Billy Jones was a retired Southern Pacific Railroad engineer who built the Wildcat Railroad in his prune orchard at Daves Ave. & Winchester Blvd. about one-quarter mile north of Los Gatos. It took Jones four years of hard work in his spare time to realize this goal of post retirement railroading. The project began with the purchase of a steam locomotive in 1940, just before it was to be loaded for scrap bound for Japan. Prior to that, Number 2 also known as the Two-Spot, built in 1905, was stored in a San Francisco warehouse where it had migrated after serving as one of three engines on the Venice California Municipal Railway.
When he acquired it, the engine was in a sorry state. Many essential parts were missing, but undeterred, Jones went about building and buying whatever he needed to put Number 2 back in service. This took about a year and a half after which Billy Jones applied himself to laying the rail through the orchard.
The next step involved finding rolling stock necessary for full scale passenger operation. Louis M. McDermott who ran the miniature railroad at the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco, provided the solution. The Wildcat Railroad acquired his cars and reworked the axles to change them from 19 inch gauge to the 18 inch gauge of the locomotive. When the golden spike was driven by McDermott on October 16, 1943, there were 1940 feet of main line, the two-spot, six passenger cars, two box cars, and two flat cars.
Mr. Jones paid all the operating expenses himself and never charged for rides on the loop track around the orchard. Charitable causes, especially those benefitting children, orphanages, hospitals and youth organizations, received all the proceeds of the voluntary donation container set out at the railroad. Bill Ulleseit, a long time friend and fellow engineer, said Billy would often add to the donation money to fullfill the needs of that particular fund raising event. The benefit runs on Sundays were a Los Gatos tradition for many years.
After Billy Jones died in 1968, a group of civic minded folks formed a non-profit corporation to buy the railroad and relocate it in a nearby park. Many months of fund raising and volunteer labor were applied. The engine house, station, clock tower, turntable, and right of way were completed in time for a dedication in July of 1970. The little engine which Billy Jones rescued so long ago is the same proud little Two-Spot which one can ride today at the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad
Credits:
'Ferroequinologist' issue no.7 September 1952 by Bob Johnson
'Iron Horse' Vol.1 No.1 June/July 1993 by Barbara Phinney
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