Steam & Excursion > Redwood Valley Railway looking for new lease or …..

The steam railway located in the hills above Oakland and Berkeley (CA) in beautiful Tilden Park.has been without a lease for some time now. They need to perform maintenance and improvements but are hesitant to to do so without the protection of a lease. Say it's time to act or their out.

San Francisco Chronicle, unsure if paywall.

Amazing that a popular attraction gets to this point. No idea where they might go, or if it's just a liability protection issue. East Bay Regional Park system is in my opinion the finest system in the area, but can be awfully full of themselves.

https://apple.news/AwNJ39iUgT0-_gRja7P3cZg

This little steam train has delighted Bay Area families for 70 years. Now its future is uncertainBy Sam Whiting, Staff WriterOct 23, 2025  

The beloved and old-timey Tilden Park steam train is at risk of chugging off into history over a lease dispute between the railway operator and the East Bay Regional Park District.

Ellen Thomsen, second-generation owner of the open air amusement train that runs through a redwood grove, has informed the district that she will “pick up everything and leave” if she cannot secure a long-term lease for the business, which operates under contract in Tilden Regional Park between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Ridge. 

The popular choo-choo train, formally named the Redwood Valley Railway, has been running on a month-to-month deal for seven years, as Thomsen has been trying to get a longer term arrangement, she claimed during the public comment portion of a park district board of directors meeting in Oakland this week.

 “I’ve only gone before the board twice in the last 30 years, when things get so completely unmanageable that I have to go to a meeting and stand up to get their attention,” Thomsen told a reporter Thursday by phone from the railroad, where she was busy doing track maintenance. “Right now we basically have no contract with them. A month-to-month does not allow us to make the capital improvements that we need to make in order to stay there.”

Representatives of the East Bay Regional Park District declined to comment. A emailed statement confirmed that the railway was on a month-to-month lease and that negotiations were ongoing. 

 “The Steam Trains are a cherished and valued resource, and the Park District is committed to their continued operation,” it said.  “To the extent RVRY wants to make new capital improvements to the site, the Park District’s interests are in ensuring they be fire safe and meet all fire code requirements.” 

The working steam railroad was built by Thomsen’s father, Erich Thomsen, and opened in 1952 as a private concession within the park. The family-held corporation leases 48 acres perched on the side of a mountain, and maintains the narrow gauge 1.25-mile track and the steam engines, which can carry up to 100 people on a 12-minute open-air ride. Some 250,000 passengers ride it annually, at a ticket cost of $4 per ride, with discounts for families. It runs daily during the summer and weekdays during the rest of the year. All of the equipment is built from scratch and maintained by a paid staff of 30, both full- and part-time. The park service is paid a percentage of ticket sales. 

“Basically the park district is getting this for free, and it seems like they are trying to get rid of it,” Thomsen  said. “They profess to wanting us to stay but they are not following through with any provisions to do that.”

The most recent 10-year lease ended in 2019, and Thomsen said she started trying to renegotiate a year before that.  “They think delaying won’t hurt us but it will now,” she said. “We are trying to do all the capital improvements necessary for succession, so that the train can stay there many more years after I am gone.”  

Thomsen just turned 70 and has no plans to retire. She said she is hoping to establish a nonprofit that can operate the service after her death.  

“This kind of thing has to be operated by several generations of people who have been trained to do it, because it is a very specialized, very historic kind of thing that is very technical and requires specialized skills,” she said.  

Thomsen said she hoped to secure a 10-year lease with an option for another 10, which will see the railway into succession. 

Ridership has increased by 25% since the COVID-19 lockdown, she said. Her two locomotives are worth $500,000 each and she needs more of them, she said, as well as more passenger cars in order to run more trains at once. She said she also needs more storage barns but is disinclined to add those without a long-term operating lease. 

“Our business is increasing so much because families are looking for something to do that is inexpensive and local, and regional parks are great for that,” she said. “We need to keep building equipment and we need legal protection through a lease if we are going to build something that we can’t take with us.”  



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/25 22:16 by Pullman.

This is a classic venue that needs to be preserved!

I really hope things can be worked out. I have fond memories of riding it growing up. It’s such a beautiful and unique location, and it always makes me smile when clips of the railroad show up in my social media feeds.

Nathan

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