In 1974, a group of people interested in making and maintaining scale models of steam railroad trains started doing so in Chula Vista’s Rohr Park. They continue to do so to this day, allowing visitors to take rides of these mini-machines across the tracks. 

Scott Lewis, president of the Chula Vista Live Steamers, recently saw the proposal for redevelopment of the Chula Vista Golf Course and Rohr Park on Facebook and was shocked at what he found, according to the San Diego Reader. 

The redevelopment proposal calls for 2,000 residential units across multi-family complexes as well as six acres of retail and office space. Nowhere in the plans did there seem to be any train tracks or room for them. 

“We looked at the map, and we didn’t see no train tracks, and we are kinda freaking out,” Lewis told the Reader. Lewis told Chula Vista mayor Mary Casillas Salas and the Chula Vista City Council that Live Steamers deserve to continue to have space at the park, especially since they’ve held a “good safety record.” 

 

To lose the steam trains would be a loss of nostalgia but more concretely it could also have an impact on property values in Bonita, as Rohr Park and the miniature trains are considered selling points.

Councilmember John McCann tried to assuage concerns at a recent meeting, saying “there is no project to get rid of the golf course, and I don’t support any project to get rid of the golf course to build apartment complexes … Rohr Park is a tremendous asset for just open space.”