Del Mar Racetrack Adventures...
We used to go to the races about once a year and just enjoy a day out in the crowds, ride the train, and kibitz for twelve hours straight. See the 2007 in a movie format! We have picture evidence for 2007 , 2008 , 2010, and 2011. We stopped going awaiting it to become "a new adventure" with people again!
It's August and the "De Lara Gang" is headed for Del Mar for an afternoon watching the horses and attempting to remove a lot of alcohol from circulation!
When Del Mar opened in 1937, Bing Crosby was at the gate to personally greet the fans. Today it was just Mike attempting to do the same!
In an era when horse racing ranked second in popularity with Americans to Major League Baseball, the match race was much written and talked about and was the first nationwide broadcast of a thoroughbred race by NBC radio.
In the race, Seabiscuit was ridden by jockey George Woolf and Ligaroti by Noel Richardson. In front of a record crowd that helped make the fledgling Del Mar race track a success,
Seabiscuit won an exciting battle by a nose. By 1940, Del Mar became the summer playground for many Hollywood stars. Today it is our play ground so lets get to playing. In 1946 Santa Fe Railroad began offering a racetrack special bringing spectators, bettors and horses to Del Mar from Los Angeles. That's our mode of transportation.
2007 Highlights!
Here are a few of our photos. Please see the departure from Fullerton train station , at the races , and coming home photos. Some of the participants also sent their Del Mar pictures ,
We caught the train at the Fullerton California station at 9:00 am
A little pre-alcohol breakfast seemed the right thing to do!
The ride was about two hours but it was relaxing to glide by the ocean at 60 miles an hour
We stopped for a light lunch before the heavy gambling began
Sue is almost in tears with the first class kibitzing going on all day!
Mike really did not do it (whatever it was)
The police knew that the DeLara's were in town so they stepped up the patrols!
The buss took us to the races and Mike & Margie
continued their careful supervision of the group!
We had to watch these two!
We made it back to "civilization" and had an enjoyable dinner at the train
station.
2008 Highlights !
It is exciting to stand on the loading area and watch a 2,000,000 pound train flash by at 60 miles and hour!
Did you know? - The trucks are the heaviest things on the train -- each one weighs 37,000 pounds (16,783 kg). The trucks do several jobs. They support the weight of the locomotive. They provide the propulsion, the suspensions and the braking. As you can imagine, they are tremendous structures. The traction motors provide propulsion power to the wheels. There is one on each axle. Each motor drives a small gear, which meshes with a larger gear on the axle shaft. This provides the gear reduction that allows the motor to drive the train at speeds of up to 110 mph.
We always enjoy dining at the Tidewater Tavern. Rick provided a load of entertainment.
Robin didn't win and we got entertained on the drive back to the train station.
Did you know? - We backed up all the way home! It always seems odd. Everybody is chilling out!
2010 Highlights !
Bunnaford and Tom joined the fun this year
It was a magnificent day for the races
2011 Highlights !
Let's get going
Come on horsey... Papa needs new shoes