Sonoma TrainTown Railroad facts for kids
The Sonoma TrainTown Railroad (often called "Sonoma Train Town") is a fun tourist railroad and 10-acre amusement park in Sonoma, California. Its logo looks a lot like the old New York Central Railroad logo. The main attraction is a cool miniature railway with 15 in (381 mm) gauge tracks. This means it's a 1:4 scale model of a regular 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge railroad.
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| Location | Sonoma, California |
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| Coordinates | 38°16′39″N 122°27′35″W / 38.2775°N 122.4596°W |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Theme | Tourist railroad |
| Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
The Story of TrainTown
TrainTown was started by Stanley L. Frank from Oakland, California. In 1958, he began making his dream railroad come true. He built everything himself, from the little houses and landscapes to the two steam locomotives and one electric engine. The railroad first opened to the public in 1968.
Stanley Frank passed away in 1977. His son, Robert Frank, along with his wife Barbara and daughter Monica, have continued to run TrainTown every day. Over time, TrainTown also added a beautiful carousel, a mine train roller coaster, and an airplane ride. There's also a petting zoo with many animals, including some rescues like goats, chickens, ducks, llamas, sheep, and bunnies.
What Makes TrainTown Special?
People often call TrainTown "an endearing and surprising modern tribute to trains." It's known as an "obsessively accurate model railroad." Some even say it's "the most well-developed miniature railroad" in North and South America!
The park is a wooded 10-acre area. The train ride lasts about 20 minutes. You'll see waterfalls and super detailed houses. The train goes over a trestle bridge and through several tunnels. Everything is exactly one-quarter the size of a real train and its surroundings. Each train ride can carry up to 90 passengers. The park has four miles of track in total.
TrainTown has a working copy of a New York Central Hudson locomotive. This type of train was considered one of the most beautiful steam locomotives of the 1930s. TrainTown's replica is numbered 5212, which was never a real New York Central steam locomotive number.
A travel writer once said that "the whole layout is so cleverly crafted." They called it "a marvel of dedication to the art of the train buff." In 2009, another steam locomotive, a 4-6-4 Hudson numbered 6088, arrived at Sonoma TrainTown. It was built in the 1980s and used to run on the 15 in (381 mm) gauge Goleta Valley Railroad.
Fun Rides and Animals
Besides the amazing train ride, the park has a fun petting zoo. You can meet and interact with many animals there! TrainTown also features six classic amusement rides:
- Iron Horse Carousel
- Sonoma TrainTown Airlines
- Locomotion Scrambler
- High Iron Ferris Wheel - This is a tall 46-foot Ferris wheel!
- Mine Train roller coaster - A newer roller coaster that opened in July 2015.
- Air Scooter
