Western Railway Museum facts for kids
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| Former name | California Railway Museum |
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| Established | 1960s |
| Location | 5848 State Highway 12, Suisun City, California |
| Type | Railroad museum |
| Owner | Bay Area Electric Railroad Association |
The Western Railway Museum is a cool place in Solano County, California. You can find it on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun. This museum is built right on the old tracks of the Sacramento Northern Railway. It mainly shows off trolleys and interurban trains, which are like electric trains that connected cities.
The museum has the biggest collection of Sacramento Northern Railway equipment anywhere! They even run a part of the old Sacramento Northern line as a special heritage railway. This means visitors can take fun train rides on a historic track.
This museum was first called the California Railway Museum. But in 1985, they changed its name to the Western Railway Museum. This was to avoid mixing it up with another museum. The museum is run by the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association (BAERA), which is a group that doesn't make money and focuses on education.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's History
The Bay Area Electric Railroad Association started in 1946. It was created by a group of San Francisco Bay Area rail fans who loved electric trains. They were more interested in electric streetcars and interurbans than big main line railroads. Other groups often focused on larger trains. BAERA held regular meetings where members shared slides and movies. They also went on trips on the many streetcar and interurban lines in the Bay Area.
After one trip on the Key System, the Association bought Key System 271. This was a wooden streetcar that came all the way from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Soon, members gave or bought more cars for the Association. One special car was Sacramento Northern 62, a Birney streetcar built in 1920. This car ran local service in Chico, California until 1947. It was famous for having the last 5-cent fare in California!
In 1958, the Key System stopped running its last rail line across the Bay Bridge. This allowed the Association to get many passenger and work cars. But moving all this equipment around was a lot of work and cost a lot of money. So, the members decided they needed a permanent home for their railway museum. In 1960, they found the perfect spot at Rio Vista Junction. This was an old station stop on the Sacramento Northern Railway near Suisun, California.
In the 1960s, BAERA became a special non-profit group focused on education. Their main project was creating the California Railway Museum. Then, in 1985, the museum changed its name to the Western Railway Museum. This was to make sure people didn't confuse it with the California State Railroad Museum.
Some important things that happened at the Western Railway Museum include:
- In 1994, they bought 22 miles of the Sacramento Northern railway line.
- In 2001, they opened a new Visitors Center.
- Starting in 2002, they built the Loring Jensen Memorial Car House. This building has a special fire safety system and officially opened in May 2008.
The Association also publishes a newsletter called the Review.
Exploring the Collection
The BAERA has a huge collection of old papers, photos, and items about street railways, interurban lines, and steam railroads in California and nearby states. This special collection is kept safe in a climate-controlled room in one of the newer buildings.
The Association owns about 100 pieces of railroad equipment. Most of these are from the electric railroads of the West. But they also have some pieces from the Western Pacific Railroad, including two steam locomotives. Some of the equipment is kept in perfect working order. For example, you can see Petaluma and Santa Rosa 63, Peninsular Railway 52, Salt Lake and Utah 751, and Sacramento Northern 62 in working condition.
One special interurban car, Sacramento Northern 1005, has been a big focus for restoration. This car was used a lot for trips in the early days of the BAERA. It sometimes got damaged during these trips, like when its frame got badly bent in 1962. But it has been repaired and looks just like it did in 1934!
The museum also owns a real railroad line! This is a part of the original Sacramento Northern Railway. It runs from Montezuma (near Collinsville) north to Dozier. There's also a newer line west from Dozier to Cannon (near Vacaville). The museum got the railroad with its rails and ties still in place. However, the electric power lines were removed in 1953. The Association is now putting the electric power lines back from Rio Vista Junction southward. They have already reached Bird's Landing Road, which is about six miles.
The museum's collection includes many types of historic trains:
- Passenger and Interurban Cars: These are cars designed to carry people between cities, often on electric lines.
- Streetcars and Light Rail Trams: These are smaller electric cars that ran within cities.
- Locomotives: These are the engines that pull trains, including electric, diesel, and even steam locomotives.
- Maintenance of Way Equipment: These are special cars used to build and fix the tracks, like wreckers and line cars.
- Freight Cars: These cars were used to carry goods, such as flat cars, box cars, and cabooses.
Many of these historic vehicles are either operational, meaning they can still run, or are being carefully restored to their original condition.
Visiting the Museum Today
When you visit, you can take a 1.5 mi streetcar ride. You can also enjoy a 10 mi interurban ride. There are shaded picnic areas where you can eat. You can also look around the Bookstore and see small exhibits in the Visitor Center. Inside the Visitor Center, you'll find the Depot Cafe and the F. M. Smith Library and Archives. The library is open two days a month for research. You can also take self-guided tours of the car houses, or join a guided tour.
The museum is open on weekends all year long. During the summer, it has longer hours. On some weekends in October, they run special trains to the Pumpkin Patch Festival at the Gum Grove Station.
See also
- Hall-Scott
- List of heritage railroads in California
- List of museums in California
- W. L. Holman Car Company
Images for kids
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View from a train caboose
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View of Pantano stop from the train
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Passengers outside a museum train
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View of tracks from Pantano stop
