Elinor writes about "The Early Years" after her grandfather, Henry Evans, moved to the Menifee Valley in 1890, eight years after California Southern Railroad built a line from Perris to Elsinore through what became known as Railroad Canyon. The railroad's first station was at Pinacate St., now the location of the Orange Empire Railway Museum and home to the Perris Valley Historical and Museum Association.

The railroad line was later sold to the Santa Fe Railroad and became part of its transcontinental line. Troubles with flooding beset the railroad almost from the beginning. On February 16, 1927, the railroad experienced its third washout since it was built. Pictures in Elinor’s book show how the bridge washed out from under the tracks at the southern end, where I-15 meets Railroad Canyon Rd.