Western Railway Museum
Former name
California Railway Museum
Established1960s
Location5848 State Highway 12, Suisun City, California
TypeRailroad museum
ChairpersonAlex Mahshi
CuratorAllan Fisher
OwnerBay Area Electric Railroad Association
Websitewww.wrm.org
Sacramento Northern Railway Historic District
Western Railway Museum is located in California
Western Railway Museum
Location5848 CA Hwy 12, Suisun City, California
Coordinates38°12′12″N 121°52′28″W / 38.20333°N 121.87444°W / 38.20333; -121.87444
NRHP reference No.12000402
Added to NRHPJuly 11, 2012
A view of the Western Railway Museum gallery

The Western Railway Museum, in Solano County, California is located on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun. The museum is built along the former mainline of the Sacramento Northern Railway. Their collection focuses on trolleys, as it is primarily a museum of interurban transit equipment.

The Western Railway Museum has the largest collection of Sacramento Northern Railway equipment in existence, and the museum also operates a line of the former Sacramento Northern as a heritage railway with scheduled excursions for visitors.

Originally named the California Railway Museum, it was renamed the Western Railway Museum at the beginning of 1985.[1] The museum is operated by the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association (BAERA), a non-profit organization.

History

The Birney and Magic Carpet cars
Key System 187 on the interurban track

The Bay Area Electric Railroad Association was started by a group of San Francisco Bay Area rail fans in 1946. The group was specifically interested in electric traction, more than main line railroads. Other groups such as the California/Nevada Historical Society usually had meetings and excursions on main line subjects. BAERA held monthly social meetings, frequently showing members slides and movies to the group. The BAERA also had excursions on the many street car lines and Interurbans in the Bay Area. As a result of an excursion over the Key System the Association purchased Key System 271 a wooden street car that had started out in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Soon other cars were given by members or purchased for the Association. These included Sacramento Northern 62, a Birney street car built in 1920. The car ran local service in Chico, California until 1947 and had the last 5-cent fare in the State of California.

A number of passenger and work cars were obtained when the Key System abandoned operation of its last rail line across the Bay Bridge in 1958. But time, money and effort needed in constantly moving the equipment from place convinced the members that a permanent location for their railway museum was needed. Property was located at Rio Vista Junction, a former station stop along the Sacramento Northern Railway near Suisun, California in 1960. BAERA became a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational corporation in the 1960s, and created as its major project the California Railway Museum. At the beginning of 1985, the museum was renamed the Western Railway Museum, to avoid confusion with the California State Railroad Museum.[1] Significant events at the Western Railway Museum include: purchase of 22 miles of Sacramento Northern in 1994, dedication of a Visitors Center in 2001, and starting in 2002, construction of the Loring Jensen Memorial Car House with attendant fire suppression system, officially opened in May 2008.

The Association also publishes a newsletter called the Review.

Collection

View from Western Railway Museum train caboose
View of Pantano stop from Western Railway Museum train
Passengers stand outside of a train from the Western Railway Museum
View of tracks from Pantano stop on Western Railway Museum train line

The BAERA maintains a substantial archive of materials relating to street railway, interurban lines, and steam railroads of California and adjacent states. The archive occupies a climate controlled space in one of the newer buildings.[2]

The Association owns about 100 pieces of railroad equipment, mainly from the electric railroads of the West, but also several Western Pacific Railroad pieces including two steam locomotives. Equipment is in a wide range of conditions, and some equipment is maintained fully operational. For example, Petaluma and Santa Rosa 63, Peninsular Railway 52, Salt Lake and Utah 751, and Sacramento Northern 62.[3]

The interurban car Sacramento Northern 1005 (originally Oakland, Antioch and Eastern 1005) has been a focus of restoration activity in the last 10 years. The BAERA operated many excursions in its early years, and this car was used quite frequently. It was often hauled around in freight trains to reach an excursion site, and sometimes suffered damage in these trips, including a badly bent frame in June 1962. The damage has been repaired and the car has been restored to its 1934 configuration.

The collection also includes a railroad line. This is a section of the original Sacramento Northern Railway from Montezuma (near Collinsville) north to Dozier, also a newer rail line west from Dozier to Cannon (near Vacaville). The railroad was acquired with rails and ties intact, however the electrification had been removed in 1953. The Association is reinstalling the electrification from Rio Vista Junction southward, currently reaching Bird's Landing Road, about six miles.

Passenger/Interurban cars

Interurban CarConditionNotes
Bamberger #400Awaiting restoration
Cedar Rapids & Iowa City #111Operational
Central California Traction Co. #010Awaiting restorationBody only
Key System #182operationalRecently repaired.
Key System #186Stored
Key System #187Operational
Oakland, Antioch & Eastern #1020operationalFormer SN motor #1020 restored as trailer
Oregon Electric #1001 ChampoegCosmetically restoredRestored as trailer usable in train
Pacific Electric #457Awaiting restorationBody and trucks only
Peninsular Railway #52Operational
Peninsular Railway #61Awaiting restoration
Petaluma & Santa Rosa #63Operational
Portland Traction Co. #4001OperationalRestored in 2015
Richmond Shipyard Railway #561Operational
Richmond Shipyard Railway #563Cosmetically restored
Sacramento Northern "Bidwell"Awaiting restorationbody only
Sacramento Northern #1005OperationalRecently restored
Salt Lake & Utah #751Operational
Salt Lake, Garfield & Western #306Incomplete restoration
San Francisco & Napa Valley #63Awaiting restoration
San Francisco-Sacramento #1019Awaiting restorationFormer SN motor #1019
Interurban Electric Railway #358Awaiting restorationBody only
Interurban Electric Railway #600Awaiting restorationBody only
Interurban Electric Railway #602Awaiting restorationBody only
Interurban Electric Railway #603Awaiting restorationBody only
Tidewater Southern #200Awaiting restoration
San Diego Trolley #1017Operational
San Diego Trolley #1018Operational
Los Angeles Metro Rail #164operationalAcquired April 2023

Streetcars/Light rail trams

StreetcarConditionNotes
Blackpool Transit #226out of servicebad traction motor
East Bay Street Railways #352operational
Key System #271out of serviceneeds electric and brake work
Key System #987Out of servicebad traction motor
Market Street Railway "San Francisco"awaiting restorationbody only
Melbourne & Metropolitan Tram Board #648operational
Pacific Gas & Electric Co #46awaiting restoration
Pacific Gas & Electric Co #63awaiting restoration
Presidio & Ferries #28awaiting restorationbody only
Sacramento Electric Gas & Railway #14awaiting restoration
San Francisco Municipal Railway #1003operational
San Francisco Municipal Railway #1016operational
San Francisco Municipal Railway #1153awaiting restoration
San Francisco Municipal Railway #1258operational
San Francisco Municipal Railway #178operational
Stockton Electric #52awaiting restoration
Sacramento Northern #62out of service

Locomotives

LocomotiveLocomotive TypeConditionNotes
Central California Traction Co. #7electric box motoroperational
Kennecott Copper Corporation #407electric steeple cabdisplayed
Kenecott Copper Corporation #700electric steeple cabdisplayed
Kenecott Copper Corporation #771batter operated steeple cabstored
Key System #1001electric steeple caboperationalExample
Sacramento Northern #14644 ton dieselunder restoration
Sacramento Northern #602electric box motorawaiting restoration
Sacramento Northern #652electric steeple cabcosmetically restored
Sacramento Northern #654electric steeple caboperational
Salt Lake Garfield & Western DS244 ton dieselawaiting restoration
San Francisco & Napa Valley #100electric box motorawaiting restorationbody and trucks only
Visalia Electric #50244 ton dieseloperational
Western Pacific #944-6-0 steam locomotivedisplayed
Western Pacific #3342-8-2 steam locomotivestored

Maintenance of Way equipment

CarCar TypeConditionNotes
East Bay Transit Co. #1011wreckeroperationaldisplayed
Key System #1014wreckerawaiting restorationbody only
Key System #1201line caroperational
Key System #1215shop switcherout or service
Key System #1218line carawaiting restoration
Sacramento Northern #1portable substationoperational
San Francisco Municipal Railway #0109rail grinderoperationalstored

Freight cars

CarCar TypeCondition
Oakland Antioch & Eastern #2002flat carrestored
Central California Traction #1017flat carincomplete restoration
Central California Traction Co #2001box carrestored
Central California Traction Co. #3001box carrestored
Denver & Rio Grande Western #63383box carrestored
Great Northern #X 344cabooseincomplete restoration
Pacific Fruit Express #20420Refrigerator Carawaiting restoration
Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac #2289box carrestored
Sacramento Northern Railway #1632cabooserestored
Sacramento Northern Railway #2314box carawaiting restoration
Sacramento Northern Railroad #2136box carawaiting restoration
Shell #SCCX 662tank carrestored
Southern Pacific #150340gondolaawaiting restoration
Western Pacific #10429hopper carrestored
Western Pacific #1025tank carawaiting restoration
Western Pacific #741cabooseawaiting restoration

The museum today

A conductor stands in front of a train from the Western Railway Museum in Solano County

Visitors can take a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) street car ride and/or a 10 mi (16 km) Interurban ride, picnic at the shaded grounds, browse in the Bookstore and view small exhibits in the Visitor center. Also in the Visitor center is the Depot Cafe and F. M. Smith Library and Archives, which are open two days a month for research and browsing. Also available are self-guided car house tours and guided car house tours.

The museum is open on weekends throughout the year and for extended hours during the summer. On some October weekends, it operates trains (usually Key System Bridge Units 182 and 187) to the Pumpkin Patch Festival at the Gum Grove Station.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Herlihy, Brian (February 1985). "Preservation [regular news column]". Pacific RailNews. p. 33. ISSN 8750-8486. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019.
  2. BAERA Archive
  3. Large artifact collection
  4. Buchanan, Bill (November 2023). "BRIDGE UNITS to the PUMPKIN PATCH". Trains. No. 11 Vol 83. Kalmbach Media. pp. 12–13.
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