Spookomotive Train Ride -- Octboer 17, 2018

Halloween is coming.

Weekends in October, the California State Railroad Museum offers the Spookomotive Train Ride on the Sacramento Southern Railroad.

"Delightful, not Frightful."

California State Railroad Museum, 2017 -- August 8, 2017

Today we drove to Sacramento.  Traffic was light going up. The weather in Sacramento was pleasant, not too hot.  The California State Railroad Museum had an exhibit of autos from the California Automobile Museum, which used to be the Towe Ford Museum.  I wanted to visit that place, but it is closed on Tuesdays.  Here we see a high speed rail mockup with a 1914 Stanley Steamer. 

In the lobby there was an exhibit of images showing Southern Pacific employee sports teams, including baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball and bowling. 

We walked under the freeway to the K Street Mall to get lunch.  The K Street Mall was closed.  They are redeveloping it.  We were hungry, so it was fortunate that Macy's had a cafe on the ground floor.  We had a nice lunch there. 

We walked through Old Sacramento and back to the car.  We stopped at the Nut Tree to have sundaes at Fenton's.  Traffic going home was pretty light, except around Emeryville. 

California State Railroad Museum, 2016 -- July 31, 2016

Today we drove to Sacramento.  Traffic was good going up. We picked up tickets for a first class train ride, then visited the museum.  There was an exhibit about signals, and a high speed rail mockup by Siemens. 

After, we had a little lunch and then rode in observation car El Dorado on the Sacramento Southern.  It was a nice ride.  The stewards served cookies, pretzels or peanuts, and soft drinks. 

We drove west on 80 and traffic was slow at several points.  We stopped at the Nut Tree and had a bite at Fenton's. 

Ghost Sign #22 -- August 22, 2013

I took this photo of a restored ghost sign in Old Sacramento during our visit in July.  What Cheer House was a generic name in 19th Century California for hotels that did not serve alcohol.  There was a What Cheer House at Sacramento and Leidsdorff Streets in San Francisco. 

Building America -- UP 150 -- July 22, 2013

Because we had to cut short our Disneyland trip, we decided to spend two nights in Sacramento.  Traffic was good on the drive up. 

We walked through Old Sacramento and had lunch at Johnny Rockets in the K Street Mall.  Then we went to the state railroad museum.  The upstairs gallery had "Building America: Abraham Lincoln, California, and the Union Pacific Railroad," a touring exhibit  in honor of UP's 150th anniversary.  It included documents, artifacts, histories of some of UP's acquisitions, and many advertising posters.  We watched an Amtrack locomotive get pulled out the roundhouse doors. 

We checked into the Governor's Inn, which we had not visited for years.  It was nice, and was very quiet. 

The next day we had planned to go to the state fair, but it was too hot.  We drove to Folsom and visited the outlets, then back to Sacramento and went to the California State Museum.  My wife thinks it would be a great place to take a field trip.  We had not visited since the Lincoln Bicentennial.  There was a small exhibit on the missions and one on Charles and Ray Eames.  Many visitors headed straight for the Eames.  My wife didn't remember them till she saw the chairs.  The exhibit on Japanese-American relocation made me tear up. 

Then we visited the K Street Mall.

The next day we drove home, with a stop at the Nut Tree.  Traffic was clear till we got to the Berkley city limits. 

While we in Southern California, Tim Lincecum pitched a no-hitter.  The National League lost the All Star Game. 

Ghost Sign #18 -- April 23, 2013

A ghost sign for the Brannan House, a former hotel, in Old Sacramento.  I took the photo when we visited the California State Railroad Museum in July, 2012. 

Ghost Sign #15 -- January 23, 2013

Ghost signs for Morelo's Hotel and Boss of the Road Overalls, "The Watchdog of Quality," across I Street from the California State Railroad Museum. I took the photo during our visit in July, 2012.

Central Pacific 150 -- January 8, 2013

On 08-January-1863, in Sacramento, Governor Leland Stanford turned the ceremonial first shovelful of earth for the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, the western half of the great transcontinental railroad on the Overland Route.  In honor of the anniversary, the California State Railroad Museum will put a plaque near the site. 

I took this photo of the reproduced arcade depot in Old Sacramento in July, 2008. 

Dominator -- August 1, 2012

This Dominator Brand tomato crate label features an attacking fighter plane.  From the general shape and the fire flaring from the propellor hub, I guess it is supposed to be a Bell P-39 Airacobra.  It was part of a new display of fruit crate labels which we saw when we visited the California State Railroad Museum in July. 

I was sad to learn that Gore Vidal had died.  He had a gift with words, and wasn't afraid to criticize people for abusing them.  I avoided his historical novels.  They would get me upset.  Of course, that was part of the purpose. 

California State Railroad Museum #4 -- July 23, 2012

Today we drove to Sacramento.  Traffic was good going up.  Coming back, we heard about disruptions because President Obama was visiting Oakland, so we took the Black Point Cutoff and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Traffic was good again.

On the way up, we stopped at the Vacaville outlets.  We parked in Old Sacramento, and took a walk to the K Street Mall, where we had lunch at Johnny Rocket's.  We walked over the Sacramento train station and I took some pictures.

We went to the California State Railroad Museum.  There was an exhibit about comfort in traveling.  The many examples of chairs and seats were interesting.  Downstairs there was an exhibit of toy trains.  In the reefer, there was an exhibit of fruit crate labels.  There was no exhibit upstairs.  We had a nice stroll through the museum, then walked around Old Sacramento.

On the way back, we stopped at the Nut Tree and had something to eat at Fenton's Creamery.  I didn't see the train.  The heat was furnace-like.

I took the photo today, showing an interesting image on the side wall of the museum.  

GS and Bicycle -- May 11, 2012

James A Fitzpatrick Traveltalks were produced by MGM for many years. This ad, from the 1937 Film Daily Product Guide, features a Southern Pacific GS (Golden State) 4-8-4, in Coast Daylight colors, which is posting next to Central Pacific locomotive 1, the C P Huntington, a unique 1863 4-2-0T which is preserved at the California State Railroad Museum (http://www.csrmf.org/).

I was sad to see that Maurice Sendak had died.  I remember Where the Wild Things Are from when I was a kid. I found the illustrations disturbing.  

Hark the Herald #9 -- July 9, 2010

I took this fuzzy photo of the Western Pacific's Feather River Route herald onthe nose of F7 913 at the California State Railroad Museum in April, 2010. My dad did some geologic work in the Feather River area and was very fond of it.

Yesterday everyone bailed out of work a little before 4, hoping to get somewhere on BART before the demonstrations got started about the Mehserle verdict. The Eastbound platform at Montgomery was jammed with people.

Hark the Herald #7 -- May 13, 2010

I like railroad heralds. Here is Southern Pacific's classic herald from narrow gauge boxcar 331 at the California State Railroad Museum. I took the photo in April, 2010.

National Train Day -- May 8, 2010

National Train Day is on its third year in 2010: http://www.nationaltrainday.com/

California State Railroad Museum #2 -- April 17, 2010

Today we took a drive up to Sacramento. Traffic was bad in several places, including the Yolo Causeway.

We visited the California State Railroad Museum. Downstairs there was a nice exhibit of toy trains. There was also an exhibit called “The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers.” It was moving.

I took the photo of Granite Rock #10 taking water by the turntable today.

Hark the Herald #5 -- March 12, 2010

I like railroad heralds. This stained glass window depicting the Southern Pacific herald was preserved from the Oakland Pier ferry terminal. I took the photo at the California State Railroad Museum in September, 2007.

It was not as cold this morning. It started raining hard late in the morning.

Train Station #14 -- September 15, 2009

This reproduction of the Central Pacific's arcade depot in Old Sacramento is near the original starting point of the line. I took the photo in July, 2009.

Larry Gelbart died. My parents took me to the Orpheum to see Jackie Gleason and Cleavon Little in "Sly Fox."

Jim Carroll died of a heart attack at 59. Another person who died.

Lincoln in Sacramento -- July 28, 2009

Today we drove to Sacramento. The California State Museum hosted the Library of Congress' exhibit "With Malice Towards None." It had many Lincoln-related items, some from the Union Pacific collection. My heart felt funny when I saw the draft of the Gettysburg Address. There were many documents I have read about, like the unsent letter to General Meade after Gettysburg. They had the contents of Lincoln's pockets when he was shot, and the family doctor's notes, spattered with Lincoln's blood. I had only two issues with the show. One was probably due to the space: it was hard to follow the exhibits in sequence. There were little arrows all over the floor. The other was that, to protect the documents, the lights were very low. An older lady told me it was killing her eyes to try to read anything. I was having a similar problem.

I enjoyed seeing the Bible used for Lincoln's first inauguration and for President Obama's.

After lunch at the mall, we went to the Railroad Museum to see "The Rail Splitter and the Railroads: Lincoln, the Union and the Golden State." The title tells all about it. It started with his interest in internal improvements, especially railroads, went on to his railroad-related legal cases, especially the bridge case, and the trains he rode on, including the funeral train.

The image shows Lincoln and his three competitors in the 1860 election, John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, John C. Breckinridge, Southern Democrat, and Stephen A Douglas, Democrat.

California State Railroad Museum -- November 9, 2008

Yesterday we took a drive up to Sacramento. Traffic was light except around Vacaville. It was cloudy all the way. We visited the California State Railroad Museum. There was not a big crowd. There was a nice exhibit of photographs taken around the Nevada Northern. The museum people appear to have finished the latest round of rearranging the exhibits. We went under the freeway and had lunch at Panda Express in the mall. Then the family went shopping. It started to rain lightly. After we went back to Old Sacramento and walked around a bit. Traffic was light on the way back except around Berkeley.

Lionel Racing Cars -- November 17, 2007

I may have mentioned that I enjoy the look of pre-WWII racing cars. This set of Lionel racing cars is on display at the California State Railroad Museum in the model train exhibit. I took the photo on 29-September-2007. I like the colors of the cars and the poses of the drivers and mechanics. Note that the steering wheels are on the right-hand side.