On a day full of treats, join us on Thursday, November 6th when we'll visit old No. 9 at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Ted Bagaman has already done the legwork for this expedition. Thanks Ted.
By Sam Whiting, Reporter July 27, 2025
SACRAMENTO — Early morning commuters on Highway 37 Friday would have been taken aback by an ancient mode of transportation rolling alongside the old passenger railroad tracks that once connected Marin County to Vallejo and the world beyond. It was Engine No. 9, the last relic of the fabled Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, on a tractor trailer headed up the line to Sacramento.
The steam locomotive, built in 1921 and lettered in gold, was bound for the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where it will go on public display in August. This completes a seven-year restoration effort by Friends of No. 9, a nonprofit that sank $500,000 and 15,000 volunteer hours into arriving at this point.
“This is like a coronation for us,” said Fred Runner, President of Friends of No. 9, the Novato nonprofit that got the job done. The engine was delivered in a five-vehicle parade from Sebastopol to Sacramento, led by Sheedy Drayage of San Francisco, which transported the 36-ton load of iron and steel, free of charge.
“To be invited to the CSRM is like having a vintage car invited to show at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach,” Runner said. “It’s a very rare thing that just doesn’t happen. But it did.”
As a teaser for the railroad museum display, No. 9 was brought by the same Sheedy Drayage trailer to the Mill Valley Depot over Memorial Day weekend. It made its public premiere in the town parade, with its bell ringing and the whistle blowing and smoke coming out of the engine.
“There was a tremendous display of enthusiasm by people who loved the engine and thought it should stay at the depot,” Runner said. But by then the train was already rolling to Sacramento, a commitment made a year ago, when it was still in mid-restoration at a workshop.
That was a job that took seven years from the moment it was purchased at auction up near Eureka, where it had sat out in the weather gathering rust for 62 years.
“We are lucky that there is this marvelous group of obsessives that tracks these old steam engines,” said Runner, who led a team that outbid five other obsessive parties to muster up the winning bid of $56,240 to buy No. 9. A mix of individuals and nonprofit groups raised the money in just three weeks. A Canadian mining company was outbid at the live auction by five citizens who were devoted to the lore of the old Mount Tam railroad line and knew this was the last remaining piece of it.
“There is this whole fabric of stories about the lore of Mount Tam, and the railroad is at the center of it,” said Runner, a movie sound mixer who worked on “Basic Instinct,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Total Recall” and most recently “Top Gun: Maverick,” which won an Academy Award for sound two years ago.
“As a moviemaker I’m interested in stories, and the stories about Mount Tam are tremendous,“ Runner said. The story of the Mount Tam railway, which called itself “the crookedest railroad in the world,” was told in the 1980s in “Steaming Up Tamalpais,” a short documentary by Mill Valley filmmaker Cris Chater. Runner saw it at the Mill Valley Film Festival and started tracing the tourist railroad line, which was built in 1896 and scrapped in 1930. Its 8.1 miles of track from the Mill Valley depot to the Mount Tam summit — 281 turns later — had been ripped out, as was the 2-mile spur into Muir Woods.
Mt. Tam railroad’s last survivor restored and ready for new role at California museum
Greg
Quick and Dirty
SACRAMENTO — Early morning commuters on Highway 37 Friday would have been taken aback by an ancient mode of transportation rolling alongside the old passenger railroad tracks that once connected Marin County to Vallejo and the world beyond. It was Engine No. 9, the last relic of the fabled Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, on a tractor trailer headed up the line to Sacramento.
The steam locomotive, built in 1921 and lettered in gold, was bound for the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where it will go on public display in August. This completes a seven-year restoration effort by Friends of No. 9, a nonprofit that sank $500,000 and 15,000 volunteer hours into arriving at this point.
“This is like a coronation for us,” said Fred Runner, President of Friends of No. 9, the Novato nonprofit that got the job done. The engine was delivered in a five-vehicle parade from Sebastopol to Sacramento, led by Sheedy Drayage of San Francisco, which transported the 36-ton load of iron and steel, free of charge.
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“To be invited to the CSRM is like having a vintage car invited to show at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach,” Runner said. “It’s a very rare thing that just doesn’t happen. But it did.”
Engine No. 9 heads toward the Tower Bridge in Sacramento en route to the California State Railroad Museum on July 25.
Courtesy of Fred Runner
As a teaser for the railroad museum display, No. 9 was brought by the same Sheedy Drayage trailer to the Mill Valley Depot over Memorial Day weekend. It made its public premiere in the town parade, with its bell ringing and the whistle blowing and smoke coming out of the engine.
“There was a tremendous display of enthusiasm by people who loved the engine and thought it should stay at the depot,” Runner said. But by then the train was already rolling to Sacramento, a commitment made a year ago, when it was still in mid-restoration at a workshop.
That was a job that took seven years from the moment it was purchased at auction up near Eureka, where it had sat out in the weather gathering rust for 62 years.
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Article continues below this ad
“We are lucky that there is this marvelous group of obsessives that tracks these old steam engines,” said Runner, who led a team that outbid five other obsessive parties to muster up the winning bid of $56,240 to buy No. 9. A mix of individuals and nonprofit groups raised the money in just three weeks. A Canadian mining company was outbid at the live auction by five citizens who were devoted to the lore of the old Mount Tam railroad line and knew this was the last remaining piece of it.
“There is this whole fabric of stories about the lore of Mount Tam, and the railroad is at the center of it,” said Runner, a movie sound mixer who worked on “Basic Instinct,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Total Recall” and most recently “Top Gun: Maverick,” which won an Academy Award for sound two years ago.
“As a moviemaker I’m interested in stories, and the stories about Mount Tam are tremendous,“ Runner said. The story of the Mount Tam railway, which called itself “the crookedest railroad in the world,” was told in the 1980s in “Steaming Up Tamalpais,” a short documentary by Mill Valley filmmaker Cris Chater. Runner saw it at the Mill Valley Film Festival and started tracing the tourist railroad line, which was built in 1896 and scrapped in 1930. Its 8.1 miles of track from the Mill Valley depot to the Mount Tam summit — 281 turns later — had been ripped out, as was the 2-mile spur into Muir Woods.
Fred Runner, the president of Friends of Number 9, sits in the cab of the refurbished steam locomotive that once ran up Mount Tamalpais.
Carl Nolte/S.F. Chronicle
Only Engine No. 9 survived, probably because it was still new with life left in it when the railway closed so it wasn’t sold for scrap. It worked an additional 25 years hauling lumber from the forest to the mills.
“Amazingly it didn’t get melted down to turn into weapons during World War II,” Runner said. No. 9 was no longer in running condition when the Friends bought it at auction, and it is still not in running condition because the boiler would need to be rebuilt and certified at a cost of $150,000, he estimated.
The engine is 34 feet long, 12 feet high and 9 feet wide, and every aspect including the nonworking boiler was taken apart piece by piece. It was all repaired, cleaned, greased and then put back together — tender, cab, boiler, frame, even the assembly for the steel wheels.
“The restoration of the No. 9 represents the very best impulses of the preservation community,” said Ty Smith, director of the California State Railroad Museum. “Although the locomotive won't steam passengers up Mount Tamalpais, it serves as a window into a remarkable episode in California history. We’re grateful to be able to share in telling this important story.”
Friends of No. 9 at the California State Railroad Museum, from left: Jonathan Lemberg, Eric Macris, Jeff Millerick, Don Millerick, Fred Runner, Ryan Millerick, David Waterman and Rick Beach, steelworkers and rail fans.
Courtesy of Fred Runner
When it arrived by caravan Friday morning, No. 9 was put onto the museum’s railroad track and pushed along to its display stage. At that point, Runner was allowed to sit in the engineer’s seat and listen to the valves open and close while No. 9 was actually moving on live track for the first time since 1953.
It went only a few hundred feet, but the ride was smooth, thanks to 16 new springs. “To feel the engine actually moving and hearing it hiss was a thrill,” he said.
The engine was then removed to storage space, to allow museum staff time to finalize the exhibit. No. 9 will be up for six months with a possible extension, but it still needs a permanent home.
“While it is in Sacramento, we are working on it,” Runner said. “It’s an extraordinary piece of local history that deserves to be remembered.”