I was reading the Railroadnews.net discussion board on November 30th, 2003 and saw a post that the Bell Gardens in Valley Center had closed, which caused me a few moments of sadness, realizing that meant that the 15 inch railroad there was also closed. Barry Christensen and I visited Bell Gardens February 19, 2000.
Bell Gardens was the idea of Glen W. Bell and his wife Martha. Glen had ridden the rails across America and started a door-to-door pie business. After serving in World War II, he returned to San Bernardino and started a tiny hamburger restaurant like McDonald's. Glen was an innovator and soon made a new product, crisp-shell tacos. Ten years later, he founded Taco Bell and under his leadership, the chain expanded nationwide. In 1978, he exchanged stock with the Pepsi Company before retiring for a love of the land, train and farming and created this beautiful park in 1993.
The railroad was designed from an original 15 inch 1950 locomotive. The original train was built by retirees of the Convair Division of General Dynamics in the early 1960's for an employee park. Mr. Bell purchased the entire train in 1995 from the Kerney Mesa Plant and along with the original train, there is other railroad equipment in the car barn acquired over the years. The train ride lasted 15 minutes and took us on a tour of almost the entire farm. The railroad had a length of over two miles.
Developed in 1993, Bell Gardens was a 115-acre idyllic farm, educational resource and picnic grounds where the public was invited, free of charge, to spend the day in one of the most unique environments in the country. Visitors were invited to walk through Ghost Canyon, a walking trail set amidst aging gnarled oaks, take a ride aboard an open-air 80-passenger miniature train that circled the park and passed alongside a man-made lake, watch adobe bricks being made from red clay soil, walk through a 1,000 square foot maze set amidst a corn field, or simply enjoy the grounds of the rural landscape.
During the year, 64 different kinds of produce were grown on the property, much of it for sale at a farm stand. Upwards of 50,000 school kids would visit the unique outdoor classroom to learn about agriculture and sustainable farming. In some years, overall attendance was estimated at 100,000. Visitors would often encounter Bell himself, riding through the farm on his golf cart, seemingly enjoying the sights as much as the guests, even though he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He was honored by the community one May when he was chosen Grand Marshal of the annual Valley Center Western Days parade.
From Santa Ana, Barry and I drove to Valley Center, northeast of Escondido and found Bell Gardens without too much trouble. We toured the property before waiting for our train ride to commence and a few minutes later, here came the train into the station.
We boarded the train which finished the lower loop on the property and took us east.
The gardens along the railroad were beautifully maintained.
We next crossed over a track that would make a second western loop.
Off the left was a stegosaurus.
Passing the station of Hobo with figures of that trade resting underneath a tree.
A water tower and the car house to the south.
We rounded a knoll with a great eastern view as we climbed to reach the higher property.
We reached the Upper Loop and took the track to the left, passing a replica of the former Santa Fe depot at Summit, California atop Cajon Pass.
Inside the loop was the beautiful Lake Kathleen.
At the top of the loop, we crossed this nice long wooden trestle.
A view looking back across Kathleen Lake.
Our train next ran behind the Summit depot as we finished the Upper Loop then completed our run before going for a second ride, where the crew invited us on a tour of the car barn.
The car barn was spacious and very well-designed.
One of the diesel locomotives.
New York Central 4-6-4 5433, built by Seymour Johnson in 1968, was acquired from an estate in Montecito. It still exists and operates at the Hiawatha Live Steamers in Tupper Lake, New York.
Some of the passenger fleet was being worked on. This brings us to the end of our tour of that once fascinating and unique Bell Garden Railroad.
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