And more CSRM

Tell me if you are getting tired of these pics.... I'm still on the first floor. I'm not even near the Sefton collection. The Cab forward (coming up next) is really amazing in person.

Marc

More CSRM

Another shot of the amazing engine you see when you walk into the main area of the museum. Just amazing.

They have these wonderful models all over the place. Check this one out. By the way, they also have quite a few folks walking around the museum in period railroad outfits that are extremely well tuned with knowledge and info on the exhibits.

A cool little mock up of a station and a wonderful shot of the inside of the stations. They have well articulated mannequins throughout the museum in almost every exhibit. They are well done in period dress appropriate for the subject matter.

Gorgeous. The colors in person are even better.

Marc

CSRM Walking in...

Don't even start to think these pictures can do this museum justice. This is the train you get to see when you walk in the door. This museum is the DEAL of the century (by the way), at $9 a person for admission, it just doesn't get better than this.

They have a little bit of Tom Sefton's collection down near the entrance. You know, the cheap stuff like the original Buddy L stuff in a sandbox, the 2 7/8 Converse Trolley and an original Lionel Station and some O gauge. This is in the foyer of the museum, not the museum itself.

So as far as I'm concerned, I got at least half of my nine bucks worth right in the foyer. By the way, the gift shop isn't bad. That have a decent selection of railroad books. A little pricey but they need to support one of the best museums in the world so I tend to want to cut them some slack. More soon.

Marc

There are museums and then there are "museums"

If you are an art aficionado or devotee, there are museums in every state and in every country you can go to. Almost every one of them will be good and some will be excellent. Others are beyond excellent, you almost have to pinch yourself to believe what you are seeing. The Louvre in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Museum of Modern Art in New York are a few of those kinds of places.

I liken this experience to art because when you see the trains in the California State Railroad Museum, you'll get it like I did. These things are art. It's tempting to think toy trains are art. They are. But they are art imitating life which is (in fact) art. The paint, the color, the metals and smells are just heavenly. I've been to the Vatican, I've been in the Sistine Chapel more than once and this is pretty close to that experience.

The California State Railway Museum is one of those museums where you need to pinch yourself to make sure that either:

A. You aren't sleeping or dreaming.

B. That you haven't left the planet and are now at the Pearly Gates of Railroad Heaven.

C. You want to make sure blood and oxygen flow to all parts of your body is still normal.

I had to walk through this museum twice to absorb it. There is a two hour parking limit down the Streets of Old Sacramento. Just don't do it. You aren't leaving that place in two hours. And even if you do, there are more trains and a Steamboat behind the museum. Just don't. Park in the lot across the street and figure you'll be there at least 4 hours. And bring a camera with a ton of space on your memory card. I took 600 shots without blinking an eye. I brought a really nice Oympus 13.5 megapixel camera and now I kind of wish I brought the Nikon. The town of Old Sacramento wonderful as well. Not quite a religious experience, it still is a place where you can spend (easily) a day walking around, looking at the shops and making friends with some wonderful people. Loved it and I want to go back and ride the riverboat and the trains.

By the way, the museum only offers train rides on the weekend. If I didn't have locked and loaded airline tickets....

So I'll post the pics outside of this little blurb I've written. Blogger (the Google Software) has a tendency to jumble up the text when I insert the pictures, so I'll try to keep my prose short and sweet.

Marc

California State Railroad Museum Coming At Ya!

I visited the wonderful Tom Sefton collection and museum in Sacramento this week. All I can say is that I was struck dumb. I have so many pics and thoughts to post, it will basically refresh the entire blog page. Let me settle down a bit first, I have some bad jetlag and need to figure out which timezone I am in...

Marc

San Diego Train Museum Part 4

Here is a massive Lego Layout at the San Diego Train Museum.

I know what you are thinking. "This can't be any good!" All plastic, little locking parts and bits. How good could it be?

This layout is outstanding and believe me when I tell you it's worth the trip. The details on it are extraordinary. In a nutshell (and this is opinion, not by any means fact) the details make the layout. It isn't especially high rail, it can't be qualified as such. Details on a high rail layout are there to give it realism, some charm and to highlite or differentiate a place. The details on a Lego layout are for pure fun. And there are tons of them. They aren't hard to do and are very inexpensive. The technology of Lego really lends itself to doing amazing things on a train layout. And even further, the colors and textures are there. I'd have to say it reminds me of Tinplate in plastic. I don't think any of this is collectible in the sense of collecting old toys. However I do have to say that the trains ran quite well. I didn't see much opportunity to interact with them the same way we interact with a Lionel ZW and a huge standard gauge layout but the effect was similar. I did notice that even with four trains running simultaneously, there was almost no noise. The lack of sound was the only thing I found mildly disruptive, not because it was necessarily bad but because I am so used to a racket whenever any train is run (of any gauge). Some Youtube is coming as well!

M

A Model Train Enthusiast's Dream

A Model Train Enthusiast's Wet Dream, originally uploaded by Marilyn M.

Wow. All I can say is... Impressive.

I am guessing....

Lionel Trains, originally uploaded by Marilyn M.

I was wandering around on Flickr and I found this. My guess is that this is the California Train Museum (Tom Sefton). Whatever it is I love this display.

Click on the pic to get bigger!

Marc