Most people don't realize that there is a historic railroad that still runs in the Sierra National Forest. In 1899 the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company opened a narrow gauge railroad track in the Sierra National Forest. Though it stopped hauling logs in 1931, part of the Yosemite train route has been reconstructed and two restored vintage steam locomotives now take visitors on tours through a majestic landscape.

Although the train does not go through Yosemite National Park proper, the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad as it is now called, provides sightseers with a beautiful 4-mile excursion at the park's south gate just off highway 41. In additon to the narrated tour, the railroad company also has events with dinners, music, melodrama theatre and a rail ride under the night sky. Definitely someting to consider if you are planning a trip to Yosemite.

A narrow gauge railroad is so named because its track gauge is narrower than 4 ft 8½ inches (or 1,435 mm) which is the width of a standard gauge railway. Narrow gauge railways are typically 3 ft 6 inches (or 1,067 mm) wide or less.

There are two main advantages that narrow gauge railways have over standard gauge. First, they are far less expensive to build, operate and maintain, with their lighter construction and smaller cars and locomotives. Second, they can be built with a smaller curve radius and fit into smaller spaces. These two factors made narrow guage railroads ideal for certain industries such as mining, and as mentioned logging, due to mountainous terrain such as Yosemite. The main disadvantages are less hauling capacity and slower speeds. Today, modern trucks have made narrow guage railroads something of an endangered species.

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