As mentioned in the November newsletter, the East County Tour on November 22, 1997 offered two options: a leisurely drive to the Campo Train Museum and back, or the opportunity to board and ride the train itself to Tecate, Mexico for the day. I chose the latter, hoping for additional thrills beyond driving the 122 for it's longest drive yet (eyes barely leaving the temperature gauge for the entire trip, heater on full blast to lower the needle). So far so good.

Unfortunately, the train was a diesel model and not the hoped-for steam locomotive. It seems there is a fire hazard from the locomotive and California firefighters won't assume the risk south of the border. So the telltale sound of the steam train was absent, although the historic train cars, whistles and ambiance of the train cars helped to soften the blow. The conductors and other train staff, all volunteers, were in period costume and full of train trivia for history buffs.

The train ride itself was short but scenic, winding down through the back country and through dark tunnels as we poked along at a leisurely 10 mph or so. It didn't take long to realize we were south of the border once we passed the fringes of Tecate. Tecate is much smaller, sleepier and a bit friendlier than its big sister, Tijuana. Most people seemed glad to see us and waved as we came through Policia on motorcycles sped ahead of the train several times to block traffic as we lumbered along. The kids, especially, seemed to be enamored with the arrival of the train, obviously a special event.

Once in town we had about 2 1/2 hours on our own for lunch and shopping, plus a free ticket for a beer at the Tecate brewery. We were sad to hear that the brewery was closed for renovations so there were no tours available. They made up for it by filling our glasses as often as we liked. So we had to make the best of it!

Tecate has about 15 restaurants, most of them very casual and characteristically Mexican. We selected an outdoor cafe on the Plaza and gorged on excellent combination plates, as we sat and watched the locals observing the tourists. Afterwards, we sampled the treats at the local bakery and stocked up for the ride home.

We arrived back in Campo about 4:00 pm, and were offered the opportunity for a guided tour of the rail yard and repair shops, and we got to see lots of restoration projects in various states of completion. Kind of like my garage