November 26 -- Cal State Train Museum in Old Sacramento

Early start and off to Old Sacramento.

I got some daytime pix, including one of Fat City, the tasty bar & café where I ate the night before.

Old Sacramento is a state park, and appears to patrolled both by rangers and police. It’s attractive, as you can see, with some wonderful details like wood-planked sidewalks. One really gets the feeling of being in the Old West.

Still, the shops in the small (10 blocks square?) area are, for the most part, more Coney Island than Quincy Market: candy stores, tattoo parlors, and nick-nack touristy places prevail.


The big treat was the California State Railroad Museum. I’ve never been to a train museum before, but I believe it when I’m told that this one’s the best in the States. The museum charts the development of the railroads in the West and has a fantastic assortment of old engines and rail cars, as well as exhibits and information about the lives of railroad builders and workers, and the significance of this new technology to the United States. In addition, the museum’s docents were the friendliest and most helpful of any I’ve ever encountered.



There were too many details about the importance of the railroad to this country’s development for me to recount, or even to remember. Suffice it to say that the railroad was a technology that was probably more significant to this country than the airplane. In significance, it must rank with the computer, if such comparisons can even be made.

In addition to the steam engines above, below are some pics of things that struck me:


Another old steam engine, this one owned by Stanford University.

The photographer got caught in this one. Where’s Waldo?


Fabulous, one-of-a-kind-remaining cab forward steam engine.


Rosie the Riveter.



Diesel Electric.









Views of an old Pullman coach. A real treat to be able to walk through it.



An old dining car – including the kitchen!




One of the fascinating exhibits: different sets of china patterns used by various railroads.

There was a great space dedicated to model trains. It contained outstanding old Lionel trains, some wonderful pre-war Marklins, and even some miniature steam engines that work exactly as their full-size brethren do!


Example of all the popular scales, from Z to N, to HO to . . . .


Early Lionel roundhouse and trains in a working layout.



Early Lionel.


Early Marklin.


A real scale model steam train on saw horses. It took seven years to make, and when equipped with a motorcycle-like seat and passenger cars, can pull 20 adults.

And finally, one of two gold spikes struck to pound into the final tie, north of Salt Lake, on first the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869.