One evening while staying at the Wawona Hotel (see blog), my husband and I took a ride on the nearby Sugar Pine Railroad located on Yosemite Mountain. The Sugar Pine is an historic railroad that offers various steam-train rides to visitors. It’s just ten minutes outside the southern entrance to Yosemite Park off of HWY 41. Besides train rides, they offer panning-for-gold, a museum, and a kids toy store. This is a great place to take the family.
A Bit of History
Once upon a time, the Sugar Pine was a logging railroad. From 1899 to 1931, the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company logged over 30,000 acres of the Sierra Nevada forest. The cut logs were transported over a 140 mile-long network of narrow gauge rails to the Sugar Pine sawmill. From there, the logs were put in a 54 mile-long flume that used flowing water and gravity to send the logs coursing downhill to the town of Madera in the San Joaquin Valley. The logs were then distributed and sold worldwide.
These days the Sugar Pine Railroad serves as a living museum. Two miles of narrow-gauge track have been re-laid over original lines. Two Shay locomotives, from the same logging era as the Sugar Pine, take turns carrying passengers on one to three hour excursions through the woods, with stops at Lewis Creek Canyon for music, stories, or melodrama.
The Moonlight Melodrama
My husband and I chose to go on the Moonlight Melodrama excursion. It began with a barbecue dinner served outside the station on picnic tables laid with red-checkered tablecloths. The barbecue dinner was just okay (sorry, my husband is a much better barbecuer). The best part was sitting next to a young local couple and talking with them. We were also entertained by a group of musicians (including our friend’s grandmother) who played instruments and sang tunes like Creedence Clearwater’s Bad Moon Rising, sung in a folk style.
After dinner, I hurried to get us seats on the open-air log cars. Others chose to sit on the indoor cars with picture windows. The conductor gave a safety talk, the steam whistle blew, and off we chugged. During our ride, the conductor regaled us with facts about the Madera Sugar Pine Logging Company. I’m afraid I didn’t listen because I was too busy trying to get a decent photo (it was difficult with everyone holding up cell phones to take their own photos!). However, my husband thoroughly enjoyed the narration.
After about half an hour, we came to Lewis Creek Canyon. Our train was greeted by a cast from the Golden Chain Theatre, waving and calling to us as we pulled in.
What is a Melodrama?
For the uninitiated, melodramas were once considered serious plays for regular folks. Audience members of the 18th and 19th centuries fully “bought in” to these action plays filled with emotion and pathos. And they weren’t quiet about it either. The audience would cheer the hero, hiss at the villain, and make cooing noises over the heroine. It was a lively event.
Nowadays, people watch melodramas for the fun of it. They are also expected to participate with appropriate noises for each main character. It’s a great thing to do with children. We enjoyed this melodrama–Wedded To A Villain–very much. The Golden Chain Theatre cast was talented and obviously enjoyed performing.
I got a quick photo of the cast after the show; unfortunately I wasn’t able to grab the hero. He was so cute–short, young, a bit chubby– with adorable dimples and a can-do attitude. The boy in front of us (who looked similar) clearly related. He called out things like, “you tell ’em!” and “take that, mustache!”
The Evening Ride Back
As our train exited the Lewis Creek picnic area, chorus girls waved and called goodbye.
Our conductor stayed quiet while we traveled back through dusky woods. We didn’t see the moon, but it was beautiful riding an open-air car through the forest. With my husband’s arms around me, I looked for stars forming in dwindling summer light and listened to the sound of the train as it steamed through the trees. A train whistle is the most romantic thing.
If You Go
The Sugar Pine Railroad is located at 56001 Highway 41, Fish Camp, CA 93623. (559) 683-7273 www.ymsprr.com
They are open from April through November. They are also wheel-chair accessible and even welcome friendly dogs on a leash. For more information, see their website.
Karen, another great article. Hope to get up to the Sugar pine railroad! Thank you for all your great blogs and information that you share with us. Tish.
Thank you Tish! Steam-train rides are always fun. This one was even more special because it included theatre!