Ft. Bragg (Day 3)

Wednesday we took the Skunk Train (There is no documentation of how or with whom the name originated. The most popular story holds that trainmen who were familiar with steam locomotives said that the gas fumes were "like the odor of a skunk").

The train consisted of the engine, a passenger car, a snack car, an open car, and then another passenger car.  Here you can see the engine and the first two cars:

Here is the conductor on the open car:

It started out as a redwood logging train in 1885 in Ft. Bragg; steam passenger service was started in 1904, extended to the town of Willits in 1911, and discontinued in 1925 when the self-powered, yellow "Skunk" rail cars were inaugurated. The little trains were quickly nicknamed for their original gas engines, which prompted folks to say, "You can smell 'em before you can see 'em."
The train runs from Ft. Bragg to Willits, a distance of 40 miles thru the mountains and redwoods. Actually the train stops about half way (Northspur)

You get off and have lunch in the woods while they move the engine around to the back of the train to go back to Ft. Bragg. During the entire trip there is only one straight stretch of about a mile; otherwise it is turn after turn. Some of the redwoods along the way are 800 to 1000 years old.

When we got back, we drove over to the "Glass Beach," so-called because it used to be a dump ground for the city, including cars.  They eventually stopped using it as a dump, but the waves of the ocean washed over the trash time and time again and now the edges of the broken glass are no longer sharp. You can even walk barefoot and not worry.  Unfortunately, pictures don't show it very well:

On our way back to the CG, we stopped at Safeway and bought some groceries, including Swai to grill on the fire along with baked potatoes.
Don't know what Swai is?? We connoisseurs of good fish like Swai which is farm raised in VietNam! (I bet Kelly and Karl can relate to this). It was excellent as were the potatoes.
Tomorrow we leave for Brookings, OR. which is along the coast just inside the OR border. We will be visiting a high school buddy of mine, Pat Foley.

More later...