Plymouth: The First Decade
April 15, 2007 - Al Smith Day at Swanton Pacific
Al Smith was heavily involved with his school, Cal Poly, his old Boy Scout troop, and railroading. Over the years he acquired the locomotives that were built for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and a pretty big piece of very beautiful coastal land at Swanton a few miles north of Santa Cruz.
To celebrate his birthday, Cal Poly, the Swanton Pacific Ranch, the Swanton Pacific Railway and his Boy Scout Troop hold a party and barbecue. This year a couple of car clubs were invited and we tagged along. A very nice day riding the train, looking at the memorabilia and just sightseeing.
On the way back we took the back roads through Bonny Doon and Big Basin State Park. Beautiful scenery, but the three miles on Jamison Creek Road down from Empire Grade to Big Basin Way was challenging: Too long and steep to just use the brakes as those tiny drums would have heated up leading to extreme brake fade. And there were lots of sharp curves to manhandle the 122 inch wheel base car around. Definitely “steering by Armstrong”. The scenery was worth it!
