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Like riding the rails? The Niles Canyon Railway has to be one of the best afternoon excursions around. Granted, when I went we got the whole train to ourselves, but I think there's enough room to maneuver around any screaming children and there's always plenty of fresh air. Plus the whole thing is built, staffed and organized by volunteers so you're surrounded by awesome old-timers who want nothing more than to tell you about the various trains and the history behind the railway. Turns out it began as part of the Western Pacific Railroad between San Jose and Sacramento, but bureaucratic battles left the line unfinished (though the canyon part was done) and it was actually incomplete at the time of the Golden Spike ceremony which supposedly linked the eastern and western rails (remember when Jesse and I went to Utah?). Eventually the Central Pacific Railroad bought up the lines and finished the existing track, connecting the San Francisco Bay to Sacramento with the bay-side depot at Alameda Point (which incidentally is where William Merralls of the Sunnyside Conservatory was killed by a train---see, it all fits together somehow). Anyhoo, in due time the Central Pacific became part of the Southern Pacific and the Niles Canyon stretch of track became less frequented in favor of the line that runs through Benicia and Martinez. By 1984 the track was seeing little or no traffic and the SP closed it up, tearing up the tracks and giving the land to Alameda County. This is where the Pacific Locomotive Association and the awesome volunteers come in, managing to restore miles of track and setting up the scenic railway. They're also working on restoring to their original glory as many train cars, engines and cabooses as they can get their hands on. Everyone I talked to was incredibly nice, especially Dick the brakeman who encourages anyone who's interested to show up and volunteer for as little or as long as they like. You know what we're doing this summer...