Deborah Cook
Resting in the community park in Ione, California, is old No. 7,
affectionately known as "Iron Ivan," the last steam engine that served
on the Amador Central Railroad. At the southern edge of town, one can
glimpse the rails it once rode. Built in 1904, the Amador Central
Railroad--a 12-mile, standard-gauge short line that snakes its way
through the Sierra Nevada foothills from Ione to Martell--served both
passengers and freighters for a century until 2004. It was said to be
the slowest line in California, with over 75 curves and a grade of four
percent in some places. In 2010, Sierra Pacific Industries sold the
railroad to a nonprofit consortium to preserve the historic line.
