Early Morning in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Aug. 2, 2001

It's the wee hours of the morning on a midsummer's day in the 30's.  In the cool pre-dawn hours, work has already begun in the Santa Cruz mountains.  The full moon is low in the sky an hour before it sets, and casts its ghostly light over SCLCo No. 2 as, by the dim light of newly installed electric lamps, the engine crew takes on sand in preparation for the new day's work ahead.

Life is hard during the depression, and work begins early and ends late, but the men of the SCLCo feel fortunate to have steady jobs and a regular paycheck during a time when, elsewhere, breadlines are long.   Besides, there's always Saturday night to look forward to when, with money in their pockets, they'll go into Boulder Creek, Felton, or Santa Cruz and live it up, with all day off Sunday to recover.  Yes, they are among the lucky ones.   In the meantime, there's today, and work to be done, with logs to be hauled over steep grades.  No. 2 will need sand if she's to get the job done, and her engine crew lovingly looks to her needs.