Pacific Southwest Railway Museum facts for kids
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| Founded | 18 October 1959 |
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| Founder | Eric Sanders, et al. |
| Type | Public-benefit corporation |
| Focus | Railroad museum, historic preservation |
| Location |
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| Origins | San Diego County Rail Museum |
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Area served
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San Diego County |
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President
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Stephen Hager |
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Formerly called
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San Diego Railroad Museum |
The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum is a special place where you can explore the history of trains! It's a railroad museum located in Campo, California. This museum is built right on the old San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway line. The museum also takes care of a historic train station in La Mesa, California.
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Museum Locations and What You Can See
The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum has two main locations. Each spot offers unique ways to learn about trains. Let's explore what you can find at Campo and La Mesa.
Campo: Ride a Historic Train!
Since 1986, the museum has offered exciting train rides from its restored 1916 Depot in Campo. This area is part of the Mountain Empire in southeastern San Diego County, California. These special trains are run by volunteers and use old diesel-electric locomotives. The museum's property here is quite large, covering about 140 acres (0.57 km2).
At Campo, you can see around 90 historic railroad cars and locomotives. This includes five steam locomotives and eighteen diesel locomotives. Many other types of rolling stock are also on display. A big building houses some of the equipment. This lets visitors walk through and explore the trains up close.
Signal Science Exhibit
One cool exhibit is called "Signal Science." It uses old railroad signals to show you how they work. You can learn how trains communicate and stay safe on the tracks.
Southwest Railway Library
The museum is also home to the Southwest Railway Library. This library opened in Campo in July 2014. It has the second-largest collection of railroad history in California. It's a great place to research and learn even more about trains.
La Mesa: A Historic Train Station
The museum also looks after the original La Mesa depot. This depot is in downtown La Mesa. It's right next to the La Mesa Boulevard stop for the San Diego Trolley. This building is the oldest in La Mesa. It's the only remaining station from the old San Diego and Cuyamaca Railway. The museum even won an award for restoring the depot! This award came from San Diego's historic preservation group, Save Our Heritage Organization.
Next to the depot, you can see a special display train. This train includes a unique saddletank steam locomotive called Mojave Northern Railroad #3. There's also a Pacific Fruit Express reefer car. And you can see a Southern Pacific Railroad caboose. It's a perfect spot for a photo!
Discover More About Trains
If you're interested in learning more about trains and railway history, check out these related topics:
- Carrizo Gorge Railway
- List of heritage railroads in the United States
- List of railway museums
- List of museums in California
- Non-profit organization
- Pacific Imperial Railroad
- San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway
- San Diego and Arizona Railway
