ABOARD THE SILVER SPLENDOR (AP) — For a lucky fellowship of fans, Comic-Con is beginning early on a private train car trekking to the pop-culture convention.
The fan-centric social networking site Wikia picked 30 users to board a private vintage carriage transformed into the Wikia Fan Express, a special expedition Wednesday from Los Angeles to San Diego that included an assortment of unique on-board entertainment, including special sneak peeks and Q&A sessions.
“Comic-Con is supposed to be all about the fans, so what cooler way to get some of our fans to the show than to take them on this really beautiful train car,” said Wikia entertainment programming director Eric Moro while perched underneath the car’s domed glass ceiling. “The fact that we’re not only taking this really cool train to Comic-Con, but we’ve got all this great content to show them along the way is awesome.”
The Wikia-sponsored railway journey, which served as the caboose to a standard Amtrak train, included a preview of the upcoming video game “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor,” a sneak peak at the fantasy-meets-reality TV series “The Quest” and a demonstration of Wikia’s new interactive mapping feature, which allows users to collaboratively annotate maps of both real and fictional places like Middle-earth.