Charlie’s TrainTreks

The redwood forests of California’s northerly coast are one of my favorite destinations. Any chance to experience nature this pristine from the perspective of a steam train is always a magical experience full of the nostalgic mysticism and surreality of this frontier periphery that once roared and shook with the felling of giant sequoias and red woods, some wider than 25ft across at their base. Crossing the tightest radius railroad bridge in North America some 40 feet off the forest floor aboard the Dixiana, railroad’s pride and joy, harkens back to the glory days of this wild landscape and it’s taming by loggers who harnessed the ground breaking utility of steam to drag their wood harvest from the depths of this thick jungle. Dixie looks right at home amongst the old grove redwood forest of Felton, in eastern Santa Cruz county, even though she spent most of her life working in the coal fields of West Virginia. This is definitely a bucket list ride easily comparable to that of the Colorado narrow gauge railroads or Scotland’s Jacobite despite being a much shorter railroad. If you love breathtaking nature, massive conifers, steam trains, and an atmosphere straight out of 1890, this is a journey for you. Where else can you ascend switch backs behind a geared steam engine with grades as intense as 10.5% (10.5 feet rise in elevation over 100 horizontal feet) surrounded by the largest living organisms on planet earth! This ride up Bear Mountain is a railway journey like no other that even the most casual train traveling enthusiast ought to experience for themselves. They really have captured the magic of steam and steel in an environment like no other. 🚂🌲 @ Roaring Camp Railroads

The redwood forests of California’s northerly coast are one of my favorite destinations. Any chance to experience nature this pristine from the perspective of a steam train is always a magical experience full of the nostalgic mysticism and surreality of this frontier periphery that once roared and shook with the felling of giant sequoias and red woods, some wider than 25ft across at their base. Crossing the tightest radius railroad bridge in North America some 40 feet off the forest floor aboard the Dixiana, railroad’s pride and joy, harkens back to the glory days of this wild landscape and it’s taming by loggers who harnessed the ground breaking utility of steam to drag their wood harvest from the depths of this thick jungle. Dixie looks right at home amongst the old grove redwood forest of Felton, in eastern Santa Cruz county, even though she spent most of her life working in the coal fields of West Virginia. This is definitely a bucket list ride easily comparable to that of the Colorado narrow gauge railroads or Scotland’s Jacobite despite being a much shorter railroad. If you love breathtaking nature, massive conifers, steam trains, and an atmosphere straight out of 1890, this is a journey for you. Where else can you ascend switch backs behind a geared steam engine with grades as intense as 10.5% (10.5 feet rise in elevation over 100 horizontal feet) surrounded by the largest living organisms on planet earth! This ride up Bear Mountain is a railway journey like no other that even the most casual train traveling enthusiast ought to experience for themselves. They really have captured the magic of steam and steel in an environment like no other. 🚂🌲