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What a community, I love this video, makes me want to drive and soak in the experience. I'm so happy there's such a fine establishment in Los Banos!

For a short documentary, this is pretty good.

Great Video, Impressive Dairy Farm, Spectacular Feed mixing plant, thanks for sharing

I'm from Bakersfield. I really enjoyed this film.

Say what you want about history, but the first thing people asked after the new owners took over is, "Hows the food?". It is amazing that the Basque culture and food have survived this long without a country. But it may be that not having a country is how they survived.

What an interesting documentary about your grandmother, she is such a lovely lady! Everyone has a story worth sharing, you did a fantastic helping your grandmother tell hers!

Who else loves #10

What a great video! I just started learning about Basque culture as I started planning our vacation in Nevada and ran across several articles about towns that referenced Basque people or Basque food there. I had to learn more, so I jumped down the Basque culture rabbit hole, which today brought me to this video. I am a food and nutrition educator in Illinois and I love to share with my clients the stories of different treasures and traditions that are carried on through the foods we eat. I"m really looking forward to visiting out west and getting to experience some Basque food in Nevada!

Epitome of the -RIght Stuff.

Well done!

This is a superb tribute for a beyond superb person. Very well done :)

I’m from Los Banos, my family are the Basingers, & Wool Growers has been so special to Los Banos, woven into the fabric of the community. A few years ago, my mom’s high school reunion was held there, and it just felt so special. It’s funny that when you’re young, you tend to want to get out of the small town that you’re from, but as you get older (I’m 51 now), you long for that connection to your hometown. That’s how I feel about Los Banos these days, even though I live in the Bay Area now. Life just seems so much simpler, you know? Great short film. ❤

He was such a remarkable man. I think of him and Robert Crippen every April 12.

This place holds such a special place in my heart for the memories I’ve had here. A lot of us grew up in Santa Cruz and and the others in the valley. Los Banos was always the halfway part. 25-30 of us would meet her ever since I can remember and we would fill that bar then the back room. With All Portuguese and Italian farmers this place has always felt like home to me. Tells a story of cultures past that use to live in Central California before me and influenced how I was raised. I’m 40 now and so many of my family members are gone now so I look to places like this for the nostalgia and memories I can pass on to my kids. This place is truly part of California Americana and I’m so glad they get their story told. The fact that they have barley changed for over 100 years is something you just don’t see anymore and when everything is trying to be brand new this place strives to persevere. True Gem. Central California cuisine at its finest imo.

It's when you see footage such as these brave pioneers of Space, you realise how NASA have dragged their feet for the last 50 years....

What a great film. My grandparents retired to Los Banos in the 1980’s and this became our special occasion, or no occasion, place to eat out. My dad and I had many wonderful meals with them here and the last few years before they passed my dad would gather my great Aunts, Uncles and cousins for an annual dinner on him. The last time we ate here was our last trip to LB to clean out his house. I’ve wanted to go back. I think ownership may have changed again, so I’m not sure if I’d make the drive down, unless I knew it was like in this video.

This is a beautiful tribute 🪐

Out Standing !

Some of the trains today are over or will be 100 years old at this time. Trains have been an essential part in the age of industry with totting cargo and passengers in the masses to and fro. I will always appreciate that these trains are preserved or being revived for the tourist trade. My personal favorite railroads are from the Rio Grande in Colorado and New Mexico, but the trains from California have a share of my heart as well.

My great uncle ❤️ 💙 Arthur Selby 💙 ❤️ worked as a main line steam locomotive engineer with the Southern Pacific Railroad during the early part of the 20th century! He was based out of Dunsmuir California in Northern California ! He pulled trains between Roseville California and Klamath Falls Oregon through the Cascades mountain range! He drove his car 🚗 exactly like he handled his trains! My wonderful ♥️ dad and I both ❤️ are train buffs, and we really love ❤️ steam locomotives 🚂, especially the majestic ❤️ 😍 steam locomotives 🚂 that the Union Pacific Railroad still operates! My precious 💖 💗 💓 💛 ♥️ 💜 papa, is 87 years young, and I have tried to pattern my life after him, my sweet mama ❤️ 💕 💗 bear who lives ❤️ in heaven ❤️ 💙 ♥️ 💖 💗 💕 but still ❤️ 💙 lives in my heart ❤️ 💙 💜 💖 💗 💘 ❤️ and memories ❤️ 💙

Where are your spot ops ? I feel bad for your shader lol

I remember going there for dinner with a group of guys in the mid-1990's when we used to play golf at Stevinson Ranch GC nearby when it was open (the course is closed now). I just remember how much food I got for the $12 I paid for it. Now (2022), I heard it is now about $40. Still worth it.

"Each Locomotive has its own character"

This railroad is a class act from top to bottom! I’ve enjoyed every trip I’ve ever taken on it and look forward to many more. Was blessed to have been able to meet Max and thank him for what he was doing with the railroad. I told him how important it was to keep history alive and that everyone we’d dealt with was very friendly and knowledgeable. Only wish I was a lot closer than an 8 hour drive away! Blessings to all of you!

Beautiful film on a great little railroad. I've ridden the YMSPRR a number of times over the years. It's a neat find right off Highway 41. I have faith in the future of steam tourist railroads. There seems to be enough interest from younger generations (I'm 28) to keep them going. There might not be as many steam-powered operations as there are now, but there will still be plenty around, in the US as well as around the world, for future generations to experience.

Great documentary short. My mom literally grew up there. She lived in Los Banos from the late forties to the very late sixties, a daughter of Aragonese immigrants from Teruel and Huesca provinces. (They were the Martinez family because Ellis Island immigration officials could not spell Jarque accurately. This is how Esteban Jarque Martinez became known as Esteban and then Steve Martinez.) Her family were regulars who celebrated many momentous occasions there. I am grateful to the proprietors for keeping tradition alive.

It's hard to explain to people what it is about a steam locomotive the gets a man or woman's blood boiling. I had the pleasure of visiting this railroad last weekend, and it was an amazing time. Wish number 10 could have been out and about but she's getting a well-deserved rebuild. Steam locomotive is as close to creating a living breathing creature that man has ever come to. I knew an old fireman from Southern Pacific where I live in Texas who said" the steam locomotive was like a woman if you treated her right you were in good shape if you didn't treat her right she would make you pay dearly for your mistake"

Hey Matt - Thanks 4 sharing this special(I say special because it’s in my town & my blood,)vid to the world! In fact just brought home their takeout spread last night and then some,lol 🍽🍲🐑😋😊 I grew up on their cuisine since literally a baby👶🏻 and I am a happily homemade fed from scratch by the greatest Italian🇮🇹 and Portuguese🇵🇹 ladies in the WORLD,lol,that’s how GREAT WOOLGROWERS IS💯👌🏻🙌🏻‼️ Once again thank U and kind regards to U/familia!✌🏻🤠

Yep, that's the way it is with STEAM.

Great video! I just found 8mm film of a family coming out of the restaurant in the early 1940's

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Wow. To even be able to think that fast is crazy. I wish our church was large to have a production like this, this looks so fun to be a part of.

Very good movie...tell Joseph that I said "hi"! Jack Burgess, Newark CA

My dad used to bring me here as a child. He'd tae me though the back door in the kitchen. I'd get to sit at a table in there and get fed. Great memories of this place and the people that worked there then. Glad to see it's still doing well.

YUMMMM. WOOL GROWERS!♥️💯

You won’t find a better vegetable stew anywhere !

Good day everyone, there a youtuber call Chris Eden-Green who is a freelance film-maker and he specialize in camera operation, researching, editing and presenting that makes his own webseries called SLIP and who would love to review these locomotives, but he needs your help. He's trying to go to the USA and review and film these unique and majestic locomotives but it's expensive and he need your donation to review these locos; For £5,000, they can review the Jones & Laughlin Steelworks 0-4-0 Porter Switchers For £10,000, they can review the above, the Mount Washington Cog locos and the Forney 0-4-4s of the Maine Narrow Gauge For £15,000, they can review all of the above, the Denver & Rio Grande Mikados and the classic ‘American’ 4-4-0s For £20,000, they can review all of the above and the numerous Shay geared locos For £30,000, they can review all of the above, the Union Pacific Big Boys, the numerous Berkshire 2-8-4s and Sierra Railway No3 (the engine that stared in Back To The Future 3, The Great Race, Petticoat Junction, etc.) and if surpass that, they can review even more locomotives! ( such examples are N&W611, Daylight, UP844, Reading T1, etc. ) Currently the donation stand on £18,685.28 so please donate if you can and tell your friends and family. For more imformation, check out his website www.e-gmedia.co.uk/slipsintheusa (if you're also wondering, here is his youtube channel czcams.com/users/ChristheXelent ) . The donation is open till 31st March 2022. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Beeñ going there every Saturday during duck season since I was a girl with my dad back in the 90's love it amazing food and amazing people

What is it about the steam locomotive that causes such a love affair, for virtually any man that has any appreciable connection with it ? The root cause is I suspect, that the steam locomotive brings together the basic elements of Earth Wind and Fire, and is as a result the one man made machine that requires to be nurtured, or it won't perform properly. Effectively meaning it has feminine attributes, and therefore a soul !!!

This is so Beautifully portrayed! Great short film. Joe is a super great guy! I know him personally. Many Kudos to Matt and your story on the Steam Locomotives! I truly miss my home of California!

There's a Wool Growers in Bakersfield. Any connection?

What a wonderful video! I grew up in my maternal grandmother's Basque Hotel Pyrenees in Merced which closed in the 1970s. (My grandparents came from Zilbeti, Navarra, Spain. Family name Goñi) Since then our family has been driving to Los Banos to have delicious meals at the Wool Growers Rest. I had my 60th birthday party there ten years ago with relatives coming from all over California. It was fantastic! Long live Wool Growers!

czcams.com/users/shortsJKLrOnJ2OXI?feature=share

Great recap on what this restaurant brings to the community

Loved this. My grandparents, Jack and Anita Izoco, owned Wool Growers for a short time in the 60s. I remember being a little boy going there, opening the door to packed bar with loud voices and big personalities. We'd pass through in to the dining hall as if walking into a whole other world; share a huge meal with family, and by family I mean EVERYONE eating there. When my grandfather passed, after his funeral we landed there and he had set money aside to pick up the tab for one last "Salute!" Definitely a magical place.

Love to see Women run some businesses especially them being Mexican Yesssss 🙏🏽

Great video.

I love Woolgrowers. An old school buddy and I have taken each other there for each other's birthday for probably twenty years now. We may not talk to each other for six months at a time, but every time that text or call comes through for dinner at Woolgrowers, the answer is always yes.

A sense of place and community anchored with good food and a vision for the future!