Shepherd Canyon is a very special part of the Oakland hills and is the focus of a dedicated residents' group -- the Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association.

The canyon, along with a creek that runs along a culvert, is named for farmer William Joseph Shepherd, according to the December 1989 issue of the group's newsletter, The Echo. Originally from England, Shepherd came to this area in 1869 and owned land here for the next 20 years.

Shepherd Canyon sits between Montclair Village and Skyline Boulevard, north of Route 13.

At one time, trains ran through Shepherd Canyon, bringing both passengers and freight through the densely-wooded hills. A station, Sequoia, sat right in the heart of Shepherd Canyon.

The railroad got started in 1909 as the Oakland & Antioch Railway. Two years later, the Sacramento Northern Railroad leased the O&A right-of-way through Shepherd Canyon.

For a while, business boomed. But then the Great Depression hit -- and it hit the Sacramento Northern hard. Even the 1937 construction of the Bay Bridge (which then carried trains on its lower deck) couldn't boost passenger traffic, so the railroad mostly hauled freight.

It had another heyday during World War II, transporting materials. But in the early 1950s, demand was on the decline again, and the final train ran Feb. 28, 1957. Soon after, the tracks were dismantled and a tunnel at Gunn Drive was sealed off.

Although Shepherd Canyon residents have long enjoyed the pastoral, undisturbed nature of their neighborhood, that status has been threatened at times. In the 1950s, Caltrans hoped to run a route straight through the canyon: Highway 77. That plan would have involved an interchange where Park and Mountain boulevards meet, and a tunnel bore into Contra Costa County.

Caltrans projected that 100,000 cars a day would pass through the canyon by 1990, according to an SCHA historical guide to the area. But residents opposed the plan due to conservation and development concerns, and it was scrapped in 1972.

Much of the land, though, had been acquired in preparation for the highway. The question arose: What to do with it?

The City Council ordered a study -- a thick document entitled "The Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan," adopted in 1975. As a result, the old railroad right-of-way became a bike path.

Since the right-of-way was engineered to be easy on heavy trains, the grade is also easy on bikers. The trail can be picked up at the head of La Salle Avenue, by the parking garage in Montclair Village.

Also in Montclair Village are the former railroad trestles, which remain in place as the strange walls on either side of Mountain Boulevard near the tennis courts.

The '75 plan also outlined the creation of the 35-acre Shepherd Canyon Park. Residents have high hopes that this idea will come to fruition, though they also feel a bit restless over the slow pace of this development.

Dumping has been a problem in the upper meadows. Also, residents fear the threat of fire, since the area is neglected and contains notorious eucalypti and Scotch broom.

This year, a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant helped pay for vegetation trimming in the canyon.

Community members, SCHA organizers and councilwoman Jean Quan are working to realize the dream of a full-fledged park. There will be a second community workshop on the issue at 6 p.m. Oct. 8, at Montera Middle School.