Santa Is Back on Track at Griffith Park's Travel Town 

By BRENDA REES, Special to The Times

He has the white fluffy beard, red hat and jolly laugh, but this is one Santa who would rather be behind a moving locomotive than a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer.  Santa Fe Claus, the railroad Santa, will be donning his blue and white striped train overalls Sunday to meet kids of all ages at Travel Town in Griffith Park. A tradition at the museum for eight years, Santa Fe Claus will welcome visitors aboard the free caboose rides offered monthly at the railroad museum.  

Even though the caboose ride is only a short 600 feet, Santa Fe Claus (Steve DeVorkian) says it offers families an up-close view of a working train and a reminder of what Los Angeles used to be before freeways and SigAlerts.  I think people come to Travel Town to experience the sights, sounds and smells of an old railroad," says DeVorkian, a member of the Southern California Scenic Railway Assn. 

"As a kid, I remember coming here and peering through the cobwebs at the locked-up passenger cars, wondering what was in there. Now, as an adult, I'm part of the effort that's restoring these treasures. It's a wonderful opportunity." 

Since its inception in 1952, Travel Town has been celebrated, enjoyed and then forgotten. It's only recently that the railroad playground is being rediscovered as a vital part of not only Griffith Park but also of Los Angeles history. 
In the late 1940s, the steam engine era was coming to a close, and Charley Atkins, a Recreation and Parks Department employee, rallied railroad-loving friends to create a "railroad petting zoo" for children. 

Atkins found support for his idea at Griffith Park and managed to coordinate donations of soon-to-be-scrapped engines and passenger cars to the site. Grand ceremonies commemorated each donation. From 1955 to 1961, children
and adults could ride an operating steam engine on a nearby Travel Town track. 

But in the 1970s, Travel Town fell into disrepair and became a regular target of vandals and thieves, who frequently helped themselves to neglected train parts.
Atkins' prized trains and cars became a cluttered mess. 

Recent efforts, however, are breathing life back into Travel Town. A series of renovations by volunteer organizations is helping to revitalize the facilities, making them accessible and family-friendlier. 

Probably the most ambitious project is to lay 2 1/2 miles of track that will connect Travel Town with the Los Angeles Zoo. Dubbed the Crystal Springs & Cahuenga Valley Railroad, the track has been a labor of love for volunteers who
eagerly come out to swing spike mallets and lay wooden ties. 

"We are going to build the track the old-fashioned way--by hand," says Greg Gneier, construction manager. "We have been able to get ties and rail donated by railroads for the project. Progress has been slow because we rely 100% on volunteers, but we'll get it done."  In addition to their regular volunteers, the railroad project has received help from the Boy Scouts, the National Guard and the Civilian Conservation Corps.  

Darlene Sexton came from Sylmar to work on the railroad last spring after a judge ordered her to do community service for a series of speeding tickets. "At first I thought it was silly, but I got so caught up with what they were doing that I put in extra hours--more than I was assigned," she says with a laugh. "The judge was stunned." 

After Sexton joined the American Southwestern Railway Assn., she studied and recently became one of the organization's first female engineers. "There is nothing like the feeling of driving a full-size locomotive," she says. "How many women can say they do this for fun?"  

Volunteer restoration projects abound at Travel Town. The two most significant are the renovation of a swanky 1921 Union Pacific club dormitory car called "The Little Nugget" and a 1929 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe motorcar locomotive. Twice a month, docents lead visitors around the works in progress. 
Volunteer model train lovers also have claimed part of Travel Town as their own. 

Located inside a pavilion, the Los Angeles N-Scale Assn. has been re-creating the look and feel of rural and urban California in 1:160 scale.  "This is one of the largest N-scale layouts in the world," says volunteer Jack Howland. "We've been at this location since 1979, and the layout is constantly evolving." 

Covering more than 2,000 square feet, the layout represents about 33 miles of track, running through bucolic orange groves and mountainous logging camps to crowded harbors and big-city terminals. On any given weekend, Travel Town visitors can observe model train enthusiasts operating their trains or adding to the layout. 

"I used to build model ships in college," says Howland. "Then someone suggested that I build trains, because at least they run instead of sitting on a shelf. It's a hobby that just gets into you." 

The lure of the train--of whatever size--is unmistakably strong for the volunteers at Travel Town. Many point back to childhood memories of witnessing trains in motion and sensing a living creature under the metal, pistons and gears. 

"For me, listening to the sounds of a train starting up--the hissing, the chugging--is always like hearing an animal breathe," says DeVorkian. "I am always in awe of trains as art in motion, and I am glad my children love them as much as I do."  

BE THERE 

Santa Fe Claus will greet visitors on caboose rides at the Travel Town Museum Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Travel Town is at 5200 W. Zoo Drive in Griffith Park off the Forest Lawn exit from the Ventura Freeway. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The museum is closed Christmas Day.  

Travel Town offers caboose rides the first Sunday of every month and docent-led tours of the Union Pacific passenger cars on Saturdays of the second and third weekends each month. All events are free. A miniature train operates daily around Travel Town: adults, $1.75; children, $1.25. 

Two of Travel Town's passenger cars are available for birthday parties and meetings. Rentals start at $80 for three hours. (213) 662-5874.