Roaring Camp Railroad

Jill's Journal: Today we experienced what was probably the highlight of our time in Felton, the Roaring Camp Railroad. An 1800-era steam engine took us on North America’s steepest narrow-gauge railroad grade through the redwood forest.

It was like going back in time. The ambience couldn’t be beat. The depot “town” was built like a small, late 1800s-era community and when that steam engine pulled into the station, people got excited. The sight and sound and smell and rumble of that locomotive gave one such an appreciation of what a BIG deal trains were to America over a century ago. You grow up hearing in elementary history class how trains changed the country, but until you actually see one of these vintage steam engines in all its glory, I don’t know if it’s possible to really appreciate it. These days, we take things for granted. Back then, it had to have been the most impressive thing people had seen and probably would ever see in their lifetimes.

The Dixiana, the engine that pulled us, was once used by a lumber company on the Smokey Mountain Railroad in Tennessee. In 1958, the original founder of Roaring Camp found her abandoned at a defunct coal mine in Dixiana, Virginia. She was put back in service when Roaring Camp opened in 1963 (on rails that had been shipped around South America’s Cape Horn in 1881).

Railroads have been carrying tourists to the big trees since 1875. The desire to preserve a piece of the 1800s-appreciation for both steam engines and redwoods led to Roaring Camp.

It is so cool to travel up a winding, narrow-gauge track through the towering redwoods. I don’t know if the sight of those spectacular big trees would ever get old. They are simply magnificent. The trees within a few feet of the steam from the engine were all blackened by the soot, which only added to the great old-time atmosphere.

Back in the 1880s, narrow-gauge steam locomotives were used by foresters to move the giant redwood logs out of the mountains. Roaring Camp’s locomotives are among the oldest and most authentically-preserved steam engines in the world that still provide passenger service. In fact, three of the engines (including the Dixiana) at Roaring Camp have been designated as National Mechanical Engineering Historical Landmarks.

Rob put three pennies down on the narrow-gauge track for the train to flatten. We picked them up later as souvenirs for the girls.