Greetings family, friends, train and roadside attraction buddies! Have you ever heard of the Chicken Kitchen Railroad? Yup, the CKRR operated just north of Stockton at Pollardville up until a few decades ago. I hope that you enjoy this brief backstory about the little fowl railway....Bill
Embedded Files
MUSINGS OF A THEME PARK FAN
CHICKEN KITCHEN RAILROAD
Ray and Ruth Pollard established their original Chicken Kitchen in 1944 serving “Chicken in a Bun” to go from a small shack in Castro Valley. In 1946 the Pollard’s moved the fledgling business to just north of Stockton on busy Highway 99 and over the next decade the thriving Chicken Kitchen restaurant outgrew the premises. The Pollard’s moved once again, this time to 16 acres adjacent to Highway 99 with enough space to accommodate their plans for a roadside attraction “Pollardville”, a western town, showboat melodrama theater and a collection of authentic (and some not so authentic) gold rush buildings and artifacts. Circling the restaurant, shops and attractions ran the half mile long Chicken Kitchen Railroad, a homemade gasoline powered miniature 4-4-0 train ride. After purchasing tickets at the little depot, passengers on the CKRR rode in two short rustic coaches over a lagoon and around the perimeter of the grounds passing Boot Hill, Gold Hole Mining Company, Pan “N” Tell Gold Panning, Livery Stable, Gold Depository, and the Palace Showboat. Unfortunately business was never the same after a fire destroyed the Chicken Restaurant and Highway 99 freeway alignment hindered direct access to the grounds. Decreasing attendance, underfunding and delayed maintenance finally in 2008 resulted in the permanent closure of the replacement Chicken Restaurant, the CKRR, and the final demolition of Ray and Ruth Pollard’s roadside attraction.
Photo by Bill Ralph
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse