A Full Day at the CSRM
After taking full advantage of the included breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express, Lisa and I (and Kuma Bear) set off for the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento. We got there early enough to get a good parking space in the garage on the ground floor, where it is easier to wrangle Lisa in her wheelchair from the garage to the museum.
We were there shortly after the museum opened at 10 AM.
Lisa and I took many photos and videos today. I only have my photos online so far. Lisa took more than I did. We'll probably work some of them into future episodes of Railway Legends, Myths, and Stories. Lisa here is looking at Central Pacific Locomotive No. 1, the Gov. Stanford.
Among the displays is this one about the standard railroad gauge of 1435 mm (4 feet 8 1/2 inches), used in about 55% of railways around the world. To our disappointment, both this display and at least one of the docents repeated the myth that this gauge is directly descended from the width of Roman chariots, which is not true, and something that we tackled in an episode of RLMS.
Among the many pieces of rare and historically significant railway equipment on display is The Gold Coast, the luxurious private railroad car of Lucius Beebe and his life partner Charles Clegg. Lisa decided to not bother with the wheelchair lift to see this and several other cars from "platform" level. We've seen them before and we will probably see them again the next time we visit.
This sleeping car is fitted out with actuators that simulate the feeling of traveling down the tracks on an open-section sleeper.
I took this video walking through the St. Hyacinthe. The wobbling was not me being unsteady with the camera, but from the actuators that simulate the experience of traveling in the car. Lisa and I have only traveled in Amtrak sleepers in roomettes and bedrooms. Open sections no longer run on US railroads, although I think there are some Via Rail Canada services that still have them.
Adjacent to the St. Hyacinthe is the Cochiti, a Santa Fe dining car.
I took a video walkthrough of this car as well, I'd hoped to record a docent dressed as a dining car steward sounding the chimes to call patrons to the dining car, but he had left by the time I came through recording.
You'll recall my video from yesterday of the Southern Pacific rotary snowplows. Another SP rotary is on display at the museum.
The maw of this gigantic snowblower is impressive enough when static, but I wouldn't be want to be anywhere near it when it was operating. I'm reminded of the planet-killing machine in the Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine."
This is the first of several exhibits about the stranding of the streamliner City of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada in January 1952. I have been on board the California Zephyr when docents from the CSRM deliver commentary on the railroad between Sacramento and Reno. There is a note in their script for when the train goes through Yuba Gap to not tell this story during snowy weather.
The biggest display in the CSRM collection (literally) is the last and only surviving member of Southern Pacific's fleet of cab-in-front steam locomotives. This is a huge locomotive, with the driving cab in front, rather than at the back as is done with most steam locomotives. Having the cab in front on this oil-driven steam locomotive spared crews the suffocating effects of steam and smoke in the many tunnels on the SP route through the Sierra Nevada mountains.
This locomotive is too large to get in a single photo. I took this video of the length of the locomotive and its tender.
There is also an exhibit about the driving of the last spike of the original transcontinental railroad.
This painting imagines the driving of the final spike perhaps as it should have been, not as it was. It includes Theodore Judah, the visionary engineer who pushed for the route through the Sierra, but who died years before the road was completed when he contracted yellow fever while traveling from California to New York City in an attempt to secure financing that would allow him to buy out the "Big Four" who financed the Central Pacific, the company that built the western portion of the railroad.
There is a golden spike on display here, but it's not one of those driven at Promontory Summit. It is a duplicate of the final spike. David Hewes commissioned two golden spikes, one of which was taken to Promontory Summit and one of which was kept with the Hewes family until 2005, after which it was put on display at the CSRM.
We went up to the third level of the museum, which gave us a different perspective on the Cab Forward locomotive.
Much of the top floor is taken up with a large exhibit on toy and model trains.
There is, however a narrow-gauge rail exhibit, including Nevada Short Line locomotive #1. The NSL operated from 1913-1918 on a railroad near Lovelock, Nevada.
Outside, in the yard of the Sacramento Southern excursion railroad, is an Amtrak locomotive that once pulled trains across the country. For all we know, we might have traveled behind this locomotive on our travels. Today, it pulls the museum's excursion train.
As with most of my photos, click through these pictures and videos to see more. I shot a lot of photos today.
We traveled throughout Old Sacramento, with me pushing Lisa's wheelchair. Old Sacramento is mostly wheelchair accessible; however, the cobbled streets and boardwalks make for a bumpy ride.
After getting far more than our money's worth from our visit to the museum, and purchasing some souvenirs and another book about railroad history (big surprise), we made our way back to the minivan. At one point during the day when I popped back to the van to get Lisa's seat cushion and to drop off the things we'd bought in the gift shop, I noticed that a prime parking space with a gore next to it had opened up, and I moved the van, which made it much easier to get Lisa into the van. Lisa's sprained ankle didn't seem quite serious enough to her for us to go to urgent care and get a medical diagnosis that we would have needed for a temporary handicapped-parking space placard.
Tired but happy, we returned to the hotel after making another trip to Raley's to pick up fixings for tonight's dinner. When we got back to the hotel, most of the regular parking spaces were full, so we temporarily parked in one of the handicapped spaces long enough to get Lisa into her chair. I then parked in a regular space. I assumed (and I was right) that nobody would give us static for not having a placard when I was obviously helping Lisa with her wheelchair. As with last night, I pushed Lisa up to our room, then came back and got our groceries.
I'd been checking weather and road conditions during the day, and while chain controls were up overnight during the snow, they cleared mid-day today. The weather forecast for Sunday is for clear weather for our drive home from Sacramento. We are not intending on rushing. This is supposed to be a mini-vacation, after all. I rather like it.
We were there shortly after the museum opened at 10 AM.
Lisa and I took many photos and videos today. I only have my photos online so far. Lisa took more than I did. We'll probably work some of them into future episodes of Railway Legends, Myths, and Stories. Lisa here is looking at Central Pacific Locomotive No. 1, the Gov. Stanford.
Among the displays is this one about the standard railroad gauge of 1435 mm (4 feet 8 1/2 inches), used in about 55% of railways around the world. To our disappointment, both this display and at least one of the docents repeated the myth that this gauge is directly descended from the width of Roman chariots, which is not true, and something that we tackled in an episode of RLMS.
Among the many pieces of rare and historically significant railway equipment on display is The Gold Coast, the luxurious private railroad car of Lucius Beebe and his life partner Charles Clegg. Lisa decided to not bother with the wheelchair lift to see this and several other cars from "platform" level. We've seen them before and we will probably see them again the next time we visit.
This sleeping car is fitted out with actuators that simulate the feeling of traveling down the tracks on an open-section sleeper.
I took this video walking through the St. Hyacinthe. The wobbling was not me being unsteady with the camera, but from the actuators that simulate the experience of traveling in the car. Lisa and I have only traveled in Amtrak sleepers in roomettes and bedrooms. Open sections no longer run on US railroads, although I think there are some Via Rail Canada services that still have them.
Adjacent to the St. Hyacinthe is the Cochiti, a Santa Fe dining car.
I took a video walkthrough of this car as well, I'd hoped to record a docent dressed as a dining car steward sounding the chimes to call patrons to the dining car, but he had left by the time I came through recording.
You'll recall my video from yesterday of the Southern Pacific rotary snowplows. Another SP rotary is on display at the museum.
The maw of this gigantic snowblower is impressive enough when static, but I wouldn't be want to be anywhere near it when it was operating. I'm reminded of the planet-killing machine in the Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine."
This is the first of several exhibits about the stranding of the streamliner City of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada in January 1952. I have been on board the California Zephyr when docents from the CSRM deliver commentary on the railroad between Sacramento and Reno. There is a note in their script for when the train goes through Yuba Gap to not tell this story during snowy weather.
The biggest display in the CSRM collection (literally) is the last and only surviving member of Southern Pacific's fleet of cab-in-front steam locomotives. This is a huge locomotive, with the driving cab in front, rather than at the back as is done with most steam locomotives. Having the cab in front on this oil-driven steam locomotive spared crews the suffocating effects of steam and smoke in the many tunnels on the SP route through the Sierra Nevada mountains.
This locomotive is too large to get in a single photo. I took this video of the length of the locomotive and its tender.
There is also an exhibit about the driving of the last spike of the original transcontinental railroad.
This painting imagines the driving of the final spike perhaps as it should have been, not as it was. It includes Theodore Judah, the visionary engineer who pushed for the route through the Sierra, but who died years before the road was completed when he contracted yellow fever while traveling from California to New York City in an attempt to secure financing that would allow him to buy out the "Big Four" who financed the Central Pacific, the company that built the western portion of the railroad.
There is a golden spike on display here, but it's not one of those driven at Promontory Summit. It is a duplicate of the final spike. David Hewes commissioned two golden spikes, one of which was taken to Promontory Summit and one of which was kept with the Hewes family until 2005, after which it was put on display at the CSRM.
We went up to the third level of the museum, which gave us a different perspective on the Cab Forward locomotive.
Much of the top floor is taken up with a large exhibit on toy and model trains.
There is, however a narrow-gauge rail exhibit, including Nevada Short Line locomotive #1. The NSL operated from 1913-1918 on a railroad near Lovelock, Nevada.
Outside, in the yard of the Sacramento Southern excursion railroad, is an Amtrak locomotive that once pulled trains across the country. For all we know, we might have traveled behind this locomotive on our travels. Today, it pulls the museum's excursion train.
As with most of my photos, click through these pictures and videos to see more. I shot a lot of photos today.
We traveled throughout Old Sacramento, with me pushing Lisa's wheelchair. Old Sacramento is mostly wheelchair accessible; however, the cobbled streets and boardwalks make for a bumpy ride.
After getting far more than our money's worth from our visit to the museum, and purchasing some souvenirs and another book about railroad history (big surprise), we made our way back to the minivan. At one point during the day when I popped back to the van to get Lisa's seat cushion and to drop off the things we'd bought in the gift shop, I noticed that a prime parking space with a gore next to it had opened up, and I moved the van, which made it much easier to get Lisa into the van. Lisa's sprained ankle didn't seem quite serious enough to her for us to go to urgent care and get a medical diagnosis that we would have needed for a temporary handicapped-parking space placard.
Tired but happy, we returned to the hotel after making another trip to Raley's to pick up fixings for tonight's dinner. When we got back to the hotel, most of the regular parking spaces were full, so we temporarily parked in one of the handicapped spaces long enough to get Lisa into her chair. I then parked in a regular space. I assumed (and I was right) that nobody would give us static for not having a placard when I was obviously helping Lisa with her wheelchair. As with last night, I pushed Lisa up to our room, then came back and got our groceries.
I'd been checking weather and road conditions during the day, and while chain controls were up overnight during the snow, they cleared mid-day today. The weather forecast for Sunday is for clear weather for our drive home from Sacramento. We are not intending on rushing. This is supposed to be a mini-vacation, after all. I rather like it.