California State Railroad Museum

The first piece of track of the western section of the transcontinental railway was laid almost at the door step of this museum. The museum has wonderful exhibits with fully restored locomotives and train cars plus detailed descriptions of the hardships of building the route across the Sierra Nevadas. Working and traveling on the railroad through the years is also very well covered.

Both the Railroad Museum and the Sacramento History Museum are located in Old Town Sacramento which is a pretty typical old town made over into a tourist shopping area. The buildings are in excellent condition with most of their original architectural features intact so it’s interesting to wander around the streets.

The museum is mostly accessible but a few of the train cars that are opened to the public can not be fully accessed or have lifts which must be operated by museum personnel. We were very pleased to discover that the boardwalk sidewalks all had new ramps down to the street at all crosswalks and level entrances to the stores and restaurants.

                 

Old Town Sacramento is cut off from the rest of the city because of the freeway but following the signs will get you there. It’s a little crowded but buses travel through Old Town so RVs can do it too. Several long spaces for RVs are located at the north end of Second Street close to the Railroad Museum – $9.00 a day. Free handicapped spaces, that are long enough for a small RV, are also located there.  Museum

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