The Nut Tree Railroad is a gauge railroad within the

Nut Tree Nut Tree is a lifestyle center in Vacaville, California near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 505. The original Nut Tree History The original Nut Tree opened on July 3, 1921 on the Lincoln Highway (old U.S. Route 40). It was ...

Plaza in

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County, California, United States. It is located from Sacramento, California, Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is on the edge of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The city was founded in ...

History

The original Nut Tree Railroad

The Nut Tree Railroad was started in 1953 to serve the customers of Vacaville's

Nut Tree Restaurant Nut Tree is a lifestyle center in Vacaville, California near the intersection of Interstate 80 (California), Interstate 80 and Interstate 505 (California), Interstate 505. The original Nut Tree History The original Nut Tree opened on July 3, ...

. Two years later its tracks were extended to the Nut Tree Airport to shuttle pilots to and from the restaurant. The railroad's main station was the Nut Tree Toy Shop where riders would purchase their tickets. Famous riders of the Nut Tree train included

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

, California governor

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

, champion boxer Max Baer,

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...

, and

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

. Following the 1955 expansion of the Nut Tree Railroad to the Nut Tree Airport, the route at the original Nut Tree included a tunnel and a bridge.

Closure and reopening

When the Nut Tree closed in 1996, the train was driven into the railroad's tunnel and sealed in. During those years the train, Engine Number 5, was purchased by the City of Vacaville to ensure its preservation while many of the other buildings did not survive. As developer after developer tried to purchase the Nut Tree property from Vacaville, each one was told it could have the land as long as the Nut Tree Railroad was reopened. Finally in 2006, developer Snell & Co. reopened the railroad in the Nut Tree Family Park. In January 2009, the Family Park closed again. In July 2009, developer Westrust bought the property and reopened the Nut Tree Railroad, adding a carousel and children's park to the Nut Tree Plaza that August. As of 2021, the Nut Tree Train is back and sporting an environmentally friendly "green"

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engine.

References

External links

Nut Tree Plaza website
{{Coord, 38.37031, -121.96213, display=title Railroads of amusement parks in the United States Vacaville, California Tourist attractions in Solano County, California 1953 establishments in California 2 ft gauge railways in the United States