Ricky Newborn is a teamster (not a Union member…the person in charge of a team of horses), and he’s most comfortable up on the wagon with reins in his hands.. For years he has been a familiar face on the popular Highway 50 Wagon Train. Ricky and his wife Diane own Top Hand Ranch, running carriages at weddings, funerals, through the street of historic Old Sacramento and other events that require that special touch from the past. But the grand daddy is still the Wagon Train they lead each spring over the Sierra Nevada — from Lake Tahoe to Placerville, California. The first one was in 1949 — organized by Diane’s Grandfather — to celebrate a century since the first wagon trains took this route. And Ricky can go on and on about the history of this area. Back in the day they called it “The Roaring Road,” because of all the noise from the freight wagons. It was non stop freight wagons heading to and from the gold camps — and bringing new emigrants into California.