Platform | Observation Parlor | Guest Room | Beebe Room | Bath | Clegg Room |
Dining Room | Virtual 180° Dining Room View |
Galley | Crew's Hall | Crew's Quarters | Vestibule | Meet the Staff

Wade Pellizzer, President and Chairman of the Board, and Chief Mechanical Officer 

Original purchaser of the private rail car, The Virginia City in 1984, and founder of the Virginia City Rail Corporation in 1985. Wade's primary roll has been to provide leadership, mechanical expertise, and probably most of all, monetary subsidies for this corporation.

Among his most important achievements include the complete upgrading and rewiring of the car to meet current Amtrak standards; the complete teardown and rebuilding of both sets of the car's trucks (wheel sets); restoration of the parlor to its original opulence (circa 1955); ongoing restoration of the car's opulent dining room including the disassembly, cleaning and restringing of the dining room chandelier; the installation of four state-of-the-art Microphor toilets and holding tank; and the recent replacement of the car's water tank increasing the car's capacity from 150 gallons to 300; the replacement of the car's water heater from a Propane-type to a state-of-the-art electrical system; and finally, the discovery and return of the bedroom doors to their mahogany and walnut magnificence! None of these tasks would have been possible without the help of several key friends, and we will acknowledge them later.

Currently, Wade is retired (as of July 2001) from Ray L. Hellwig Mechanical, where he worked for ten years. Wade was responsible for running various construction jobs for the high tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially Silicon Valley.

Wade is also very active in the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, and has served since 1997, as its past Vice President as well as member at large. He has recently made himself available to accompany other private cars as a Mechanical Officer, and has found himself to be in great demand by car owners wishing to insure the proper performance of their cars.

Among his hobbies are modeling the motive power and rolling stock of the Southern Pacific Railroad, collecting rare books on railroads and railroading, and reading. Wade currently lives in Redwood City, California, with his wife of thirteen years, Julia. They own two cats: Lehigh, a gray and white female; and Professor Einstein, a red and white male tabby. Both are indoor cats and have been spayed or neutered.

Julia Pellizzer, Corporate Vice President

After working as chef for The Virginia City from 1996 to 2000, Julia has retired from this part of the business. She now occupies her time with the promotion aspects of the charter business, and is very active in managing the day-to-day activities of the business. Additionally she still continues to produce our newsletter, and acts as marketing and sales director, public information officer, railroad operations liaison, and commissary and catering manager. She also handles the invoicing of clients for the corporation's shop facility.

Among her recent achievements is the establishment of a database that documents all of the car's pantry items, bar and kitchen tools, as well as the car's linens. This allows the car's chef and steward to be able to to request specific tools and supplies for their trips, and results in less "overbuy" for our clients. By utilizing this database, we can operate the car in an uncluttered condition for optimum efficiency!

Like Wade, Julia has also become very involved with the American Association of Private Railcar Owners, and is head of their Charter Referral Committee. Among her responsibilities is the production of the annual Private Car Charter Referral Guide, which is a compendium of approximately 50 private cars that are available for charter throughout the United States. She has also served as a co-chair of AAPRCO's Web Committee, and has helped to develop and promote the association's website.

Julia's spare time is occupied by her garden in which she raises organically grown heirloom vegetables. Many of these rare and scrumptious taste treats are featured on the car, as they are some of the best organic produce available! She has also planted an orchard in the back yard with Wade's help which features apple, peach, nectarine, apricot and pear trees as well as a lime and lemon bush.

As for her other hobbies, she enjoys walking, camping, reading, knitting and cooking! Recently her love of local history has led her to become involved in her hometown of Redwood City as a member of the Historical Resources Committee.