Western Railway Museum

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Itsed65

Well-Known Member
We had a beautiful weekend here in Northern California, and I was out and about chasing trains, but this time, a bit of a different flavor. The Western Railway museum (in between Fairfield and Rio Vista CA on Hwy 12) is running their wildflower special at this time of year, so I thought I would grab a few snaps along the route.

The museum has re-electrified about 20 miles of the old Sacramento Northern Railroad, an electric line that once ran from Chico all the way to Oakland, and even San Francisco across the bay bridge, when the lower deck had tracks.

It runs push/pull, and here on the outbound leg it is in push mode, with a Salt Lake & Utah railroad coach in front.
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The area it runs through doesn't look much different from this angle than it did when it was a revenue run, over 60 years ago.
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From the other side, at the end of the line, the 21st century is quite apparent. This is Gum Grove, and there is a pretty nice little picnic area.
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The return trip has the old Sacramento Northern interurban at the lead
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Its very nicely restored
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A great day for a train ride!
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If you are ever in the area, it is not far from the Jelly Belly factory and Bud brewery, which offer free tours, and makes for a nice day. The museum has a lot of neat unique equipment from California's electrified past, well worth a look!
 

Bill Anderson

Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting. I visited the museum during an open house weekend when I lived in Sacramento back in the 70's. At that time there was just a small loop of track. I got to ride in the cab of a Shay which was pulling a car around the loop.
 




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