VALLEY SPRINGS -- March 31, 2008 -- One hundred and twenty-three years and one day after the first train of the San Joaquin & Sierra Nevada Railroad pulled into Valley Springs, the town will celebrate that event with a rededication of its historic train depot, a huge model railroad layout, and more. The Valley Springs Train Times event at the intersection of Highways 12 and 26, on Saturday, April 26, 2008, free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of West Calaveras History (SPWCH), the Valley Springs Area Business Association and the Historic Valley Springs Train Depot.

Event highlights will include:

--The Matuca Chapter 1849 of E Clampus Vitus will rededicate the State Historic Landmark at the depot and participate in the unveiling of a new “Valley Springs” sign that will be affixed to the building.

--The Sacramento Valley Division of the Toy Train Operating Society will display its major model railroad layout, 14 feet by 26 feet, which will be set up at Sheng Chi Kung Fu (139 Main St.). In addition, the group will bring a test track and invite anyone with a model railroad car of HO, O or standard gauge to run their car on that track.

--The Sacramento-based Recreational Railroad Coalition will display at least two of its “speeders,” classic railroad maintenance vehicles.

--Along with musical entertainment by acoustic folk singer-songwriter-guitarist Patricia Jackson, country rockers Never The Same, and folk rock’s The Train Gang, the Calaveras Gunfighters shoot-‘em-up theatrical group will perform.

--Well-known Calaveras County writer Glenn Wasson will read from his new book “Tales Mark Twain Would Have Loved To Steal,” including his poem “Saturday Night in Valley Springs.” Bill Renwick, the great-grandson of the stagedriver on Black Bart’s last hold-up, will read from his ancestor’s autobiography.

--The Ice Cream Depot will host an Olde Tyme Ice Cream Social from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., featuring ice cream specials and period music.

--Vendor booths will offer everything from framed historic photos and books to popular music CDs, vintage railroad artifacts and Train Times T-shirts to wooden train whistles and train engineer hats for children. 

For further information, please contact the SPWCH at 772-0336.