At the October 2002 Fall Meet at Sacramento Valley Live Steamers, Lee Franchette met with Ann Bruner-Welch. Lee wanted to know how Ann felt about starting a live steam club in Santa Rosa. He and a friend of his had talked about it for many years. He was looking for support for his idea.

Ann thought it was a great idea! They talked to others from the Santa Rosa area at the Meet and came up with a list of names of folks they thought might be interested. Ann offered space in her home to meet the following week. Redwood Empire Live Steamers was born. We have been meeting the first Friday of every month since.

We became an official non-profit organization by IRS and the State of California in 2005. We collected over 2,300 signatures at various community events and demonstrated public support to occupy public lands. We then developed a business and financial plan.  Numerous other railroad museums were gracious in their support in offering guidance and education as we researched what works and what pitfalls to avoid.

We worked closely with the City of Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department since 2003, and ran on portable track we built at Youth Community Park until October 2009. The City then granted permission to proceed with building the initial phase of the permanent track.

We have received grants from organizations such as the Donner Foundation, Bermar Science and Technologies, the City of Santa Rosa Community Advisory Board Grant, and Kaiser’s Giving Campaign, and individual donations from Ann and Don Bruner-Welch, Pam and Bill Schilling, Jim and Roberta Martorella, Karen and Shawn McCorkle and Steve Waterfall to name a few. These generous funds have enabled us to build portable track, purchase a used engine, build riding cars, purchase a trailer to house the track, canopies, tables, barrier rope, and other supporting items to get up and running, and then purchase the materials to build the initial loop of permanent track. Further donations are always encouraged and appreciated.

We are also networking with various community groups such as Santa Rosa Junior College Engineering Department, Santa Rosa City Schools Regional Occupational Programs, Boy Scouts of America, and Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society as well as other groups to help build the scenery around the railroad facility and help tell the history of this community in an interactive way!

The City also worked with a selected group of organizations, including the museum to further develop the park site.