Redwood Valley Railway

When we moved onto Magnolia St. in 1967, one of the neighbors, Mrs. Thompson, dropped by, introduced herself and gave us tickets to ride the Redwood Valley Railway. I confess to being a bit bewildered as I had no idea what this was, but we soon discovered that in Tilden Regional Park, a short drive from our house, was an entire small gauge railway with steam trains, correct in every detail, built by her husband a retired engineer for the Santa Fe Railway.

Even in those days, riding the "little train" was a simple, old-fashioned experience and is still beloved by children of all ages. (Note the age of the engineer, who was clearly loving his job telling kids and parents about the train and letting the kids ring the bell.) We have taken all our children, all our grandchildren, and countless visitors for this 10 minute trip through the past. I thoroughly enjoyed a few minutes of redwood scented air as I waited in the sun for the train to appear around the bend and draw into the station. No video games or "devices" to be seen among the families waiting with me.

Mr. Thompson died many years ago, but his daughter still lives across the street, still runs the Redwood Valley Railway, with the help of many volunteers, and was sitting in the ticket booth today when I dropped by to see if I could get a picture. I also ran into another neighbor, who sells tickets a few days a week, and took me through the 'workshop" where new engines are built and older ones are repaired. My favorite thing in this delightfully cluttered space was a newspaper article with a picture of Mr. Thompson standing in his driveway across the street next to his very first engine which he built in his garage. They had to take the door off the garage to roll it out.

Tomorrow we load Ozzie and a few pairs of shorts and t-shirts, along with a hefty bag of paella supplies from the Spanish Table, in the car for a trip to Southern California to visit my brother, who specializes in paella on the barbecue.