Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
This really isn't a ride report as I was in a rental car not on 2 wheels. If you feel you've been cheated, skip ahead to another thread.
In a rare example of planetary alignment the missus & I found ourselves on business trips to the San Francisco area at the same time. With a full weekend to ourselves we went off exploring. We breakfasted at Alice's restaurant and saw some lovely vintage machinery.
The off to the Redwoods for some leisurely hiking. Following that and on our way to the coast, driving with the window down (68 degrees & sunny) I heard the unmistakable sound of a steam whistle. Some quick Googling and a backtrack took us to California State Park's Roaring Camp Railroads park - http://www.roaringcamp.com/
Within minutes I was watching a Shay heading around the bend. For those who are unfamiliar, the Shay was a gear driven locomotive designed especially for ultra-heavy duty work on often poorly maintained narrow gauge tracks. Many hundreds were sold for logging duty in the West, this one dates from 1912.
She stopped to take on water.
The pistons, drive & gear mechanism are all on the right side.
I chatted with the engineer who told me to stick around as a Heisler was right behind them. Now the Heisler was another approach to the requirements of logging and features a central drive system with pistons in a V configuration copied (as we all know) directly from Moto Guzzi (had Guzzi been around in 1892 when this one was built).
But what about ice cream you say? Well as a matter of fact, later as we approached Santa Cruz the missus spotted an old parlour on other side of the street. One highly illegal u-turn later we were enjoying some of the best home made delights ever. The milkshake (salted caramel) was an 11 on a 10 scale.
Of course there was other great dining, beaches, surfers and more redwoods. As usual, riding or driving, NorCal never disappoints.
In a rare example of planetary alignment the missus & I found ourselves on business trips to the San Francisco area at the same time. With a full weekend to ourselves we went off exploring. We breakfasted at Alice's restaurant and saw some lovely vintage machinery.
The off to the Redwoods for some leisurely hiking. Following that and on our way to the coast, driving with the window down (68 degrees & sunny) I heard the unmistakable sound of a steam whistle. Some quick Googling and a backtrack took us to California State Park's Roaring Camp Railroads park - http://www.roaringcamp.com/
Within minutes I was watching a Shay heading around the bend. For those who are unfamiliar, the Shay was a gear driven locomotive designed especially for ultra-heavy duty work on often poorly maintained narrow gauge tracks. Many hundreds were sold for logging duty in the West, this one dates from 1912.
She stopped to take on water.
The pistons, drive & gear mechanism are all on the right side.
I chatted with the engineer who told me to stick around as a Heisler was right behind them. Now the Heisler was another approach to the requirements of logging and features a central drive system with pistons in a V configuration copied (as we all know) directly from Moto Guzzi (had Guzzi been around in 1892 when this one was built).
But what about ice cream you say? Well as a matter of fact, later as we approached Santa Cruz the missus spotted an old parlour on other side of the street. One highly illegal u-turn later we were enjoying some of the best home made delights ever. The milkshake (salted caramel) was an 11 on a 10 scale.
Of course there was other great dining, beaches, surfers and more redwoods. As usual, riding or driving, NorCal never disappoints.
