The fires burning in Northern California have now grown to over 200,000 acres and have killed more than 40 people. Closer to home the area off Highway 41 near Yosemite is recovering from the Railroad Fire that threatened communities, resorts and even a large grove of giant sequoias. But perhaps the most iconic feature at risk of being lost was the historic Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. Josh Trayor conducts train rides every couple hours along a four mile route in the Sierra National Forest. It’s all part of the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. In late August the fleet of trains and historic buildings almost went up in smoke. “As you guys can probably tell we did have a little fire here a few weeks back,” Trayor says. On large portions of the ride both sides of the forest and a little bit of the railway are charred. The wildfire started not too far away from the railway. General Manager Shane Blackwell was on site that day, August 29. “We were preparing to board for our
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