Let’s Ride the Train!

by

If you’ve never been to Old Sacramento and get the chance to go, take it. I love Old Sac. Every time I used to visit my son in Stockton, which is about forty-five minutes south of Sacramento, I like to set aside a day to wander through Old Town.
Old Sacramento is exactly what the name suggests: an entire historic district along the waterfront. The wooden sidewalks, brick buildings, and old storefronts make you feel as if you’ve stepped back into the 1800s. The buildings have been preserved and are still very much in use today, filled with shops, restaurants, candy stores, and museums. It’s the sort of place where you can spend hours simply strolling and peeking into windows.

One of my favorite stops is the California State Railroad Museum. Ty Smith, the museum’s director, once said that “trains and railroading are at the heart of who we are as a people. We speak in railroad language and metaphor. To speak of trains is to speak of freedom and movement.” He also says the museum is made up not just of trains, but of stories.

And there are plenty of those.

Every time I visit the museum, I learn something new. For instance, many towns in the American West were built around railroad tracks rather than the other way around. A town’s location was often determined by where the tracks ran. Of course, some places were settled long before the railroad arrived, but once the trains came through, those towns often grew quickly.

The tracks were usually laid along the edge of town or just outside it, and over time the town expanded until it surrounded them.

It’s fascinating to realize just how much trains shaped the way communities developed.

Trains also left their mark on American music. There are countless train songs in the American songbook. Trains have a rhythm that musicians couldn’t ignore. There are tragic train songs, “working on the railroad” songs, love songs, and songs about love lost. Trains are wonderfully percussive. If you listen closely to old recordings, you can almost hear the syncopation of wheels on rails and the cry of the train whistle woven into the music itself.

The museum is a wonderful connection to the past, when train travel was as much about the journey as it was the destination. Travelers sat in plush railcars watching the country roll by outside their windows. People met, shared meals, and sometimes formed friendships that lasted far longer than the trip itself.

In recent years, train travel has been making a bit of a comeback. More and more folks are choosing the rails again. It’s a relaxing way to see the country and a refreshing change of pace from crowded highways and busy airports.

One of the highlights of visiting the museum is the steam-powered excursion train on the Sacramento Southern Railroad.

Watching the engine chug to life and hearing the whistle blow makes history feel wonderfully alive. It’s easy to see why people of all ages love riding trains.

So if you enjoy trains, or just enjoy a good piece of history, the next time you’re passing through Sacramento, take a little time to stop at Old Sacramento State Historic Park and visit the California State Railroad Museum. Stroll the boardwalks of this wonderful place, visit the shops, grab a bite. You’ll be glad you did.

One train ride I’ve always wanted to take is called The Fruit Loop, in Oregon. It takes you to a string of farms and farm stands that sell all kinds of apples, pears, nuts, and other goodies!

Tell me, have you ever taken a train trip? Or do you have a favorite train movie, song, or story?

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USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!

29 thoughts on “Let’s Ride the Train!”

  2. Good morning Kit! Thanks for this article today. I love those old trains. I think Six Guns was the only ride I took on an old train and that was many years ago. I did take a train from Jacksonville to Washington DC back in ‘91 with 4th and 5th graders. LOL Yes, an experience for sure!

    Casey Jones is a good song. Can’t remember who the song was by at the moment.

    Best wishes to you Kit!

    • Here is Johnny! Nothing like him!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_XUV3HJajQ

      The song I was thinking about was the one Grateful Dead did in the 70’s. But, I had no idea it was about being on drugs! Gracious.I think I loved the music but, not the lyrics. Many songs in the 70’s were like that though, sadly. I remember some of the songs on the radio when my kids came along and I had to change the channel!

      But, I grew up listening to my parent’s records from the 50’s and still like them today too.

  4. I love taking trains. My favorite are the cog trains. there are several that I have ridden. I also like doing dinner trains where you get scenery and great food. as well.

  5. In addition to short steam rail trips, we took the auto train from Lorton, VA, to Orlando a decade ago.

    We’ve been to a lot of railroad museums, too.

  6. Most recent train trips were to and from the Grand Canyon (three hours by train, one hour by car, due to slow excursion train speeds); but a full day+ trip by horse/mule! I’m a big train fan =o]

  8. I haven’t been on a train except at amusement parks like the one at Silver Dollar City and a few others . The article was very interesting.

  9. I’ve got about 35000 miles on Amtrak and while riding it across northern Montana I fell in love with that state and try to go at least once a year. I like to read books set there. I get a room because I don’t want to sleep sitting up although if I was younger Idt I’d mind.

  13. Hi, I love trains, When our 2 now grown adult children were in Kindergarten and preschool, we went on a train trip, we went to the Copper Canyon in Mexico, now that was a trip! We also went on a train ride to Silverton Colorado it was so much fun! This past October my husband and I went on a train trip for Alpine, Texas to Tucson , Arizona, it was so much fun! Hoping to go on more train trips. We have never gone to Old Sacramento, but it sounds like fun, Thank you for sharing about it, I enjoyed reading this. Have a great day and a great week.

  15. We enjoy train travel. I rode the train a few times in college, once into Canada for a history class research project and a couple of times. to get to my student teaching assignment. We have taken Amtrak from Durham, NC to NYC a couple of times. It certainly beats driving or flying. In addition it drops you off at Penn Station right in the middle of the city.
    On a trip out West, we took the Amtrak Cascade train from Seattle to Vancouver, BC.On the same trip, we tooth train in Alaska to Denali. We have taken cog railways on both Pike’s Peak in Colorado and Mt. Washington in N. H. We have taken a short day train trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains. My favorite trip was on the Durango to Silverton, CO steam train. Wonderful scenery and a nice old train.
    My husband found an add for a train trip in New Zealand he would really like to take. It runs the length of the country and is in 5 (I think) segments. Each segment is on a different train, several of which are restored old trains. I am trying to figure out how we can manage that trip net year.
    We lived near Sacramento for about 2 years. Unfortunately, we never really got to explore Old Town. Our girls were in middle school and we had an overactive 4 year old son. He was a test detachment director and there was little free time. I would like to go back now and explore more of the area.

  16. I’ve always wanted to do one of the scenic train rides through Canada! I bet that would be fun. And if you’re ever visit Sacramento, definitely check out the train museum, Patricia!

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