California State Railroad Museum

Address:	125 I St, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA
Phone:	+1 916-323-9280
Site:	californiarailroad.museum
Rating:	4.7
Working:	10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 7

A Private User

The Railway museum was really interesting. They had one steam locomotive that had the cab in the front that was incredibly huge. If you looked at a picture of this thing it wouldnt completely hit you how absolutely colossal it was. But standing next to it was amazing. It was the size of a building. The space it occupied was far bigger than my apartment. I was able to go up some stairs and stand in the cab. There was also a Canadian sleeping car from the 40s you could walk through, which was really interesting. You could really get a feel of what it was like to travel then, at least a little anyway. There was a dining car from the 40s. The kitchen was fully in view. They had samples of different railroads china laid out under plastic covers. Im not a china expert but it look like classy stuff with nice decorations. It looked like an actual nice, non-horrible place to have dinner. According to the signs, all the railroads really went all out trying to have the best possible dining cars because it was a matter of prestige and they never let up until the end of the train times. There was a mail car you could walk through as well which was pretty interesting. There were I dont know maybe ten or fifteen cars and locomotives from different times on display, mostly from the steam era. Upstairs was an extensive section on model trains, mostly focusing on and celebrating the Lionel company. There was a whole model train layout with the trains going around in it. One thing I thought was funny was that they had a room in the form of a kind of shack that was used by the staff to repair and work on the model trains. But the thing about it was that it was designed after a shack made by Lionel for people to use in model layouts. So first you have small trackside shacks in real life, then Lionel makes a model version, then the museum makes a full sized version of the model version for actual use.

Cathleen Merenda

Im a big museum buff but wasnt sure that I had an interest in trains. The reviews persuaded me to visit and I was overwhelmed at what an amazing museum this is and how informed and welcoming the staff was, especially the volunteers. The building is like an airplane hanger, enormous, which it has to be because it contains many trains. I didnt take a tour, but with some patient reading got the gist of history of why the railroads were built, to connect the west with the east, for commerce. This history is both local and national and I enjoyed learning more about California as Im from the east coast. I was taken with the in-depth descriptions, not just of the wealthy men who administered the railroads, but of all the workers who built it and later, ran it. It was especially interesting to read about the Chinese workers contribution. Did you know that President Lincoln once worked as a railroad lawyer? His support helped fund the efforts. This is the type of information that the volunteer staff provided. I especially enjoyed Pat Randalls wonderful storytelling skills. Dont miss this museum if youre in the area and consider following a visit at the Firehouse Restaurant which is right down the street. Its not inexpensive, but the food and service were top of the line and it has a great flavor of old Sacramento.

Oliver Henning

Ein absolutes Muss bei einem Besuch in Sacramento. Für einen kleinen Preis wird hier sehr eindrücklich Eisenbahngeschichte gezeigt. Alles ist tiptop in Ordnung. Sehr beeindruckend, vor diesen teils riesigen, teils sehr schönen (Dampf)-Lokomotiven zu stehen. Das ganze Museum ist mit viel Liebe zum Detail aufgebaut. Viel Personal mit Eisenbahnerblut weisen den Besucher immer wieder auf Sehenswürdigkeiten hin, so dass man auch nichts übersieht. Ca. 3 Stunden für den Besuch einplanen.

Doug

This review really isnt about the Railroad Museum its about the rude California State Park employees that work the front desk. Today I had the pleasure of working with one of Californias finest employees named Billy. He was completely rude to me about renewing my season pass to the Railroad Museum. After being treated like I was at the DMV, he finally told me that he didnt want really want to sign me up for my season pass since he was busy, but there was know one around at all. He then told me to go over to the gift shop and have one of the nice old ladies do it for me!!!!! All I can say is WOW!Long run of it the Railroad Museum is a FIVE Star attraction and everyone should go, its just that the CA State Park employees are just RUDE. Go figure the people that work their for free are as nice as they come and then the employees that get paid to be are just not friendly at all.

A Private User

I am a first grade teacher and took my students here for a field trip. This was our first time here, and it was also our last. We were dropped off in front of the museum by our bus driver and were immediately yelled at by an old man in a train hat. He was telling a parent that we were supposed to be on the other side of the building. I hadnt heard the whole conversation, so I asked him if there were doors where we was asking us to go. He replied sarcastically that, "yes, doors are how people get into buildings." Ick. The "docents" were unfriendly and unhelpful for the most part. Since we were on a "self-guided" tour, one would assume there would be a clear path or at least a map - but no. The kids were bored about 20 minutes in and I couldnt wait to leave that negative place. It may be a fine place for a family, but I would never book another field tipr there. Ever.

breonnamarie777

Love this museum, my kids always have a blast getting to see and walk through all the old trains. The nice thing towards the end of the museum upstairs, is the kid play all treatment with the train tables where you can stop and have a snack (brought by you) and rest a minute while your kids play for a bit. The staff is always so helpful to answer any questions you have about the trains and rhe are very knowledgeable. I even got some insight about the cc rail running and what to expect for a trip Im looking to take soon. Plus the cashiers/security guards at the front were having some issues with their systems up front and we were waiting for a bit so they just let us go through that day for free which was really awesome. We went on a sat around 11 and it was not very busy, so it was easy to see every exhibit and not feel crowded. Ill be taking my kids every year :)

Brittany Bowks

I loved the museum, there is a lot to learn here. There are 3 floors. You explore the trains on the first, do interactive activities on the second, and there are toy train displays and a play area on the top floor. The ladies in the gift shop were great and the staff was really knowledgeable about the trains. It was really great! The only setback was that some of the men were grouchy. For example, there are two trains that are connected and if you go in the wrong one first the man yells at you. And when you first walk in the door instead of explaining the rules for the little ones (no gum allowed so the trains dont get messed up) they are rude about that too. Of course we will be better prepared next time we go, but they could have made it a better experience by just communicating in a positive way.