Wild Cat Railroad

Riding the Wild Cat

by Rudy Arnold, Mechanix Illustrated, July 1962

Casey Jones is more than a legend to kids living in and around Los Gatos, California. He's a real live railroad man named William "Casey" Jones, a retired locomotive engineer. Jones' hobby since the early Forties has been the building and operating of his Wildcat Railroad. Its circular 1,940-foot track runs through a picturesque orchard. Every Sunday "Casey" climbs aboard his 4-1/2 ton home-built prairie engine, opens the throttle and chugs around the orchard hauling three passenger cars full of happy kids. And--except when "Casey's" rolling stock is turned over to some charitable organization for money-raising purposes--there's never any fare to pay.

See also Steam up on the Backyard Railroad.