Dennis Winger

Featured Member

I was born in Los Angeles (1947), raised on the beaches of Southern California and grew up around motorcycling and surfing. I moved to Redding after graduating from Narbonne High School and was drafted into the Army in April, 1968; I served in the 1st Cav (artillery) in Vietnam beginning January, 1969. I was wounded December, 1969, was sent home to Letterman Hospital and released March, 1970. 

I spent the next year in Santa Barbara reacquainting myself with civilization which included getting my pilot’s license. I tested and interviewed for law enforcement jobs around the state and ended up in Woodland, where my family was living, hired by Yolo County SO in May, 1971. I worked the jail and patrol, working mostly graveyard in East Yolo from 1973 to 1983. During this time, I earned an AS in Police Science from Sac City College. Got shot once. I then earned a BA in Criminal Justice Management from Sac State in 1980. I worked as PIO and training officer in Woodland, then spent my last couple years as a Woodland resident deputy for the north area.

During the same time, beginning in 1980, I formed a non-profit corporation to restore the steam locomotive on display at the Yolo County Fairgrounds. “Friends of the 1233” eventually became “Sacramento Valley Historical Railways,” raising money to not only cosmetically restore the steam locomotive, but to rebuild it into running condition.

I left in October, 1987, to work for the State as an information officer for the new state recycling program. From 1990 through 2009, I worked for the State at Energy Commission, Consumer Affairs and CalTrans Rail Division, working with Amtrak.

In 1989, three others and I established Yolo Shortline Railroad Company, and purchased the railroad from West Sacramento to Clarksburg to service Delta Sugar. We leased a diesel locomotive from our non-profit corporation and began hauling products to and from the sugar mill. This was done at night because most of us had day jobs, or vice-versa. We spent weekends repairing the track — it was some of the hardest work any of us had known. We didn’t take any pay for the first few years, instead banking the money and paying into railroad retirement.

In 1993, we purchased three much larger diesel locomotives and bought the railroad from West Sacramento to Woodland. Over the succeeding years we developed more business, hired several more people and continued to repair the tracks and locomotives. We eventually made enough money to start taking a small salary, all the while paying into railroad retirement. I left the company in 1996 due to work demands.

In 2009, I retired from the State. With my safety retirement from Yolo SO, the State retirement (both CalPERS) and my railroad retirement, I’ve done well. In the succeeding years, I’ve bought and restored a 1965 Ford Ranchero, I’ve participated in cycling, completing the annual San Francisco to LA ride, and many other multi-day events. I’ve traveled the world over and have worked as a brakeman and engineer at Nevada Northern Railway. Beginning this year, I was asked to return to Sacramento Valley Historical Railways to serve on the Board of Directors. It has been gratifying to see all the organization that has been done since I left in 1996. They purchased the Woodland train depot, moved and restored it, and established a small museum where the first locomotive used on Yolo Shoreline and the 1233 steam locomotive now reside, along with a caboose and other railroad artifacts.

I’m now 78 years of age, and remain in pretty good health. Regardless of my position in my life and no matter what I was doing, I’ve always been motivated by one thought: “I’m livin’ the dream!”