California State Railroad Museum

On our visit to Old Sacramento we found that the California State Railroad Museum as just next door so we walked over for a look around. Once we entered, we were greeted with the Central Pacific Railroad No. 1, Governor Stanford.

From the museum website:

This forty-ton wood-burning steam locomotive was the pioneer engine of the Central Pacific Railroad. The Gov. Stanford was built in 1862 in Philadelphia, then shipped disassembled in crates around Cape Horn from Boston to San Francisco on board the sailing vessel Herald of the Morning. It arrived in Sacramento on October 6, 1863, by the river schooner Artful Dodger, and was unloaded the next day and reassembled at “K” and Front Streets. It began its long career in Sacramento on November 6, 1863, when the boiler was successfully fired.

Also on display is the Virginia & Truckee Railroad No. 12 Genoa engine.

Virginia & Truckee Railroad No. 12 Genoa is a classic example of the conventional 4-4-0 American-type steam locomotive, the standard engine of most railroads in the United States for nearly three decades. By 1870 over half the locomotives in the nation were of this type.

There are a variety of passenger cars that have been immaculately restored and maintained. After seeing the condition that the folks along the Sierras lived in the last half of the 19th century, I'm pretty sure that only people with a lot more money then them ever road a train that looked this nice.

Of course, long trips required a place to sleep. This room in a sleeper car looks as if it came from a 1930's movie a much as from the 19th century.