Sacramento Trip Report, Railroad and Old Town Edition

At the Railroad Museum, we met a remarkable man in his 80s who was an retired employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and had met Reagan along with a group of his railroad colleagues. He was dressed in his conductor's uniform, and his eyes shined brightly when I asked him about his career and meeting with Reagan. Virtually all of the museum guides were retired railroad employees who volunteered their time to show people the railroad cars and answer questions.

I wish I had more time to spend at the museum, but Russell was not in the mood to tour the locomotives and passenger cars so we breezed through most of the displays and headed upstairs to the toy train displays. As it turned out, both Russell and Punky loved the Lionel trains and could have stayed there all day.


Russell admires a miniature steam locomotive at the California State Railroad Museum


One of the many engines that once moved along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks


Ronald Reagan's legacy: He funded the California State Railway Museum when he was the Governor


Inside the first class dining car


Russell attempts to climb into a sleeping car berth at the museum


It was Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento...sponsored by Wells Fargo 


Punky and Russell onboard the horse-drawn carriage in Old Sacramento once again 


The Wells Fargo stagecoach in Old Sacramento