"I've always wanted to do that!" -Doc Brown, BTTF3

October 2, 2010 Saturday

We wake early from a most icky hotel and depart quickly! Vrrroooom! We are only one hour from Jamestown; the drive takes us past peach, olive and almond groves. Jamestown is a
beautiful old town; we spend some time walking about admiring the architecture. There's even an antique store named 'Time Travelers.' Now to make our way to Historic State Park: Railtown 1897. Fans meet us as we pull into the parking lot. Jesse, a BTTF III expert, is there to great us in his BTTF t-shirt! I think he’s more excited to see us than anyone else could possibly be! We meet George Sapp, the engineer and he shows us where we should park. George has been here since they filmed Back to the Future, the longest of anyone. Bill a park volunteer shows us around some of the BTTF movie props and shares his knowledge and secrets with Jesse filling in any blanks. We ride the Armstrong, a huge turntable that the engines spin on when they come out of the round house. It was called the Armstrong because back in the day it was human strength that pushed it, now it’s air powered.

It takes about 3 hours of work for the locomotive to get warmed up and prepared to move. We watch in awe as Sierra # 3 comes out of her holding area, spins on the turntable and takes her position on the rail with the little red caboose and our D front and center. What a great picture they've prepared. We start helping folks make donations and take pictures of the car. Jim and John, (local reporters and fans of the movie) do a quick interview.

Gayle and Geoffrey, who we met in Danville at the car show, come by to say Hello. They have brought friends, Karen, Dennis and Marty. Marty is a Railtown volunteer and he takes us on a backside tour of the park. Marty shows us how the engines work, how they hand make tools, how the belts and pullies powered the bigger tools. Took us onto an old private car that was built special for Mr. Crocker the local banker, no relation to Betty. He even has the keys to Clara’s car. The one Clara stops when she realizes that she loves Doc! Universal reupholstered the seats with crushed purple velvet and gave the train car a nice facelift. It's normally not open to the public, but we get a moment to pretend we're back in time with Clara on the train!

There’s a Hollywood little red caboose made especially for the scene where Marty (Michael J Fox) jumps from his horse onto the back of the train near the end of part III. It's just a partial caboose facade, and it was placed on a flat truck on the tracks for the stunt work. It’s all so wonderful and I hope I’ve taken enough photos to capture some of the magic.

Another film crew has arrived and they set up to interview us. They are producing a documentary about DeLorean Time Machines and their owners. Sam Maccarone, Chapin Wilson and friend Jim. Very nice people and we are happy to be part of their movie.

Now it’s time for the moment we've been waiting for! To ride the train! Sierra #3 is readied and we board, greeted by a smiling volunteer and a cold bottle of sparkling Apple Cider. The train 'toot toots' and we are off down the rail. We are given a history of the train and tracks by John who is married to the lovely popcorn lady and has ridden the rails for over 12 years. There are cookies to enjoy as we roll on down the line. The ride is wonderful and we are let off to take pictures as the train does a fly by! We board again for the last leg of the trip, enjoying every second of the ride. This engine is called the ‘movie star locomotive’, because it has been seen in more tv shows and Hollywood films than any other, -including Back to the Future 3! (For the movie, they 'decorated' the train with a wood burning smoke stack shape, and added numbers on either side to read '131'.) It underwent an entire restoration and was out of commission for over 14 years. This year the star was ‘reborn’, and #3 was put back into limited operation the first weekend of the July, August, September, and October. (Only 8 days, and we were lucky enough to be there on one of them!) After everyone disembarks, we have a moment riding on the locomotive herself with the engineer! We're given the drivers seat and Oli pulls the whistle rope, just like Doc Brown!
It could not have been more exciting and emotional. A perfect day! To return the favor, we offer rides in the time machine to all the workers. As if to put an exclamation point on the dream-like day, the sky starts to darken in the distance with a slice of sun cutting through -and a rainbow appears. Returning from the final time-trip with a passenger, the car's engine suddenly dies in the parking lot. Oli turns off the headlights, stereo, effects lights and A/C. Michael Bispo, the engineer that took us for the ride on #3, jumps off our battery and we thank him for saving the day! (We had been running the display lights for a long time without any assistance of an outlet, and the battery just couldn’t recoup. And the day has flown; we realize we missed some of the park, so it is decided that we will stay the night in town (there are a couple of old bed and breakfasts, after all).

We get a room at the Jamestown Hotel (a beautiful 1800’s structure). A big boxer-dog meets us at check-in. Andie is the owner and the dog is her best friend; follows her everywhere. She allows us to plug the car in overnight, so the battery will be fresh and ready to go in the morning. The hotel is quite historic. Has burned down several times, changed hands even more, and was even once used as a hospital for injured gold miners.

The rooms are very comfortable and have private baths. Antique pull-cord toilets and clawfoot tubs with brass hardware. And the water pressure is the best on the whole trip yet!

Now we are resting after a fine dinner at the National and prepare for Sunday. Still undecided if we go to Yosemite or Hearst Mansion. We’ll decide after breakfast.

Oliver’s note: I’m resting on my side of the bed while Terry blogs on hers. My back is turned to her. My eyes are closed, and my mind is slowly relaxing from a very active day. I listen to the muffled sounds of the live band playing downstairs and the rowdy laughter of the people in the bar. I imagine this is much like it must have been in the 1800’s, so the ambient sounds are more charming than a nuisance. Then something strange happened. I feel my side of the bed settle as if someone is gently walking on the mattress near my pillow. There are ‘movement sounds’ close to my head. I open one eye to see if Terry is standing by the bedside. Nothing. Everything is still.

So I dismiss it, perhaps my imagination, or a swimmy-headed effect from the heat of the day. A few seconds later, the mattress definitely settles again, pressing down, then up, with sounds of a presence near the bed; a strange sensation.

It gets really freaky when Terry says, ‘what’s going on over there?’, questioning my restlessness.

I have been as still as a stone. Completely silent and motionless the whole time.

The next morning at breakfast, we find that the hotel is haunted, and after discussing the occurrence, we agree that the ghost was just tucking me in!