On Friday 8/4, I’m going to be taking Amtak to Sacramento to go see the state railroad museum. http://www.csrmf.org/default.asp I’m bringing my digital and a boat load of memory sticks. I’m looking to take pictures for reference for weathering and realism. Anyone want pictures of anything specific? I don’t know what all they have there, I haven’t been there in close to 15 years, so I’m quite sure it’s been updated since I was there.
If you have any requests, let me know, I’ll see what I can do.
Oh man, enjoy yourself. I cam so closre to getting a chance to check it out last summer, but couldnt quite get the time to slip away. Get lots of picks. I heard the layout is just huge now
I did the exact same thing in april with my fater in law. we got on at suisun city and rode to to old sacramento. it was awesome hope you really enjoy yourself
Enjoy the day at the museum and take a good look at the Cab Forward. I believe the SP 2467 is there also at this time on loan.
Not much weathering on any of the engines inside the building, but some of the train and equipment outside used for the train ride does look good.
I was to the Sacramento Museum too, oh probably 4 or 5 years ago now, I we Took Amtrak from San Fransisco(technically Emeryville in Oakland) up to Sacremento. It’s a really senic ride, and the museum is a very nice place. There is a lot to see at the museum, and much of it is beautifully restored. Enjoy the trip.
Noah
i was there in 1993 and it was one of the highlights of our two week visit to california . their collection was fantastic then , everything from an incredibly beautifully restored 4-4-0 to an SP cab forward that made me feel very very small !
enjoy your visit , post plenty of pics when you get back
I did that a few months ago ( emryville to sac ) it was a great trip.
dayv,
If you really want some pics of weathered equipment, you should go to Roseville. It’s a major UP yard and engine service facility. Plenty of opportunity to fill memory sticks there. Also, Railroad Hobbies, a very nice hobby shop in located in old downtown Roseville almost adjacent to the yards.
get some SHots of the AC-5 is it? for me I love those engines
My in-laws live about 3/4 mile from the yard. I just haven’t had a chance to get up there recently, but thanks for the idea. I hadn’t thought about going up there.
dayv,
Looks like I’ll be in Roseville this weekend myself. I should find the time for a trip to the yards (and the hobby shop). Don’t know your schedule, but if you’re stuck for a ride out to Roseville, I can probally give you a hand, let me know.
Cell 559 974 8157
Sorry, missed the post until too late. I have plans to go up to see in the out-laws in a few weeks, so I’ll just go then. Thanks for the offer though.
Sorry I missed the post too…a couple things about CSRM: many people often don’t realize that the Central Pacific passenger station across the street from the museum on Front Street is also part of the museum, and admission to the museum pays for admission there too. There are some nice 1880s passenger cars there, a Virginia & Truckee 2-4-0 (the “J.W. Bowker”), a wooden doodlebug (the “Yerington,” a Sacramento Northern SW-1, and Sacramento Southern’s 44-tonner.
The yard area behind the museum on the other side of the tracks is off-limits to the public, but with a telephoto lens you can get pretty good shots of the shops complex and the big chunks of the collection sitting out there from the Amtrak station platforms or from Jibboom Street, just off the I Street Bridge.
Sorry to relay all this after the fact, but it might be helpful on someone’s future trip…
The station building that is up towards the water was locked up tight. I even asked one of the museum workers and he said, as he was hurrying to his lunch, " dunno man, it should be open." No one had an answer. I asked 4 people and they all said they didn’t know why it was closed but offered no explanation as to why they couldn’t open it, or where I could find someone who could.
I know where you are talking about near the old SP locomotive works, as far as the other stuff that should/could be in the museum. My camera isn’t powerful enough to get over there. I google earthed the museum and saw what might be a way to walk over there without getting in too much trouble. I’ll save it for my next trip up there. It’s not far so it’s not a big deal.
Staffing problems (due to funding problems) may have been why the passenger station wasn’t open–sometimes there aren’t enough docents to man everything, and if they are short staff for some reason the passenger station is the first thing to be shut down.
Best way to get near the shops, without going into them, is via the I Street Bridge, the two-level railroad/automobile bridge right behind the museum. There is a stairway to get from the street level to the upper level, which has a pedestrian walkway, on the Sacramento side of the bridge. Once up on the upper level, walk to the stoplight–there is a ramp that goes off to the right, down to the street on the Sacramento side of the river, Jibboom Street. Cross the street before crossing the bridge and go down Jibboom Street. Before Jibboom reaches street level there is a stairway leading down. From the stairway you can get some good elevated shots of the equipment.
Eventually, the stuff in the railyards WILL be in the museum–because a large proportion of the shops complex will BE the new Railroad Technology Museum (if you saw the sign about it in the back corner of the upstairs level in the main museum) and you’ll be able to go directly there and check things out up close. There’s even more great stuff in the shops buildings, and the shops themselves (including things like the transfer table, turntable, heavy repair equipment and the amazing buildings themselves) are pretty cool. Although right now the only way to see them is to be a docent… 
Actually, tommorow, I’ll be heading to Roseville to swing by the hobby store, and then to the yard. I’m fortunate enough to live in Applegate, which is 20 minutes to Roseville, and about another 25 to Sacramento. Our house is built on a pear orchard, and the whole area is rich with rail history.
Has anyone seen the fossil in the hillside in Applegate? I can go take a picture later today or tommorow if you’d like.
Speaking of attractions in Roseville, have you been to the old Carnegie library in Roseville? They have several model railroad displays, including an N scale model of the Roseville Yards and area, including a depiction of the giant munitions explosion that took place there in the early seventies.
You know what, I haven’t. I think I might go by there tommorow as well. I’ve heard about the explosion though. I’d love to see a model of it.