Yup -- I rode that demo-PR Talgo train back in 1994.
Boarded in Oakland -- somewhere, I cannot remember
exactly where, but I do remember it was in the middle
of a street.

Remember -- this was before the internet, so we
railfans did not always know about special moves well
ahead of time. I do not know how I found out about this
PR-demo Talgo trip, but somehow I did. You had to have
a ticket to ride it, and tickets were free, but by the time
I found out about it, I also learned that all the tickets
were gone. Now I learned long ago (going to concerts
at UC Berkeley) that there are always a few "no-shows"
at every sold-out event, and that if you really wanted to
get in, you needed to go to where the event was well
ahead of time, and try to get a few seats the no-shows
weren't going to be able to use.

This worked very well for my son and me on this Talgo trip.
We got there about an hour before the train was supposed
to leave, and we got to use 2 of the no-shows' tickets.

But, because we were so late in getting the tickets,
all the seats in the Talgo train were gone, and we had
to ride in the 2 SP streamliner-era cars -- a coach
and a "French Quarter" lounge that used to run on the
"Sunset Limited". THAT was WONDERFUL -- getting a free
ride in those two beautiful cars! And, ohhhhh.... they rode
like a dream! Soooo smooth and sooo comfortable! And that
"French Quarter" car was beautiful, with black wrought-iron
panels and pink painted walls. (I think CSRM now has this car.)

I do remember the nice snacks we were served on the SP cars.
Then, when we got to Sacramento, my son and I were allowed to
ride in the Talgo cars. But the ride quality was very poor.
These Talgo cars had "passive pendulation", which means they
swung sideways every single time they ran over even the
slightest imperfection in the track, which was VERY annoying.
I have no idea at all WHY the Talgo designers chose to
have that passive pendulation, as it certainly gave the
cars a very poor ride quality, and did not allow higher
speeds around curves, as does the Swedish X2000 and its
later variants, which tilt when needed, and thus cut an hour
and a half off of a preciously 4-hour trip in Sweden. I never
got to ride in the X2000 equipment when it was over here back
in 1993. (I did get to ride in the German ICE train when it
was herre in 1993, San Francisco-San Jose, on the so-so
CalTrain tracks -- and THAT equipment rode VERY VERY well!)

Back to my ride on the Talgo train:
I remember seeing a lot of people trackside on the way back to
Oakland from Sacramento, almost as if we were being pulled by a
steam locomotive! The Talgo train DID create a lot of excitement!
(Methinks the SP must have done a really good job publicizing the
Talgo train's Oakland-Sacramento-Oakland trip. Kudos to them
for that!)

This was a really nice trip, and I do appreciate the SP doing it.
I think the Talgo sets now in use have a better ride quality.
I certainly hope they do!

Thank you, Southern Pacific, for that wonderful day!