Laborfest: Niles Canyon Steam Train & Films

All Aboard the Niles Canyon Steam Train with Films

The history of trains in Niles Canyon dates back to the building of the original transcontinental railroad. The first Western Pacific Railroad Company (formed in 1862) started construction in San Jose towards Sacramento. Steam locomotives pulled trains through Niles Canyon for eighty years before diesels took over in the 1950s. All trains have enclosed coaches, open cars, and covered open cars for your selection.

1:00 PM Meet at Niles Station - 37001 Mission Boulevard, Fremont
- you must arrive by no later than this time even with tickets already purchased.

Fares are $7 for children age 3 through 12 (Infants through age 2 ride free) $10 for Seniors age 62 and older, and $12 for everyone else.
Pacific Locomotive Association: 925-862-9063

Remember
√ Trains leave ON TIME
√ Seating is first-come, first-served
√ Trains run in any weather - dress appropriately

1:20 PM Train Ride (1.5 hour excursion)

After the train ride, make your way to the Edison Theater (home of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum,) located at 37417 Niles Boulevard, Fremont;
http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org
510-494-1411.
Train will be back to the Niles station by 3:00 PM

4:15 PM Special LaborFest free screening at the Edison Theater (Donation welcome)
Building the Twin Peaks Tunnel (19 min) 1918
The building of the Twin Peaks Tunnel was touted at the time as the longest municipal tunnel in the world. Shot by the Pathescope film company for the Baldwin and Howell Real Estate Company, and probably first shown in 1917, this film documents the construction of the tunnel and the clearing of Sutro Forest, as well as development of the West Portal, St. Francis Wood, and Westwood Park neighborhoods.

Direction from I-880 Fremont:
- Exit onto Mowry Ave. Fremont, Continue NE toward hills
- Turn left at the light at the end of Mowry onto Mission Blvd. Continue west to Sullivan Underpass, Turn left to the station parking lot

July 19 (Saturday)
Saturday Screening at the Edison Theater
6:00 p.m.
Bruder (Brother). (84 min.) 1927 Germany. Commissioned by Hamburg Transport Union.
Historical silent film, made by workers of historic 1896 Hamburg transport workers general strike. The film was banned and burned by the Nazi's and later rediscovered
in Soviet archives.

7:30 p.m.
By Man’s Law. United States. Biograph, 1913. Directed by Christy Cabanne.
Strike. Soviet Union, 1925. Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein.
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Notes of Interest: The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum was established in 2001 as a resource center for the history of Niles, for the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company western division, for pioneering film companies of the San Francisco Bay Area and for silent films in general. The Pacific Locomotive Association, http://www.ncry.org/,runs excursion train rides through Niles Canyon on the historic Niles Canyon Railway, transcontinental gateway to the San Francisco Bay.

Parking for Saturday and Sunday is available either at: 1) the depot parking lot, located at the corner of the Sullivan Underpass and Mission Boulevard; 2) the parking lot next to the Plaza on Niles Boulevard; 3) or street parking or the parking lot across from the Museum. The distance between the depot and the Museum is a short seven-minute walk.

Train Ride notes: you must arrive by no later than this time even with tickets already purchased. The train is VERY prompt and late arrivers will be treated as no-shows! Fares are $7 for children age 3 through 12 (Infants through age 2 ride free) $10 for Seniors age 62 and older, and $12 for everyone else. You can buy your tickets through the museum website. http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org

See also:
http://www.laborfest.net/2014/Documents/NileTrain-2014.htm
http://www.laborfest.net/