"The steam train has been a fixture at Tilden since 1952 and draws visitors from all over the Bay Area and beyond to ride on a 1.25-mile route through wooded terrain dotted with twinkling lights and miniature buildings made to look like a frontier town. The locomotives are smaller replicas of steam trains that once crisscrossed the country before being largely replaced by diesel electric locomotives in the 1940s and '50s."
"Redwood Valley Railway was created by Erich Thomsen, an engineer at Western Pacific Railroad who wanted to preserve not only the mechanics of the steam trains, but their unique culture. He pitched the idea of a miniature train to the East Bay park district as a way to draw more people to the new park. Since then, the trains have become wildly popular and today attract an estimated 250,000 visitors each year."
Redwood Valley Railway operates a 1.25-mile steam train in Tilden Park, attracting about 250,000 visitors annually. The locomotives are small replicas of mid-20th-century steam engines and the site includes locomotives, roundhouse, barns, machine shops, a carriage house and tunnels, with most components built onsite except boilers. The operation began in 1952 when engineer Erich Thomsen proposed the miniature railroad to draw visitors. Thomsen's daughter Ellen took over after his death in 1995. The lease with East Bay Regional Parks District expired in 2019 and the operation has since been on a month-to-month agreement, creating concern over long-term stability.
Read at www.berkeleyside.org
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