National Train Day
I love the train. I love the soft whistle in the middle of the night. (Sometimes in the middle of the night I become half awake wondering what that beautiful music I hear is.) I love the bigness and power of the engine. I love the relaxing rocking motion of the cars while the world speeds by out the window. I love watching and wondering as a hundred freight cars go by.
Last Saturday May 9, as you may or may not have been aware was National Train Day. To celebrate, my parents
and I took a trip on Amtrak from Oakland to Sacramento to visit the California State Railroad Museum. This year marks only the second national train day, and I think it's something Amtrak made up to drum up some business but I like it! While on the train a host gave us paper fans, stickers, pamphlets and let us know that the museum was offering free admission to Amtrak passengers that day.
The two hour ride to Sacramento is fairly scenic. The tracks run along the bay. You go by the oil tanks in Richmond, have a nice view of the Martinez Bridge. Out the window the egrets and ducks fly around the wetlands of the Delta. The train was pretty crowded so I'm glad we were able to get three seats around a table to enjoy the trip.
We arrived happily in Sacramento and walked the two short blocks to the train museum. The museum was fairly bustling for the event. It's a big place, with lots of engines. It's amazing to me that over one hundred years ago people were blasting through mountains building railroads that crossed the country. The railroad is such a part of bringing America together. With the transcontinental railroad came fast travel, and new ideas such as standardized time. Also of course train robberies which led to great tales of the wild west.
Steam engines are really big, you don't realize how big until you stand next to one. It must have been quite a sight to see one chug up the mountains. The coach cars were beautifully appointed in wood trim and red velvet seats. Trains have changed a lot in a hundred years. It's fun to be transported for a few hours back to a more romantic notion of train travel. The train museum was a fun place to go with my parents, especially my dad who worked at the train yards in Chicago many many years ago. He was able to tell me about the ice in the fresh produce cars he used to unload while we were standing in front of one.
I love the train and the California State Train Museum is certainly a great place for anyone interested in trains. It was especially exciting to visit on National Train Day and meet many other people who love trains at various booths set up by train centric organizations. I got a nice haul of free stuff too!
Last Saturday May 9, as you may or may not have been aware was National Train Day. To celebrate, my parents
and I took a trip on Amtrak from Oakland to Sacramento to visit the California State Railroad Museum. This year marks only the second national train day, and I think it's something Amtrak made up to drum up some business but I like it! While on the train a host gave us paper fans, stickers, pamphlets and let us know that the museum was offering free admission to Amtrak passengers that day.The two hour ride to Sacramento is fairly scenic. The tracks run along the bay. You go by the oil tanks in Richmond, have a nice view of the Martinez Bridge. Out the window the egrets and ducks fly around the wetlands of the Delta. The train was pretty crowded so I'm glad we were able to get three seats around a table to enjoy the trip.
We arrived happily in Sacramento and walked the two short blocks to the train museum. The museum was fairly bustling for the event. It's a big place, with lots of engines. It's amazing to me that over one hundred years ago people were blasting through mountains building railroads that crossed the country. The railroad is such a part of bringing America together. With the transcontinental railroad came fast travel, and new ideas such as standardized time. Also of course train robberies which led to great tales of the wild west.
Steam engines are really big, you don't realize how big until you stand next to one. It must have been quite a sight to see one chug up the mountains. The coach cars were beautifully appointed in wood trim and red velvet seats. Trains have changed a lot in a hundred years. It's fun to be transported for a few hours back to a more romantic notion of train travel. The train museum was a fun place to go with my parents, especially my dad who worked at the train yards in Chicago many many years ago. He was able to tell me about the ice in the fresh produce cars he used to unload while we were standing in front of one.
I love the train and the California State Train Museum is certainly a great place for anyone interested in trains. It was especially exciting to visit on National Train Day and meet many other people who love trains at various booths set up by train centric organizations. I got a nice haul of free stuff too!
Labels: train
| 22:16
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home