the train mushroomed, exerting on our small band an irresistible, magnetic pull, its influence so powerful that we found ourselves continually and spontaneously brainstorming, dreaming and planning. It was a heady time, with countless meetings, strange management lapses by Southern Pacific, dramatic encounters with strong, colorful personalities, and frustrating dealings with a panoply of corporate, city, county, state, and national bureaucracies.
In the literature and mythology of every age, there are dragons, some good, wise, and benevolent, some evil, to be slain. For the child in all of us, it was the primitive sight of that huge, powerful mechanical beast that fascinated us....headlights like glaring eyes, engine looming like a giant head, body and tail snaking along behind, bearing down on us belching smoke, bellowing frightening noises. In the mind's eye, it was a dragon! And, as fate would have it, the Napa Valley Wine Train was born into this same climate of battle between these two mythic images: the evil dragon destined to destroy the valley and the helpful dragon that would cast a spell of beauty and romance.
But finally and miraculously, in 1986, with total and utter defeat imminent, the final peg in the Napa Valley Wine Train story miraculously fell into place. An investor was found, hurdles were overcome, the train was rescued and, contrary to all expectations, began its run through the valley. The project was impressive in scope and size, confronted with endless obstacles, and destined for failure from the outset. It was clearly a project that never should have succeeded....but it did!
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About the Book
The Napa Valley Wine Train is a major attraction for both visitors and residents alike in the world famous home of great wine in the United States, The Napa Valley. This book reproduces Dr. Block's original, unmodified notes from 1983 through 1986, containing his memories of those tumultuous days when a small, unlikely band of people managed to “lay the tracks” for what later, in the hands of Vince and Mildred DeDomenico, became the sleek and elegant train now internationally famed. In September 2009, the Wine Train celebrated its 20
About the Author
Dr. Alvin Lee Block is a physician who, for fifty years, practiced Internal Medicine and Hematology in the Napa Valley. He is also an attorney, a member of the California Bar, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine. He settled in Napa California in 1960 where his three sons were born and where he now lives with his wife Moira J. Block