The 21st Annual Behind-the-Scenes Tour at the California State Railroad Museum and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.

21st Annual Behind-the-Scenes Tour

Presented by the California State Railroad Museum and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Report and Photos by Carl Morrison, Carl@TrainWeb.com

(Double-click any photo for a double-sized copy, click BACK in your browser to return to this page.)

The 21st Annual Behind-the-Scenes Tour at the California State Railroad Museum

and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.

--CSRM 2nd Floor wooden caboose (Photoshop Rough Pastels Filter)

The Invitation said to be at the Museum at 8 a.m. to board the bus for Railtown 1897. We had stayed at the nearby Vagabond Inn, so we just walked through the first level of the parking garage in front of the Inn and we were at the Museum at 7:50. Typical of rail fans, we all arrive early, it seems. They already had the pastries, bagels, and coffee inside the side entrance, so we enjoyed the early refreshments and we could use the museum's restrooms. Soon the bus came and we departed at 8:30 for the 2 to 2 1/2 hr. ride south east to Jamestown, CA. We watched a video on the way about the Sierra Railroad. The day at Railtown was called, Traveling Back in Time.

Early Saturday morning in Old Town Sacramento. Large painting on the outside of the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM), right.
Another large sign on the CSRM.

A quick trip inside the Museum netted me some photos.	No. 1 was unique without people around.
Early morning refreshments.	Our schedule for the day was: 8:30 - 11 Bus to Railtown 11:15 Start a 5-station tour of Railtown Lunch 2:00 Train Ride 3:00 Bus back to Sacramento 5:30 End of the day.

Our Behind-the-Scenes Tour at Railtown 1897

The Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex in Jamestown - today preserved as Railtown 1897 State Historic Park - was the operating center of the Sierra Railroad. These historic structures, railroad equipment and grounds provide an accurate portrayal of the steam railroading era in the region from 1897 through 1955. The Sierra Railway connected mining and timber industries in rural Tuolumne and Calaveras counties with the rest of the state.

The property is now used as a state historic site and is used for western movies. The steam engine No. 3 has starred in over 100 movies and television productions including High Noon, Back to the Future III, Unforgiven, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, Big Valley, and Petticoat Junction.

Roundhouse (Photoshop film grain filter)


Our nametags had our group number so we found leader, left, a lady dressed as a 1897 train traveller.	Our group met by a very old caboose.

The excursion train was already running under diesel power, not the steam power as advertised.	Four other groups met at various shady spots on the grounds.
I looked up, and we were standing in the shade of a Tulip Poplar tree, the state tree of my home state, Indiana.

On our walk to the first station, we passed the excursion train reflecting in a pond.	We also passed the the Roundhouse, where another group started their tour.
First Stop: Coach No. 2901

Coach No. 2901

Built by Pullman in 1910 for luxury service on Southern Pacific trains such as the Overland Limited, the car originally had an all wood body and underframe. It was built with steel sides in the 1920s. Its last mainline use was on SP's "Suntan Special" to Santa Cruz in the 1950s. The Sierra Railroad purchased the car from the Central Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and restored here at Railtown.

A barber chair!	Hallway down one side.
Parlour down the other side.	Onboard food and drink preparation area.

Full-width lounge at back of car.	Mirror in lounge at the left, with tour guide and Yours Truly reflected.
Same lounge from end of car.	From the vestibule, I could easily see the pattern of the rails from the turntable (below) and the roundhouse (above).

We walked past the entrances to the roundhouse to get to the next station.

Among the tracks from the turntable to the Roundhouse were California Poppies in full bloom. I and other photographers couldn't resist.

Hetch Hetchy No. 19

The first "track bus," the Hetch Hetchy No 19 could carry 13 passengers. It could run on track at speeds as high as 50 mph, getting 16 miles per gallon. The track car was originally decorated with red and black paint, ornamental tassels and gold lettering and numbers. In 1920, the unique pony truck and rail brakes were installed and a self-contained turntable was mounted by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. With its own turntable under the floor, the No. 19 could be jacked up and turned anywhere along the railroad.

Hetch Hetchy No. 19


	Turntable under the No. 19

	A Model A next to No. 19 also had a turntable underneath.
Turntable under the No. 8 Model A.

Next Station, The Overhead Flat Belt Machine Shop

Double-spindle lathe (big enough to hold a set of wheels!)	Overhead belt system to power each piece of equipment.
Car wheel boring mill.	Planer

Decades, maybe centuries of shop dust.	Engine Lathe
Cob webs and California Poppies outside.

A well oiled machine, engine lathe.	Out the window, a pathway, rusted parts, and California Poppies.
If you want a different speed on your engine lathe, put the belt on a different sized drive wheel.	Belts galore!

	You know you've lifted maximum weights when the links begin to separate!
View outside the Overhead Flat Belt Machine Shop. With time before the next station, I noticed popies and rusting parts along the side of the Flat Belt Machine Shop, right.	'Rust in Peace' among the Poppies.

Next Station: Master Mechanics' Office and Warehouse

This is the hub for the operations of the shops. It is used today by our Railroad Restoration Lead worker, George Sapp, but the historic features are carefully preserved, including notes on the walls written by staff over the years. the warehouse still holds bins of parts used for locomotives here at Railtown.

The tour director for the Mechanics' Warehouse said, "If part bins are empty, that means we have equipment here that uses those parts, if a part bin is full, we don't have anything that uses that part."

In the Office.	I'm old enough to remember the Corona partable typewriter!

The only claim to fame of this vehicle is that John Wayne was pictured on it in a movie.

Next Station: A Caboose being restored.

We did not see No. 3 steamed up because it was being restored from ground up. The caboose, above, was being restored as well.	When they started rebuilding the caboose, they found the cupola was rotted, above. So they removed it and built a new one.
The new caboose with pink primer.	Excellent bracing inside.

An older caboose sits beside the one being restored, as we move on to the next Station.

Next Station: The modern shop where No. 3 is being rebuilt.


With the lunch line very long, I headed for the train ride. They were running the 45-minute ride all day for regualr guests, so I though I could get the ride rather than waiting in line for my hamburger.	Dinner triangle in the shop.

The 45-minute train ride leaves from the old Jamestown Station.

	The platform is 200 ft. long and was built for a movie to look like the Los Angeles Station.
The car hosts are well informed and funny.	Half of the last car had no windows and was perfect on this nice Spring day.

Each car had different type of seats, many with backs that could be moved so you always faced forward even when the train was reversed. Lighting and fans, right, look original.
Some employees are in period dress.	Tommy was our Car Host.

Have your camera ready right at the start because the best scenery is as you leave Railtown. The roundhouse and pond.	The view of the Roundhouse is excellent with the tracks leading to the round table.
Along the way, the California poppies show well.	Tommy joked about our ride's stop, for the locomotive to run by, being a scenic stop like the Grand Canyon. He said it was a working quarry.

A speeder followed us out and back.
No. 613 ran by our train to pull us back to town.


This gives the term 'head light' new meaning.

	Soon we were heading back to Railtown.
It is not usual that you see a grade crossing from this angle.	This water tower was used for the girls to bathe in at the end of each Petticoat Junction TV show during the credits. The top has been added since then.