Southern California Railway Museum

    The museum’s collection started in 1956 when a group of young men, some still in their teens, bought a few retired Los Angeles trolley cars.The museum property now covers more than 20 acres and has over 100 pieces of rolling stock - some complete and operational but others just shells. Much the property is storage for all kinds of bits and pieces of railway equipment and is not open to the public.

    Weekends are the busier times with most of the buildings opened and the trains and trolleys operating on short runs of track. The grounds are free for self- tours but there is a fee for the rides and there may be a fee for guided tours. During the week the availability of volunteers determines whether the buildings are opened. We toured two car buildings and one engine building but none of the smaller buildings. The most interesting train cars (probably because we have never seen any like them) are the huge electric passenger trains that ran on the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway.

    The area where visitors are permitted is pretty small. Tours are conducted on golf carts.The golf carts are not wheelchair accessible but it’s easy to walk/roll the entire area. A bit of care needs to be taken when crossing the tracks which are all level with the pavement. None of the train cars that are open to tour are accessible. Car House #4 has a step up at the entrance. The other two buildings that we visited and the gift shop/station are accessible.

    The parking lot is large enough for any RV. This is a Harvest Hosts site so members may stay overnight. The gate is locked at 5:00. A back way was temporarily open during our visit but ask about a way out or an emergency number in case you need to leave during the night.  Museum  33.76051, -117.2315