Irvine Park Is Back on Track

A ghost has materialized in the county’s oldest park, tooting and steaming its way past lakes, historic buildings and heritage oak groves.

For the first time in decades, a miniature locomotive will take the public for a ride in Irvine Regional Park, giving people another reason to visit what is already the county’s busiest park, which draws as many as 800,000 visitors annually.

Park attendance got a huge boost last month when Samson, the hot-tub bear, settled into his new home at the Orange County Zoo, sending another 1,500 people per weekend day into the surrounding park, located at Chapman Avenue and Jamboree Road.

Now, with train and pony rides, fishing and paddle boating also available, “this is the Griffith Park of Orange County,” said county parks regional manager Tim Miller.

On April 4, the one-third-scale CP Huntington propane locomotive will be open for business, hauling up to 80 passengers on a scenic trip through the park at a leisurely 7 mph, the same as it did from the late 1920s until the late ‘50s.

The views will be among the best in the county, meandering for three-quarters of a mile past two small lakes ringed by buildings constructed in the 1930s. The scenic highlight comes when the train, which arrived Tuesday, rolls under the canopy of several dozen stately oak and sycamore trees, towering sentinels that stretch over 100 feet tall and are up to 400 years old.

The ride starts at the Irvine Park Railroad near the park entrance, a red and white, turn-of-the-century style depot where tickets, refreshments and train memorabilia will be sold. Rides will cost $2.

“There’s a lot of history here,” said John Ford, co-owner of the railroad who, with his partner Steve Horn, has sunk about $750,000 into the project. “So we wanted to get that authentic late-1800s look.”

Irvine Regional Park was donated to the county in 1897 by James Irvine, and several period structures, such as an exhibition hall and boathouse, still remain in their original condition.

It was a gathering place for residents of the rural county who would bounce along dirt roads for the better part of a day to reach the park. A miniature railroad was built in the flapper era, lasting more than 40 years before closing.

Looking for new sources of revenue for a cash-strapped county in 1994, then-Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez came to Horn and Ford, who already operate the pony and boat concessions at the park.

In exchange for a 24-year lease, the partners agreed to build the railroad. The county will receive 15% of each ticket sold.

Horn and Ford have also had preliminary talks with the county about someday extending the railroad--if it is successful--past the nearby Orange County Zoo, so passengers can get a view of the animals.

“That’s what we envision,” said Ford. “There’s a lot left to be worked out, but the county has been receptive to the idea.”

Made in Kansas, the gleaming 60-horsepower locomotive arrived here by truck and the two entrepreneurs wasted no time in putting the engine through its paces.

Hauling six bright green coaches, the engine glided smoothly over the rails, Horn celebrating the maiden voyage with several blasts from the train’s whistle.

Several ponies grazing in a nearby corral barely bothered to look up. But a visiting family of four walking nearby hurried over for a peek and talked their way onto the train.

“This is wonderful,” said Jennifer Tarr of Irvine, who was visiting the park with her 3-year-old son, 2-year-old daughter and the children’s grandmother. “My kids have been so excited since they heard about the train.”

And that is why the county wanted the railroad, said Miller.

“We’re already a family park,” he said. “The railroad fits in perfectly.”

Miller added that with the new attractions, anyone who wants to enjoy the park over Easter weekend had better come early.

“We’ll probably close the parking lot about 9 a.m.,” said Miller, who predicted that 20,000 people will show up at the park on Easter Sunday. “It’ll be pretty crazy.”