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Riding the rails of history In
this package:
We followed the painted railroad tracks on Commercial Street to the Portola Railroad Museum -- like Dorothy following the Yellow Brick Road. But instead of OZ, we ended up at a former Western Pacific Railroad locomotive servicing facility that now is home to the museum. I learned about the museum prior to our trip by visiting its Web site. The 37-acre yard has 2.5 miles of track and a 16,000-square-foot diesel locomotive service shop. It was an active service yard from 1954 to 1974. Nearly a decade
later, the Feather River Rail Society leased the inactive
facility from Union Pacific and established the museum,
which now includes more than 30 locomotives and 80 cars. The society, a non-profit educational and historical preservation, runs the museum as a way to preserve several railroad history. The group is espcially interested in the history of the Western Pacific Railroad, rails in Northern California and the diesel-electric locomotive of North America. As with other rail museums, visitors are encouraged to climb aboard and explore the cabs, cabooses and passenger cars. But what's different in Portola is that visitors can actually drive one of the locomotives. The museum's Run-A-Locomotive program, allows enthusiasts to rent a locomotive and operate it on the museum grounds -- under the close supervision of an instructor -- for $95 and $125 per hour. Income from the rentals is used for restoration projects. There are no age restrictions, and up to four people can share a rental. Rentals are done year round by appointment, weather permitting. My friends and I must have been visiting on one of those "weather permitting" days. The gates were open, but we were the only ones around. Must have been the weather: It was a cold day, somewhere in the mid 50s, with some rain and high winds. The shop, where the snack bar, old photos and miniature trains are located, was closed. But we were still able to climb around on the a couple of locomotives and peek in some of the passenger cars. My friend, James Ray of Reno, was disappointed that most of the museum was shut down. "I was hoping some crusty old man would be out here telling us all about the trains, and how everything used to cost a nickel." The trip to wasn't as disappointing for my other friend, Brad Mangin, though. "This museum took me back to the days when my grandparents used to take me to the train museums in California back in 1971, when I was 6," he said. Mangin reminisced
about his enthusiasm for trains as a child. "I was into it
from age 4 to age 8. I was always wearing my engineer's hat,
and my grandparents would take me to the train museum at Rio
Vista, Roaring Camp in Felton in Train Town in Sonoma and
the mini train park at Tilden Park (in
Berkeley)." The museum's calendar of events include a Santa Train (Dec. 5 and 12, 1998), Feather River Railroad Days (Aug. 21-22, 1999), Railfan Photographer's Day (Sept. 18, 1999) and various locomotive maintenance clinics througout the operating season. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day with train rides running 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Train rides are not available the rest of the year, but the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Admission is free, but a $2 donation is suggested. All-day train ride passes are $2 per person or $5 per family. There's more to Portola than just the railroad museum. The city puts on annual events like Winter Holiday and the Plumas Sierra Century bike ride. Visitors also can enjoy activities for every season: golfing, dining, bird watching, fishing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, winter sports and other outdoor activities.
Posted
Dec. 11, 1998
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