Revelers spread holiday cheer along the tracks
At the end of a long week of work with a long weekend of holiday
preparations ahead for many, riders of Caltrain 158 were treated to
a little bit of fun before the new year.
As the silver train made its way along the tracks from Redwood
City to Gilroy, a four-piece band in Santa hats greeted riders who
boarded the last car with holiday melodies.
Revelers spread holiday cheer along the tracks
At the end of a long week of work with a long weekend of holiday preparations ahead for many, riders of Caltrain 158 were treated to a little bit of fun before the new year.
As the silver train made its way along the tracks from Redwood City to Gilroy, a four-piece band in Santa hats greeted riders who boarded the last car with holiday melodies.
“It’s fun to see the reaction of people when the band is playing on the train,” said Greg Birnie, a long-time rider.
The Internationals, a world-traveled band from the Bay Area, has made the trek from Redwood City to entertain train regulars four years in a row. The holiday event started in 2002, when Caltrain commuter Steve McGinnis talked to the other band members about hopping on the train for some Christmas caroling.
“We are always interested in playing in unusual situations and places, so we were all interested,” said Portor Goltz, the drummer for the band and a lawyer for the county of San Mateo.
When passengers boarded the last car of train 158, accordion player Bob Maggiora, horn connoisseur Jan Meere, as well as McGinnis greeted them with his golden tuba and Goltz with a drum strapped around his shoulders. Pal Frank Kibbish Jr. who plays with the musicians in the Chico Bavarian Band, a 20-plus brass band they formed in college, joined in on the clarinet.
“We were all into it. And usually anything involving Stevie usually includes a lot of booze and food,” Goltz joked.
The Internationals have managed to keep their four-piece band together since they were students at California State University, Chico more than 30 years ago.
“Usually when we do this, we take the morning off and play at different locations,” Goltz said.
The band caroled at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the San Mateo County district attorney’s offices and a few other places before they headed to the Redwood City train platform.
“It’s all very easy-going, except for once when we ran out of beer,” Goltz said.
Passengers crowded themselves towards the back of the car to make room for an ice chest full of beer and several bottles of wine. Trays of crackers and lunchmeat, shrimp platters and sushi, along with other edible treats took over the first row of seats. Brandee Aragaki, a probation officer for San Mateo County, poured glasses of red or white wine on request and handed them back to passengers on the crowded train.
“We spend more time together on the train sometimes than with our spouses,” said Gary Rundle, a regular rider who lives in Gilroy.
“We have train wives and husbands,” he joked.
Rundle, who rides from San Martin to Menlo Park each day, helped organize the event with McGinnis. The party guests included former train commuters, current regulars and one-time riders who just happened to step onto the last car to the sound of Christmas carols.
“It’s a gathering of old friends. We miss each other,” Rundle said.
The annual holiday party is the remnant of a once-weekly party started by Birnie and McGinnis when Union Pacific started a construction project on the tracks south of the San Jose Diridon station, adding nearly an hour to the commute from there to Gilroy.
“When they were working on the tracks, it was taking so long to get home, we decided to get some food and stuff,” Birnie said.
The group started with six or eight regular riders bringing a tray of cheese and crackers and a bottle wine to share once a week during the extra hour they were on the train.
“Once it started, we got to know more people,” Birnie said.
After the construction crews completed work on the tracks, the Thursday night tradition continued. Sam Maliniak joined the group a few years ago after he heard the band playing on the train.
“I was riding the train, on the top level, minding my own business,” he said. “The band was playing on the train and I decided to come down to listen to the music and Greg [Birnie] handed me a beer.”
Maliniak, an Aromas resident, became a Thursday-night regular. He picked up tri-tip dinners for the group or a platter of ribs from Armadillo Willy’s each week to share with his newfound friends.
“It’s just the camaraderie,” said Maliniak, who no longer rides the train regularly, but made a special trip for the holiday party. “It’s a great group of people.”
The group of merry-makers stays in the good graces of the train conductors by keeping the train clean before they exit it after their parties.
“We are fine with it,” said Jorge Salinas, who has been a train conductor with Caltrain for six years . “We know most of the people because they are regular customers.”
In the last few years, the weekly party has fallen to the wayside.
“It fizzled out because of scheduling issues, whether it was work schedules or train schedule changes,” Birnie said.
But once a year, the group still gathers for a reminiscent ride home, some holiday cheer and a drink with old friends.
