Billy Jones was born in Ben Lomond in 1884. He went to work for the South Pacific Coast Railroad at 13 and later ran locomotives for Southern Pacific until he retired in 1950, according to the railroad's history page.
A scrapyard rescue
In 1939, on a layover in San Francisco, Jones spotted a rusty one-third-scale steam locomotive in a scrapyard. It was slated to be shipped to Japan. He bought it, hauled it to his ranch in Los Gatos and restored it. That engine, No. 2, became the heart of his "Wildcat Railroad," which opened on the ranch in 1943. For 25 years he gave rides through his orchards for free and accepted only donations. Walt Disney was among his visitors and became a friend.
A San José Public Library local history post remembers riding through those orchards around 1964. The railroad appeared on the cover of Model Engineer in January 1957.
Saved by volunteers
Jones died in January 1968. A group of local businesspeople formed the nonprofit Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, Inc. and moved the railroad to land in the adjoining Oak Meadow and Vasona parks in Los Gatos. Volunteers built an engine house, a depot and nearly a mile of track. To cross Los Gatos Creek, they used an old Southern Pacific flatcar as a bridge. The train started running again on July 26, 1970. By 1992 it was carrying well over 100,000 riders a year.
More to find at Oak Meadow
The library post says the Town of Los Gatos bought Oak Meadow Park's land in 1957, when locals called it the "sewer farm," and opened the park in 1958. The park has a climb-on vintage fire engine and a T-33A jet trainer, which replaced an F-86 Sabre in 1974. The railroad also runs the restored 1915 W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel. Check the railroad's website for current operating days before you go.