It is easy to have fun being a railroad enthusiast (aka “train nut”) here in
Northern California, even if you don’t have a caboose in your own back yard.
Here are some local and regional delights:
Real Train Nuts – from WP668, our caboose
Places to Stay
Featherbed Railroad Company Bed and Breakfast Resort
sleep in a caboose on the shores of Clear Lake
Railroad Park Resort
sleep in a caboose in Dunsmuir, near Mount Shasta
Short Trips, Dinner Trains, Excursions
Amtrak’s Coast Starlight one of the 10 Greatest Train Rides on Earth
(not a short trip but a grand one)
Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor
Bay Area to Sacramento and the
California State Railroad Museum, passes
Drawbridge ghost town
CalTrain ride the commuter train from San Francisco to Gilroy and back,
get off and walk to lunch in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, California Ave./Palo Alto, or
Mountain View
Napa Valley Wine Train
between Napa and St. Helena through the wine valleys
Niles Canyon Railway near Fremont, Pleasanton (rent a caboose for
your birthday party!)
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown
Redwood Valley Railway 5/12 Scale Narrow Gauge Passenger Railway (trains are 5/12 the size of a full-size locomotive), Tilden Regional Park above Berkeley. You can ride on
the trains.
Roaring Camp Railroads beach or mountain rail route, Felton, near Santa Cruz
San Francisco Cable Cars in The City
Shasta Sunset Dinner Train in McCloud (base of Mount Shasta)
Skunk Train, Sierra Railroad Dinner Train, Sacramento River Train
three former working rail lines now offering a variety of tours, meals, and
entertainment
Yreka Western Railroad’s Blue Goose Yreka excursion train
Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Fish Camp excursion train
Museums
Cable Car Museum in San Francisco
California State Railroad Museum Old Sacramento – take Amtrak from the Bay Area
then walk to this wonderful museum
California Trolley and Railroad Corporation in San Jose
Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Point Richmond
Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Nevada City, California
South Bay Historical Railroad Society museum and model train club in
Santa Clara Railroad Depot
Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola northwest of Lake Tahoe
Western Railway Museum in Suisun
Image copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson
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