When “Wheel of Fortune” Went On A Whistle-Stop Train Tour

Presidential and other candidates are not the only ones to conduct whistle-stop train tours. 

One example is when Pat Sajak and Vanna White went on the “Wheel of Fortune  Express” train tour on the East Coast in 1987.

The whistle-stop tour was billed as a way for the game show hosts to see the “real world,” according to representatives of the syndicated show. Sajak and White took a two-day whistle-stop tour from Miami to Washington, DC to promote and publicize the syndicated television show.  

Hundreds of fans waited for as long as two hours for the train to arrive at their local train depot. “People waving placards, shouting greetings and offering gifts converged at the 33 stops to let host Sajak and letter-turner White know their love of the most popular game show on television,” Gannett News Service reported. 

“The pair took the hectic two days in stride, not only speaking briefly to the crowds but also fielding questions from the TV, radio, and newspaper crews boarding the train at each stop,” according to the news organization.

Source: Lane Crockett, Gannett News Service, “‘Wheel of Fortune’ Train Tour Strikes Happy Chord With Fans,” Jackson Sun, February 18, 1987, 23