Inside Old Sacramento State Historic Park, the California State Railroad Museum rises in front of you. Part of the California State Parks system, this museum interprets the role of railroads in the Western U.S., and it does so with an astonishing collection. Inside you'll find 21 restored locomotives and railroad cars, some dating back to 1862.
A centerpiece is the "Sierra Scene," a large-scale mockup of a construction camp high in the Sierra Nevada representing Donner Pass around 1867 and featuring the locomotive Gov. Stanford. Other exhibits trace how railroads reshaped travel, commerce, and daily life, and how they shaped the lives of railroaders and the diversity of people who worked on railroads.
Changing displays of photography, ephemera, and artifacts add texture and incidental stories to the larger history. The museum also runs an extensive educational program for elementary students from across the region, using re-enactments, costumed docents, and train and handcar rides to bring the past to life. In the roundhouse area, a rotating display of locomotives and equipment turns history into motion.
Notice the Sierra Scene mockup and the roundhouse where locomotives still turn through history.