Western Pacific Railroad Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Western Pacific Railroad Museum

WP FP7 805-A from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum, on display in Sparks, Nevada in 2004. This locomotive once pulled the California Zephyr passenger train.
Overview
Headquarters	Portola, California
Reporting mark	FRRX
Locale	Northern California
Dates of operation	1984 (1984)–Present
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

A typical equipment lineup at the museum

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) is a cool place in Portola, California. It used to be called the Portola Railroad Museum until 2006. This museum is like a special railway that saves and runs old American train equipment.

Its main goal is to keep the history of the Western Pacific Railroad alive. The museum is run by a group called the Feather River Rail Society, which started in 1983. You can find the museum at an old Western Pacific train facility. It's right next to the Union Pacific Railroad's main line through the Feather River Canyon.

What You Can See at the Museum

The museum has a huge collection of trains! They have twenty-nine diesel locomotives and one electric locomotive. There's also one steam locomotive that was working in April 2022.

You can also see fifteen passenger cars, including four from the famous California Zephyr train. Plus, there are many freight cars, maintenance cars, and eighteen cabooses. The museum lets visitors get up close and even inside many of the trains.

During the summer, you can even try their "Run A Locomotive" program. The WPRM has one of the biggest collections of early diesel trains and freight cars in North America. Many people think it has one of the most complete collections from a single railroad company. The museum also keeps lots of old company records and photos. They also have personal collections from people who worked for the Western Pacific Railroad.

Logos of the Western Pacific Railroad and the Feather River Rail Society.

The WPRM is a "hands-on" museum. This means you can actually go inside and explore the locomotives and train cars!

Famous Trains and Items

Some of the special trains at the WPRM include:

• Western Pacific 805-A: This FP7 passenger locomotive used to pull the famous California Zephyr train.
• Southern Pacific 2873: Volunteers call this EMD GP9 "the Kodachrome." It has a unique paint scheme from a railroad merger that didn't happen.
• WP 2001: This was the very first GP20 locomotive ever made. It was an early diesel train with a special turbocharger.
• WP 501: This was an early switch engine and the first diesel train the Western Pacific ever bought.
• Western Pacific 165: This is an old steam locomotive built in 1919. It's an oil-burning switch engine.
• WP 3051: This is one of only two GE U30B locomotives left.
• WP 106 business car "Charles O. Sweetwood": Built in 1917, this car was even used as a moving blood bank during the Korean War.
• WP 37: A huge 200-ton crane that runs on rails.
• Two snowplows: One is a wedge type, and the other is a rotary snowplow that spins to clear snow.
• Several rare freight cars from the early 1900s.

The museum also has the Portola Diesel Shop, built in 1953. There's also an old interlocking tower from Oakland, California, which is currently being stored. Sadly, the Western Pacific Hospital, built in 1911, was destroyed in a fire in 2011. The museum keeps some of its diesel trains in good enough shape to run on main railroad lines. They sometimes move their historic trains on these big railroads.

Trains Currently at the Museum

Photograph	Locomotive	Model	Build date	Builder	Status	Notes	Refs.
	Western Pacific 165	S-34	November 1919	ALCO-Schenectady	Operational as of April 2022
	Western Pacific 501	EMD SW1	August 1939	Electro-Motive Division	Out of service for maintenance
	Western Pacific 805-A	EMD FP7	January 1950	Electro-Motive Division	Out of service
	Feather River and Western 1857	FM H-12-44	January 1953	Fairbanks-Morse	Out of service
	Southern Pacific 2873	EMD GP9	December 1956	Electro-Motive Division	Out of service, needs water pump rebuild.

Trains No Longer at the Museum

Photograph	Locomotive	Model	Build date	Manufacturer	Date Declared "Surplus"	Status	Notes	Refs.
	Southern Pacific 4404	SD9E	April 1955	Electro-Motive Division	February 6, 2013	Sold in 2014.
	Southern Pacific 4450	SD9E	April 1954	Electro-Motive Division	February 6, 2013	Taken apart for parts on August 20, 2013.
	Milwaukee Road 5057	U25B	August 1965	General Electric	February 6, 2013	Stored at another railroad.

Be a Train Engineer!

One of the most popular things at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum is its "Run A Locomotive" (RAL) program. This program is known all over the country!

Except for winter and some special event weekends, visitors can be a train engineer for an hour. You get lessons on the ground first. Then, you get to pick a real locomotive and operate it for an hour! A trained engineer rides with you to help and teach you more.

The Zephyr Project

The Zephyr Project is a special program by the Feather River Rail Society. Its goal is to collect, save, and fix cars, locomotives, and stories related to the famous California Zephyr train.

Right now, the project has Western Pacific FP7 no. 805-A. It also has "Silver Hostle," which is a dome lounge car. There's also the "Silver Lodge" dome-coach and the "Silver Plate" dining car. Another dome-coach, "Silver Rifle," is on loan from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum.

See Also