Off The Rails: Sonoma County’s repurposed train cars

Next time you drive your Chevy to the levee, cruise down a highway or take River Road to the coast, think back on the only two forms of transportation available to those living here more than a century ago. They walked or used some form of horse power, either riding one or being pulled by one.

But then came the railroad, and from the 1870s through the 1950s, railroad lines connected the county.

Before railroads, the North Bay was served by ships that sailed along the coast and at Petaluma, Sonoma and Napa. “When the railroad came, it extended ease of transport north,” said Lauren Williams, a local railroad historian and president of Petaluma Trolley.

“The towns along the right-of-way became like a string of pearls. The railroad provided them with the opportunity for economic and agricultural development.”

In the 1950s, however, railroads were superseded by a highway system that made automobile and truck use more convenient or faster, Williams said.

Many of the railroad cars were no longer economically viable.

“They were obsolete and didn’t meet current specifications for use,” said Sonoma railroad historian Robert Parmelee. But the cars - passenger, boxcars, reefers (refrigerator cars) - still have great worth to individuals.

“There’s a great nostalgia people have for railroads,” Parmelee said. “They’re a reminder of the past.”

As we’ll see in the stories featured in this week’s Towns section, a number of county residents have found ways to repurpose the quirky charm of these former train cars, capturing that sense of the past, the allure of an era when rails and iron horses criss-crossed the county.

Library and studio in Duncans Mills: pressdemocrat.com/news/3004265-181/off-the-rails-duncans-mills

Cozy quarters in Cloverdale: pressdemocrat.com/news/3032876-181/caboose-becomes-cozy-abode

Backdrop for weddings in Sonoma: pressdemocrat.com/news/3028447-181/off-the-rails-backdrop-for

Peaceful office space in Geyserville: pressdemocrat.com/news/3028471-181/off-the-rails-peaceful-office

Dreaming of a cafe in Healdsburg: pressdemocrat.com/news/3028457-181/off-the-rails-dreaming-of