| Product: |
California State Railroad Museum |
| Date: |
16/05/01 (112 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Best railway museum in the US, very good VFM, plenty for everyone to see
Disadvantages: Lots of windows to see the rain pouring down!
When we were in California back in April 2001, the natives were complaining that it was cold. There they were with their coats on, and there we were already into typical holiday gear – t-shirts, shorts and sandals. You should come to England we said when they commented on our attire – it’s cold and rains a lot.
Whoops! Someone up there must have been listening as the weather changed during the second half of the second week. White fluffy clouds appeared in the sky during a day trip to San Francisco and it became distinctly chilly – so much so that my Wife bought fleeces for herself and our boy at Pier 39. “We don’t need those,” she had said hours before – as we sat on the Pier feeling goosebumpish!
Well it rained on and off on Thursday and by Friday – we were talking serious downpour. Now the Americans don’t call it rain – they call it “precipitation” as if it was a quick shower. Well it wasn’t – it was a downpour accompanied by distinctly colder weather. Back went the shorts and t-shirts into the case and out came the sweatshirts, jeans and sensible shoes. I was feeling quite at home!
The problem with this sort of weather is it mucks up your travel plans. Most of the things to do/see in the State require you to be outdoors – beach, theme parks etc. When you get serious precipitation, your thoughts turn to shopping malls and museums.
In an effort to keep positive and do something, we reached for our Dorien Kingsley guide to California (well recommended) and decided upon Sacramento for the day. There was a railway Museum there, which would keep us out of the “precipitation” until it stopped.
Now I have a confession to make. This opinion is about the Railway Museum – but we did wander around old Sacramento as well. If you really hate railway museums, skip the next bit and head to the bottom.
The Califor
nia State Railway Museum
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The Californian’s are very proud of their museum – they reckon it to be the best railway museum in the States. The blurb mentions that it is the most visited railroad museum in the US with about 600,000 people each year.
Getting there is pretty easy. Sacramento (the State capital) is on the I-5 and is about 90 minutes from San Francisco. Upon entering the Sacramento area, take the exit marked with “Old Sacramento”. It really is quite simple. We found it despite the pouring rain.
Old Sacramento is a reconstructed western town. You can park your car in the old streets – though it does ruin the effect somewhat. You have a choice of parking. Providing you are staying for no longer than 90 minutes and have a supply of 25-cent pieces – you can park next to a meter in the town. If not, try the covered main car park, where it’s about 50 to 75 cents per half hour. But at least you don’t get wet – and when it’s hot – you car isn’t baked!
The Museum is a short dash from the covered car park. Admission charges are very reasonable. Adults are $3 and kids under 16 are free. It’s open between daily from 10am to 5pm except for public holidays. Your ticket allows access all day and includes entrance to the reconstructed San Francisco Central Pacific station of 1876 in the old town. Also part of the museum are the Historic Sierra Shops at Railtown 1897 in Jamestown (further down the road near a town called Sonora).
Where do we start? There are loads of things of interest to see and write about. Here are a list of my favourite bits. For further information, visit the museum’s web-site, which can be found at: www.csrmf.org.
Ground floor
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The history of the Central Pacific Railway – The museum describes the history of the railway, which joined the Union Paci
fic in Utah in 1869 – where the famous hammering in of the golden spike occurred. The Museum explains how the railway was built by hand by Chinese labourers (10,000 of them), how many were killed and how difficult was to get over the mountains in Nevada. Although they were photographed at the great join up in 1869, they were ‘air brushed’ out of the official painting until many years later when their full contribution was appreciated.
Locomotives – The Museum has a superb collection including those that look they have come out of Casey Jones through to a steam train called 4294, which was retired in 1956 and developed a whopping 6000 bhp. It’s a mega ‘beasty’ (larger than British locos) and represents the ultimate steam train. The museum also has a number of diesels though they don’t have the appeal of steam.
Carriages – As interesting are the carriages, which shows the development of passenger comfort over the years. There is a streamliner dining car from the 1930’s when the railways were trying to re-invent themselves as being modern which such facilities as air conditioning, diesels and of course streamlined carriages. The example owned by the museum is very luxurious with bone china crockery, linen tablecloths etc. Of equal interest is a Canadian sleeping car, which gently ‘rocks’ to give an impression of movement. The Museum employs many ex-railwaymen who will happily tell you about their days on the trains.
First Floor
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The Museum caters for the young as well as the older visitor on the first floor. Here can be found a collection of model railways and wooden railways for the weenies. Yep folks, they have discovered Thomas in the States. From this floor, you can get a great view of the ground floor and the vast range of exhibits.
San Francisco Central Pacific station
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>The precipitation did eventually stop and at this point we ventured back out into Old Sacramento to the reconstructed railway station. The Museum has done a great job to get the feel of the station right. There is a large waiting room containing a heater, a ticket office and office at one end and a ladies waiting room at the other. We wandered around the shed at the back containing a number of locomotives and carriages being worked on and chatted to friendly volunteers. Had we visited at a weekend, we would have had the opportunity of taking a 6 mile 40 minute round-trip from the station (tickets extra). Next door is a privately owned Café where we tucked into hot dogs and burgers.
At the point of leaving the Café, it started to rain again and so we ventured back into the Museum. My Wife and son are not usually interested in these sort of museums, but they were happy to wander around and climb aboard the exhibits.
Old Sacramento
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If wandering around a Museum is not your cup of tea – there is always the old town. Here you wander around reconstructed wooden buildings full of gift shops and other tat. Most walkways are wooden giving that sound you hear in westerns and are covered. The effect is ruined somewhat by the cars in the streets. There is a statue to the Pony Express, which was founded here. Behind the railway station there is meant to be one of those pleasure steamers – but the rain must have kept it in side on the day we visited.
Conclusion
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You might say that a railway museum is not everyone’s idea of a great day out – but there is little to do when it pours in California. The railway museum is certainly worth a visit if you are interested in things ‘railwayish’ and there are plenty of things to keep bored family members interested. It lives up to its reputation as the nation’s premier railroad museum. As with most museums, it comes with a we
ll-stocked gift shop selling all sorts of books and clothing to suit everyone’s taste. I came away with an excellent guidebook for $3.95.
And at $3 per adult ticket – it’s a cheap way to pass the hours whilst the precipitation passes.
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