- Piercy, Mendocino County, California
I've just started putting this page together... will update with more info just as soon as I receive it !
Owned and operated by Doug and Carol Campbell, Confusion Hill has been in operation in the Northern California Redwood Country since 1949. In addition to the 1¼-mile train ride, it is the home of the "Gravity House," where balls seem to roll uphill, young children are taller than their parents, and gravity appears to have gone just a little crazy. Meteorite? Metal deposits deep in the earth? Supernatural? Who knows???
I finally paid a visit to Confusion Hill in September, 2002, after having driven past it dozens of times on Highway 101. Below are some of my photos of the train ride, and some information I got from our Engineer for the day, Tony Van Steen.
The 30-minute ride (more or less... it seems to depend on how actively the passengers interact with the engineer!) starts at the "station" atop a couple flights of stairs behind the gift-shop/ticket office.
FOR BEST VIEWING, USE INTERNET EXPLORER AND PRESS YOUR "F11" BUTTON
The
"smokebox" door on the current locomotive
It's marked "Johnson Service
Company - Milwaukee Wis"
Aren't they a heating/air-conditioning equipment maker?
The original owner
of Confusion Hill, George Hudson, apparently obtained the two open passenger
cars and a gasoline-powered "F-unit" style locomotive
from somewhere in Southern California in 1955.
Postcard view, circa 1960s
A
picture of a picture of the first locomotive..
A 1995 windstorm blew down one of the giant redwood trees on the hillside, and it crashed down onto the locomotive, demolishing the body.
Basking in the
last-day-of-summer sun, #1 "Rusts In Peace"
A new steam-engine style locomotive was fabricated, using the running gear out of the 40-year-veteran and an Isuzu diesel truck engine.
Engineer Tony Van
Steen and Confusion Hill #2
Close-up
of #2's Isuzu engine and the drive chain... note the red
"cow-catcher" at right
Front truck of the
0-4-4-0 Confusion Hill locomotive
On the loop around
the display area at the top of the hill, three rails are used to
eliminate a swithch-throw - and use less rail. Note the switching
handle on the right side of the cab.
Can anyone give us any info
on this fire engine's heritage?
