In 1939 Jones found a 1905 miniature steam engine on the San Francisco docks, bought it for $100 and ran it on his ranch at Daves Avenue and Winchester Boulevard. After his two sons were killed in World War II, he ran the Wildcat Railroad for neighborhood children free of charge. Walt Disney was a visitor and friend.
After Jones died in 1968, residents formed a nonprofit and moved the railroad to Oak Meadow Park, using an old Southern Pacific flatcar as its bridge over Los Gatos Creek. By 1992 it carried well over 100,000 riders a year.