In the late 1890s Marin wanted a tourist attraction. One answer was a train from Mill Valley that would snake up Mount Tam pulling carloads of tourists. For the return trip, the train’s engine would get out of the way and let the cars full of tourists merrily coast back down to Mill Valley.
That began to happen in 1896, and it continued happening for the next 33 years, drawing over a million people to Marin County. It was called the Mill Valley and Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway, but soon became known as “The Crookedest Railroad in the World.” The 8.2-mile route had 281 tight curves, with the notorious “Double Bow Knot” coming at the track’s halfway point. “Actually,” says rail historian Fred Runner, “the engine would push, not pull, the tourist cars up the hill, that way the engine’s exhaust wouldn’t cause tourists to choke and ruin their scenic views.”
The above 1923 photo shows Engine No. 9 after it had backed its way to the top of Mount Tam. For the trip down, tourists had the choice of a “Gravity Car” or letting the steam engine take them back to Mill Valley. As for Engine No. 9, after the attraction halted business in 1929, it traveled to Northern California where it became a logging train, then a landmark for the tiny town of Scotia.
Decades passed, and in 2018 “Friends of No. 9” was organized as a nonprofit to purchase No. 9 at auction, then restore and return the 28-ton steam locomotive to its Marin roots. “Right now, No. 9 is in Sebastopol going through final stages of its restoration,” says Runner, “and there’s great interest as to what comes next.”
According to him, the California State Railroad Museum is considering exhibiting Engine No. 9 in its highly respected Sacramento location. “While that’s great recognition of what we’ve accomplished, it’s only a short-term solution,” says Runner. “What we need is a permanent and protected Marin site for this relic of Marin’s past.” Over the past six years Friends of No. 9 has raised nearly $500,000 to purchase the engine, relocate it and restore it.