Summertime Fun on the Steamtrain Rides
Category: Local Flavor [Edit]
San Mateo Chamber of Commerce385 First Ave. Caltrain Station
San Mateo, CA 94401
1 review for Summertime Fun on the Steamtrain Rides
This Review can also be found in the Talk Reviews section. I'm including it here so that folks can be aware of these activities and start planning to include them in their future activities!
There are a number of convenient day-trip, over-nite and several-day trips to the major Steam-Train Rides around the Bay Area. Here's a Review of my Personal Favorites:
Near Sacramento, is the California State Railway Museum, which is not really much of a ride, but is interesting nevertheless. Look for its Website.
Refer to the Review for "Restaurants/Parks Hidden in the San Mateo Hills"
The previously noted Review will get you to the "Roaring Camp and Big Trees Steam-Train Ride" in Felton, CA.
My other Favorite Steam-Train Ride is the "Skunk Train" between Fort Bragg and Willits, CA. Our Family had the pleasure of riding it twice over the Labor-Day weekend. Getting there and back is a several-days excursion but it was worth it!
To start off, one has to leave San Mateo real early on a weekend to 'beat-the-traffic', or, at least, to get across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. Turn off 101 at Mill Valley and find the road to Stinson's Beach. (Check your map!) If you get to Stinson's Beach early enough, you will yet be in time for Breakfast in Stinson Beach. (Can't remember the name of the coffee shop!)
After breakfast, head up Route 1 along the coast, taking in as much as you might want of Bodega Bay, Jenner-by-the-Sea and a bunch more places along the way to Fort Bragg. We arrived at Fort Bragg by late afternoon and, on a Holiday Weekend, of course all the Motels were full-up! But we did get to enjoy a wonderful Dinner at one of the Restaurants along the Beach Highway, seated looking out to the Pacific Ocean, just as the Sun was setting on the horizon. (Not sure whether we actually caught a glimpse of the mythical 'Green-Flash' as-the-Sun-disappears-below-the-horizon!)
Then, with all Motels full, I happened to find myself driving South on Route 1 looking for another Motel. What I found instead, was a sign and a small road turning off Route 1 to the west, toward the ocean, and toward a little town named Casper, CA. And there we found the old Casper Hotel, which had several rooms available upstairs, and a common restroom-down-the-hallway, for all the rooms. Well, we got a few rooms for the Family and settled in.
However, it turned out that there was a Bar & Saloon downstairs as well, and about 9PM a local C&W live band started playing in the Saloon downstairs. At first the music was fine and entertaining, but by midnight, after a long day, we just wanted to go to sleep. I think they finally quit about 1:30AM and things were nice and quiet.
All of a sudden, a loud "B-o-o-m-p-h". I looked at my clock. It was about 2:30AM. I finally realized that the sound was a Fog-Horn, located only about a mile away, and the fog had just started 'coming-in' along the Coast! Well, that fog-horn gave-forth every 20 seconds, all night long, until morning. It was still going, as we reluctantly got up, in order to make the first Train-Ride out of the Station. We had a quick Breakfast, and then went to the Station. We didn't have Reserved Tickets, so it was First Come First Served for the few remaining seats on the first train out. Actually the first train was merely a sort of local electrical-car, that transported local residents back and forth to their woodsy homes along the tracks that wound through the hills between Fort Bragg and Willits!
After a nice, leisurely, morning 'jaunt', we arrived at Willits about 10:30-11AM. We had a quick Lunch and wandered about the old-town area near the Train Station, making sure that I had gotten Tickets for the real Steam-Train that left at 1PM.
A big-old, lumbering and wonderful-looking Steam-Engine arrived before 1PM, and left Willits on-time! With that steam-horn a-blowing, we went forth, back to Fort Bragg! Along the way, as we were passing through the woods, we heard some gunshots ring out! Pretty soon there were Bandits running up and down the aisle-ways, pursued by The Sheriff, putting on a good old-time 'Train-Robbers' Show for the Riders!
We finally got back to Fort Bragg in the late afternoon and it was a long drive back to the Bay Area, by crossing over Route 120 to US101, back to San Francisco quite late!
One more Steam-Train Ride I'll mention quickly. We were in Northern California, camping at an automotive KampgroundUSA camp. Night skies were crystal-clear and we could see just about everything. The next day, we rode the Mount Shasta Steam Train, along the slopes of Mount Shasta, and return to the town near our campsite! This was wonderful, too!