All aboard the Logger Train! Long gone, but not forgotten are the days of the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company when huge logs were transported from the high Sierra forests down the steep mountain grades on narrow gauge tracks.
A four-mile section of track has been restored so you can relive the experience on the Sugar Pine Lumber Company's logging trains pulled by the original powerful Shay steam locomotives. The whistle blows and so does the steam as the engine pulls into the station. Shay #15 was built in 1913 and weighs 60 tons.
Some history...
The ticket office houses a gift shop. There is also a museum, bookstore, and sandwich shop, but Thistle and I did not visit those places.
Dogs are allowed on the train ride free, and Thistle was not the only dog there.
More history...
Thistle is ready, "Let's go!"
Take your seat on an open-air log or covered passenger car for the narrated journey back in time. All the kids wanted the logs, so Thistle and I chose the passenger cars.
The train descends 4 miles along the narrow-gauge tracks to Lewis Creek Canyon at the bottom of the mountain.
The Shay locomotives used to burn wood...the local Black Oak, a tree that is not used for lumber. But they have been refurbished and now burn oil instead, and you can smell the difference.
The train stops in Lewis Creek Canyon where you can disembark and see the locomotive up close, or walk around for about 15 minutes.
It looks like some refueling of the locomotive is taking place before the hard climb back up the mountain.
Refueling...
Thistle is looking for critters.
But the locomotive keeps making strange noises as it goes...whistles, blasts of steam, and choo-choo, you know...
The whole trip down and back takes about an hour. After it was over, Thistle and I drove to a quiet rest area to have our lunch which I had brought with us.
