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The Cedar Rock Railroad is owned and operated by Texas Bells and Whistles, a
little company started by Ken Knowles and his very understanding and patient
wife, Holly.
After years of envying those lucky few who drove the little trains in parks
across the country, Ken decided to finally look into what it would take to
have a park train of his own. The Internet was a wonderful tool to fuel his
research and ultimately led him to what he was looking for. He found a train
that he wanted to buy and thought it would then be just a simple process of
finding a nice place to operate it. Wow, was he ever naive.
Ken worked with local governments in Central Texas for a few years to find a
home for his train and when it looked like things were close to coming
together, he prepared to buy it. Fortunately before buying the used train, Ken
tracked down the builder and instead was able to work out a new design on a
totally new locomotive.
Unfortunately, city negotiations with Georgetown got derailed after he had
already built the locomotive, so for a couple of years he had a 20-foot long
locomotive to run on his own property. Ken spent that time working on the
solid walnut cab and developing new features for the locomotive like the first-
of-its-kind synchronized smoke and steam sound system, the working track
sander, and detailed Victorian graphics.
Persistence and patience pays off with receptive Commissioners in Williamson
County willing to let Ken and Holly propose a train for the County's new 800-
acre park. A year and a half later, he won the contract bid and then had the
challenge to build a 1 and 1/3 mile, 16 gauge railroad for the public in just 120
days. Psssh! Piece of cake!
Ken and Holly laid all the track themselves in just 56 days! Holly cut and
drilled over 5200 4x4 ties while Ken laid the 28 tons of 12lb rail by himself (on
the weekends and evenings after their "day jobs").
On July 16th, 2004 they broke ground and almost exactly 6 months later on
December 18th, they opened to their first passengers. (okay, not exactly 120
days but that was pretty dern close.) They ran quietly for the first couple of
months to be sure any kinks were worked out and then had their Grand Opening
on April 9th, 2005. They got a great publicity boost from the local KXAN
news covering their story with an "Out on the Porch with Jim Swift" segment
that captured some great video shots.
If you live in Central Texas or if you're ever planning to be in the neighborhood,
please stop by and check out the railroad. They are just a little north of
Austin near Cedar Park and Round Rock (hence the name: Cedar Rock) and
they would love to meet you.
little company started by Ken Knowles and his very understanding and patient
wife, Holly.
After years of envying those lucky few who drove the little trains in parks
across the country, Ken decided to finally look into what it would take to
have a park train of his own. The Internet was a wonderful tool to fuel his
research and ultimately led him to what he was looking for. He found a train
that he wanted to buy and thought it would then be just a simple process of
finding a nice place to operate it. Wow, was he ever naive.
Ken worked with local governments in Central Texas for a few years to find a
home for his train and when it looked like things were close to coming
together, he prepared to buy it. Fortunately before buying the used train, Ken
tracked down the builder and instead was able to work out a new design on a
totally new locomotive.
Unfortunately, city negotiations with Georgetown got derailed after he had
already built the locomotive, so for a couple of years he had a 20-foot long
locomotive to run on his own property. Ken spent that time working on the
solid walnut cab and developing new features for the locomotive like the first-
of-its-kind synchronized smoke and steam sound system, the working track
sander, and detailed Victorian graphics.
Persistence and patience pays off with receptive Commissioners in Williamson
County willing to let Ken and Holly propose a train for the County's new 800-
acre park. A year and a half later, he won the contract bid and then had the
challenge to build a 1 and 1/3 mile, 16 gauge railroad for the public in just 120
days. Psssh! Piece of cake!
Ken and Holly laid all the track themselves in just 56 days! Holly cut and
drilled over 5200 4x4 ties while Ken laid the 28 tons of 12lb rail by himself (on
the weekends and evenings after their "day jobs").
On July 16th, 2004 they broke ground and almost exactly 6 months later on
December 18th, they opened to their first passengers. (okay, not exactly 120
days but that was pretty dern close.) They ran quietly for the first couple of
months to be sure any kinks were worked out and then had their Grand Opening
on April 9th, 2005. They got a great publicity boost from the local KXAN
news covering their story with an "Out on the Porch with Jim Swift" segment
that captured some great video shots.
If you live in Central Texas or if you're ever planning to be in the neighborhood,
please stop by and check out the railroad. They are just a little north of
Austin near Cedar Park and Round Rock (hence the name: Cedar Rock) and
they would love to meet you.