Engine #2 was hot and smoky, as the engineer opened the cast iron door carefully.
To kick-off this, its 120th birthday celebration—held Sunday at Oak Meadow Park—a small bunt cake was placed directly into its firebox.
“Woo-hoo!” belched its steam whistle in satisfaction.
On board for the one mile ride was Mayor Matthew Hudes alongside engineer Michael West, as Council members Mary Badame and Maria Ristow sat on bench-style open air seats. Others on the short voyage included dignitaries and volunteers connected with the train operation.
“Wildcat,” the Los Gatos High mascot, was at the station greeting those in line waiting to get on board. Black and orange pom-poms were handed out. Just before the birthday train left the station the San Jose Sharks mascot showed up. “S.J. Sharkie” is a huge fan of train rides and was greeted with cheers from the crowd.
The excitement of both “Wildcat” and “Sharkie” being there—and the uniqueness of this scaled-down train—added to the excitement of the children and adults in attendance.
Scrap heap to second life
In 1939, Billy Jones, a Southern Pacific Railroad worker, was on a layover in San Francisco. He noticed this small steam engine in the scrap pile. His thinking was fueled by his love of trains, so he took her home. He laid track, and, Presto!, in 1941 he had a backyard scale steam train—Engine #2 that is—up and running.
His backyard train began running in 1941, and it ran for 27 years. Loving his community, he opened up his personal train for neighbors to ride. Jones’ love of scaled trains led him to become a personal friend of Walt Disney, also a small-scale train lover.
He did accept donations and they went right back into the cost of operating his train. He did this up until his passing in 1968.
The Wildcat Railroad’s opening day was held in 1970. It has now operated here for 55 years. Thousands of children and adults have taken this enjoyable route. Quite a breezy treat on a hot day.
After 27 years, the community had become involved in operating the train. A non-profit was formed to keep it on the track.
And today it is still running the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad trains from Oak Meadow Park Station.
