Napa Valley Wine Train involved in crash with stretch limo

The historic Napa Valley Wine Train was derailed after it crashed into a stretch limousine near St. Helena on Sunday (8 October) afternoon.

The Napa Valley Wine Train. Photo: winetrain.com

The crash took place at 12:44pm in front of V. Sattui Winery at 1111 White Lane facing Highway 29, according to the California Highway Police. Authorities reported that both Napa Valley Railroad Police and CHP officers attended the scene.

In a statement, Rick Evanich, managing director of Napa Valley Wine Train, said that no-one was “seriously injured” in the collision.

The 40ft stretch limo suffered minor damage to its side after it appeared to have got stuck on the rail tracks.

The train, which typically makes two runs per day along the 36-mile round trip between Napa and St. Helena, has a maximum speed of 25mph.

According to the winetrain.com, the majority of the coaches on the Napa Valley Wine Train were built in 1915 by the Pullman Standard Company as first­ class coaches for the Northern Pacific Railway for use on the North Coast Limited and the Northern Pacific Atlantic Express.

The wine train has a capacity of 370 passengers and takes wine tourists on a three-hour round trip passing many famous wineries on route.

Evanich continued: “The well-being of our guests and the community is always our top priority and we are very proud of our safety record”.

An investigation by the Napa Valley Railroad Police is now underway following the crash.

One Twitter user, Brandyn Harris, tweeted a video of the incident as he drove past. In a comment, he said: “Thankfully no one appeared to be injured and emergency resources were deployed quickly by Rutherford and Napa County”.

Check out this in person video of the Napa Valley wine train that collided with a wine tasting van. #napavalleyfd pic.twitter.com/nhlZZ6ax1e

— Brandyn Harris (@brandynharris) October 8, 2017