All Aboard!
The sound of the Dixiana’s mournful steam whistle piercing through the redwoods and resounding off surrounding hills is one that’s dear to my heart.
I worked for a year at the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, in the redwood forested Santa Cruz Mountains. My office was an ancient narrow-gauge caboose that sat on a siding beside the main track to Bear Mountain and near the historic Welch grove of redwoods, the first preserved in California.
The first hour of each morning was spent getting the caboose warm by stoking its tiny iron stove with small splits of wood, the cabin filling with the smells of smoke, printer’s ink and hot coffee. We wore mittens and sweaters inside until the first shafts of sunlight would find their way through the chilly redwood canopy to warm the car.
By the time the chug and toot of the approaching Dixiana could be heard, we were taking off sweaters and walking across freshly raked decomposed granite paths to the depot to greet arriving passengers.
In autumn, the luminescent leaves of Western sycamore, bigleaf maple and black oak that grew near the depot would litter the tine-scored paths with spots of orange, yellow and gold.
Once the Dixie departed for her journey up the mountain, her long, throaty whistle could be heard echoing through the woods as she climbed … a fond memory that is as fresh as the color seen above in the black oak canopy arching over the train. 
- Roaring Camp Railroads, Felton (285′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
- Patchen Pass at Summit Road (CA-17) (1,814′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Boulder Creek (479′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
