Carousel Expansion Project

THANK YOU

On behalf of the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, we wanted to extend a sincere THANK YOU to all who donated to our carousel building expansion. We are grateful for the support that our community continues to extend to us, and we know how fortunate we are to continue to do what we do.

The project is progressing well. Lots of work has been put in these last couple of weeks, especially trying to work around the rain. The structure is up, and makes for a wonderful addition to our building. We are anticipating the finished project, and are excited to share it with all of you once it is done.

Again, we would like to extend big THANK YOU for all the support, with a special shout out to Billy Jones’ family: Boots Peters, John K. Miles and Priscilla Peters, and Robert Butterfield. And Bill Mason’s family: Kay Duff.

Carousel-Addition-in-progress
Our exciting Carousel Addition in progress
Carousel-Addition-in-progress-side
Carousel addition getting ready for sheetrock
The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions, either financial, goods, or services, are tax deductible to the fullest extent possible.

The BJWRR does not receive any outside funding, and sustains itself on the generosity of our patrons and supporters.

We need your help!

Our newest project is to expand the current carousel building, and build another room similar to our current carousel workshop and ticket booth but larger in scale. The W.E. “Bill” Mason Carousel opened in 1991 after a 10 year restoration project that required over 200 hours of work on each carousel horse.

bjwrr-carousel-workshop-1980s
The current carousel workshop being built in the 1980’s. The carousel building was constructed by volunteers, as well as the entire restoration of the carousel.

Over the last four years, we have had a volunteer working on restoring one horse at a time, as well as two more volunteers wanting to take on more horses. The only problem is we don’t have the room for more than one person to work at a time. With this in mind, we decided that the carousel should expand to create more workshops. With a plan in place, we waited patiently for a permit to begin our build, and while we waited for the green light, we noticed another problem that could be addressed with this expansion.

Over the years, the railroad has grown tremendously. We have been fortunate enough to have repeat customers, and customers who visit us from all over the country and even the world. Due to the growing volume, our ticket booth is not keeping up with the demand.

Our goal is to create one larger room on the side of the carousel near the entrance. This room would become our new ticket booth where we can place two employees to ensure that purchasing tickets can be fast and seamless. The current ticket booth would be transformed into another carousel workshop so we can continue to restore our horses.

BJWRR-Workshop-Tickets-Booth
Current carousel workshop and ticket booth. The workshop will remain a workshop, while the ticket booth will become another workshop.
bjwrr carousel plan
Our plan is to build two new rooms. One larger to become the new ticketbooth, and a smaller one as another carousel workshop.
You may donate through PayPal by selecting one of the buttons below.

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If you wish to donate a different amount please contact us.

To make a donation by personal check, print out and complete the donation form. Mail the completed form with your check payable to Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad to: BJWRR, PO Box 234, Los Gatos, CA, 95031.

In addition, BJWRR supports living trusts, memorial giving, and corporate donations from various entities and persons interested in perpetuating the organization. These may be arranged by contacting us.

The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad also relies on corporate sponsorship. Organizations and companies wishing to contribute shall receive recognition on our website, in our quarterly newsletter and be invited to attend our annual barbecue.

Hopefully you can find a place for us among all the other things that tug at the “Proverbial Pocket Book.” Again keep in mind that we are an non-profit (c)(3) tax exempt corporation and all financial and material contributions are tax exempt. Furthermore, we are totally self-sustaining and do not accept or receive any public (tax monies) funding from any source.

From all of us at the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad,

THANK YOU!