The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad is a narrow-gauge tourist railroad in California that starts from the Roaring Camp depot in Felton, California and runs up steep grades through redwood forests to the top of nearby Bear Mountain, a distance of .

The railroad runs most trains using steam locomotives, several dating from the 1890s. They are some of the oldest narrow-gauge steam locomotives still providing regular passenger service in the United States. (Knott's Berry Farm operates two narrow-gauge engines built in 1881, and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad runs one built in 1883.)

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated three of the railroad's locomotives as Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark #134 in 1988.

History

The Big Trees Ranch was bought in 1867 by San Francisco businessman Joseph Warren Welch to preserve the giant redwood trees from logging. It was the first property in the state acquired specifically for that purpose.

thumb|left|The fire-damaged trestle seen in 2023

Roaring Camp Railroads operations began in 1963 under the guidance of F. Norman Clark (1935–1985), who was the founder and owner. His purpose was to keep a family tradition of constructing railroads and to "bring the romance and color of steam railroading back to America". In 1958, Clark found the engine Dixiana abandoned near a coal mine in the Appalachian Mountains; he described it as looking like a " rusty pile of junk".

Clark's wife, Georgiana, Vice President of Operations assumed the ownership and management responsibilities following his death on December 2, 1985. On December 28, 2015, a train collided with a stop block on part of the switchback, injuring six people. The cause was a combination of driver error and a mechanical issue with the locomotive's throttle valve.

Locomotives

The railroad owns several locomotives in various states of repair. Regular service is typically handled by the railroad's two Shay locomotives, with occasional appearances by the Heisler. "Kahuku," the oldest locomotive on the roster, is used in shuttle service on special occasions, as it is not capable of hauling trains up the mountain due to its small size.

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

!Number

!Name

!Image

!Builder

!Type

!Works number

!Built

!Acquired

!Notes

|-

|#1

|Dixiana

|100px

|Lima Locomotive Works

|Class B 42-2 Shay

|#2593

|1912

|October 1962

|Ex-Coal Processing Corp. #3 at Dixiana, Virginia. Operable and in regular service.

|-

|#2

|Tuolumne

| 100px

| Heisler Locomotive Works

|2-truck Heisler

|#1041

|1899

|1963

|ex-West Side Lumber Company #3. Operable

Restored 2001 and 2010.

|-

|#6

|Daisy

|100x100px

|rowspan="2"|Lima Locomotive Works

|Class B 32-2 Shay

|#2519

|1912

|1988

|ex-W.M. Ritter Lumber Company #7. Last operated and retired at Daisy, Kentucky. Inoperable.

|#2465

|1911

|1986

|ex-West Side Lumber Company #7

Inoperable, under overhaul. Restored 2007–2009 and 2018-present.

  • Locomotive #1: Built in 1912, it was originally owned by the Alaculsy Lumber Company, and was used on the Smokey Mountain Railroad in Tennessee. The Dixiana is named for a small narrow-gauge mining railroad, now abandoned, out of Dixiana, Virginia. Notable characteristics include the boiler, which was set left of centerline to compensate for the weight and position of the engine – giving it a lopsided appearance – and the engine design of a three-cylinder exhaust system.
  • Locomotive #2: Built in 1899 for the Hetch Hetchy Valley and Yosemite Railroad for use at the sawmill of West Side Flume and Lumber Company near Tuolumne City. First named Thomas S. Bullock after the first general manager of the West Side Flume and Lumber Company, the locomotive was purchased for Roaring Camp in 1962 for $7,000. It is the last steam engine used in the commercial lumber business in Tuolumne, California,

See also

  • List of heritage railroads in the United States
  • Logging railroad
  • Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway
  • Santa Cruz Railroad
  • U.S. common-carrier narrow gauges in the twentieth century

References

  • Roaring Camp Railroads