"We can't afford to lose the natural history of this area." Irvine Company was approved to build the Orange Heights community in 2005, which included 4,100 homes between East Orange and Irvine Park.

The one-third scale electric train replaces the propane-powered locomotive that had transported hundreds of thousands of passengers at Irvine Regional Park since the mid-1990s.

Joel Robinson, founder of the nonprofit Naturalist For You, with a group of area residents who are protesting Irvine Company’s plans to build nearly 1180 homes as part of the Orange Height ...