The Little Engine That Did

By C.J. Hirschfield

Last week, Fairyland welcomed more than a thousand guests to our first Port Day, in partnership with the good folks who operate Oakland’s popular air- and seaports. Together with its business partners, the Port of Oakland supports more than 73,000 jobs in the region, and getting kids – even little ones – excited about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) may ignite an interest that could lead to a career in the sciences … and perhaps at the Port.

Many wonderful hands-on activities and giveaways were on the schedule, but the big draw was the Port’s mini container crane that could be operated by the kids. The crane had not been out in the community for a number of years, so we were over-the-top excited.

But just half an hour before we were to open our fairy gates, disaster struck.

You see, although the crane is mini when compared to its huge working counterparts, it is nonetheless 12 feet tall and weighs in at about a thousand pounds. When it was pulled into our grassy meadow area, its trailer sank into the rain-soaked earth and couldn’t be extracted.

The Port of Oakland's mini crane.

Lines were building outside our gate, and we were afraid that the crane show wouldn’t be able to go on.

Enter Brett Bye, Fairyland’s maintenance mechanic and self-proclaimed “country boy.” He grew up in agricultural Watsonville, where “everybody’s always pulling someone out of the mud.” Brett assessed the situation, talking with the two Port representatives who operate the real (huge) cranes. He went away and returned with … the engine of our Lakeside Lark train.

The original Lark was built in 1959 to carry up to 40 guests around Lakeside Park and to Fairyland. The train was decommissioned in the 1980s and replaced by a propane-powered version in 1989. These days it’s taken out just once a year, to lead Oakland’s Pride Parade. With Brett at the wheel, it travels at a poky 15 miles per hour, but is still a hit. “I always keep it at the ready,” says Brett, because, he reasons, you just never know when it might come in handy.

Brett knows that horsepower is about speed, and torque is about strength. He also knows that underneath the cute Fairyland exterior, the Lark has the heart of a 1968 Chrysler tractor, which screams torque.

Lakeside Lark towing the mini-crane.

When Brett pulled up in the Lark’s engine (without its cars), the Port team appeared understandably skeptical. Brett chained the Lark to the trailer, the Port team came to help and we all collectively held our breath. The words “I think I can, I think I can” did run through my head. “I don’t think they believed that our little choo-choo could pull off an industrial-strength action,” Brett told me.

Without an actual hitch, the Lark was fired up, and called to action. At first the trailer jackknifed a little, but then—success! The mini crane was then properly positioned, the truck, trailer and the Lakeside Lark moved, and the team was ready for the hordes of happy kids, who adored being at the controls of a super-cool crane.

Kids waiting in line to operate the mini-crane.

Brett is Fairyland’s go-to guy for all things mechanical. He worked for years for the city of Capitola, operating front loaders, cranes, tractors and the like. He also worked for Indian Motorcycle. At Fairyland he pulls off magic tricks every day at our 68-year-old park, where something always needs TLC. “In the agricultural community I come from, I’m kind of average,” he says modestly. Brett says he’s glad that the Lark is still able to be useful. “I’d hate to see it go away and just rust in peace,” is how he puts it.

The Port donated child-size hard hats to our Port Day guests. (Photo by John Kirkmire, LakeMerritt.org)

When the Lark leads the Oakland Pride parade, with dozens of kids and a bubble machine on board, the cuteness factor is high. But when called upon, the Lark can be a lean, mean pulling machine. It’s all about the torque.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 15 years as executive director of Children's Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation's oldest storybook theme park