All Aboard Travel Town’s Santa Claus Express

Griffith Park’s Travel Town — long a favorite spot of Blogger Preschooler’s — continues its train ride to Santa through Dec. 23 (weather permitting).

Sunday night was one of the chilliest nights of the year — and it made the whole “train to North Pole” experience feel that much more real. On the down side, it was cold. And because Santa takes time to talk with each child, we remained in the slow-moving line for at least 45 minutes.

Still, Evan got a kick out of the nighttime train ride, and we got a decent pic of him on Santa’s knee.

Travel Town’s Train to Santa takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night from now until Dec. 23; tix are $7 per person (kids under 18 mos. are free). Also, you can take your own photos, or spend $5 for one of theirs.

After visit, Santa hands kids a candy cane, and a ticket good for a free ride on the Travel Town railroad in the new year.

A few more shots:

Although 25 Now Confirmed Dead, Metrolink Disaster Remains a Local Story

Time to once again rate the front pages. Two days after the Friday evening Metrolink disaster, 25 people are now confirmed dead — and the story rightfully still dominates the headlines in the region’s newspapers. But if you pull back and look at the rest of the country, it’s Hurricane Ike that’s dominating coverage. Actually, that’s even true in the rest of California. The Metrolink tragedy doesn’t even warrant a front page mention in the San Francisco Chronicle, strangely enough. (Perhaps because it’s day two… but with so much news coming out on Saturday about what might have happened, you’d think SF readers would be interested enough for it to warrant a tiny mention on P1).

Above, for a second day, the LA Times goes with a powerful image of the destruction of the Metrolink train. The Daily News, however, opts to go with a dull shot of… the train tracks. This picture doesn’t convey any of the tragedy or even make you pay attention. Quite a dull choice. And that headline? “Point of No Return” — really, we gotta go with a cheesy cliche this soon?

The Bakersfield Californian asks the question on everyone’s mind: Why didn’t the engineer stop? It’s quite a busy front page — kudos for managing to get a regional, national and local story all out there, but with so many refers it’s impossible to count, and even an ad, it’s a mess. Meanwhile, I’m surprised that La Opinion — with its snappy headline — put the actual story inside.

The Santa Barbara News-Press may be a mess behind the scenes, but they at least can put together a smart-looking front page. The Ventura County Star goes the most emotional of the bunch — a shot of LAPD officers saluting their fallen comrade, combined with a list of the 25 who died. (I would have expected the Daily News to go this route.)

The Daily Breeze, interestingly, plays up the USC game bigger than any other local paper — and in a way, provides a nice, upbeat contrast to the pics of destruction also on the page. I approve — good way to provide some relief. And then there’s the Orange County Register… which I guess figured the San Fernando Valley isn’t local enough for them. 

All Aboard The Griffith Park Express

Thankfully, all of the recent Griffith Park fires haven’t impacted the locale’s kid-friendly attractions (although this most recent one came close to Travel Town).

We frequently find ourselves at Travel Town, where a ride on the mini train around the attraction is standard. But to tell you the truth, the Griffith Park & Southern Railroad, located in the south part of the park (near the Los Feliz entrance) offers the better ride.

Both are operated by the same entity… but while the Travel Town locomotive just does a simple two loops around the attraction, the Griffith Park & Southern takes a more scenic track — going over a bridge, passing by two crossings, looping past the busy street and going by a few simply constructed town facades.

A few pics from our recent visit:

The Griffith Park train has been in operation for 50 years. It’s open at 10 a.m. virtually every day; tickets are $2.50 each (babies under 19 months are free).

You Tube: Your New Babysitter

It’s not the most exciting YouTube video in the world — “miscellaneous freight trains at the river Rhine (right bank) near Bad Honnef, Rheinbreitbach and Linz (Germany)” — but for a 3-year-old, it’s must-see-TV.

Turns out YouTube is chock full of homemade videos of trains crossing intersections, airplanes taking off from runways and garbage trucks tossing cans full of trash into the back. Now that Evan — the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler — knows they’re there, he’s constantly demanding YouTube time. Get in line, kid, there’s blogging to be done first.

Still, it’s coming in handy during those early morning hours when Mommy and Daddy need a few more minutes of shut-eye. Of course, I worry that he’s one click away from a video that isn’t quite as innocent as the one above. But for now, YouTube is his new BFF.

You Tube: Your New Babysitter

It’s not the most exciting YouTube video in the world — “miscellaneous freight trains at the river Rhine (right bank) near Bad Honnef, Rheinbreitbach and Linz (Germany)” — but for a 3-year-old, it’s must-see-TV.

Turns out YouTube is chock full of homemade videos of trains crossing intersections, airplanes taking off from runways and garbage trucks tossing cans full of trash into the back. Now that Evan — the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler — knows they’re there, he’s constantly demanding YouTube time. Get in line, kid, there’s blogging to be done first.

Still, it’s coming in handy during those early morning hours when Mommy and Daddy need a few more minutes of shut-eye. Of course, I worry that he’s one click away from a video that isn’t quite as innocent as the one above. But for now, YouTube is his new BFF.

Rendezvous at Union Station

It all started with a plain, Manila envelope, complete with old-fashioned, typewritten label. “What is this?” Maria asked, a tad concerned.

Inside, a letter from “Deputy Chief of Police W.H. Parker,” dated June 1, 1949 and on City of Los Angeles stationery (Fletcher Bowron, mayor. Phone number MIchigan 5211.), suggested that we help apprehend a criminal at Union Station. An enclosed invitation from Southern Pacific Lines also invited us to the inauguration of their newest Pullman Club-Lounge car, the Overland Trail.

A third piece of information detailed the State Prison of Southern Michigan escapee: A Detroit farm laborer who looked suspiciously like historic preservationist — and Los Angeles magazine associate editor — Chris Nichols.

Of course, Chris emailed us a few days ago to get our address, so it didn’t actually take us long to figure it out. But nonetheless, with an invite this cool and this elaborate, it called for a baby sitter. We were heading to Union Station — yep, the scene of our wedding more than five years ago — to help celebrate Chris’ birthday.

We actually didn’t finally commit to doing so until the day of the party. (Getting a sitter is such an ordeal, we hemmed and hawed until finally deciding we should.) As a result, we didn’t have any time to find actual 1940s style wear, as the invite subtly suggested. I wound up wearing a suit, and Maria a nice dress, and I think we did OK.

Whatta well thought-out party. We parked at the MTA tower and walked behind Union Station and up a ramp, past the Mosaic apartments and the old Post Office building to find several old, lovingly restored Pullman cars. Turns out there are several private railcars parked near Union Station and available to be rented for events, including the Overland Trail.

Classic cars greeted us, and we were soon walking between parked Pullman train cars, and eventually found ourselves in line for…

… Philippe’s dip sandwiches. Damn, I told you Chris thought of everything. As you may have read, I’ve been jonesing for a Philippe’s lately — so how perfect was this?

The Overland Trail was crowded with folk, mostly in the proper 1940s wear. Someone chastised me for using a digital camera — not quite in the spirit of the era. But I saw plenty of people taking cell cam shots, so I was pretty discreet in comparison.

Highlights on the Overland included an actual barber cutting hair in the train’s mini barber shop. Gotta wonder how many bloody nicks and scratches resulted from actual on-board train haircuts through the years.

Meanwhile, the other rental train car, the Tioga Pass, was once a sleeper car. Among the highlights:

Bunk beds! and

Shower!

Thanks to Chris for the invite. We had an awesome time, and even ran into a few familiar faces, including Eating L.A.’s (and oh yeah, Variety’s) Pat Saperstein.