The Golden Gate Railroad Museum is a non-profit

railroad museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that is dedicated to the preservation of steam and passenger railroad equipment, as well as the interpretation of local railroad history.

History

The Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) traces its origins to 1972, when Mike Mangini first spotted ex- SP 2472, a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

that had been on static display in the San Mateo County Fairgrounds parking lot since 1959. In 1975, Mangini was granted permission to take the locomotive away, and weekend volunteers began restoring 2472 on weekends, shortly thereafter incorporating as Project 2472. After the boiler was restored, the locomotive was moved in 1990 to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

at the

Hunters Point Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established i ...

. On April 30, 1991, 2472 moved under its own power to Santa Clara and then Sacramento for display at Railfair '91. SP 4450, an SD9 named

The museum was initially located in Hunters Point until the Navy notified GGRM in August 2005 that all leases would be cancelled and the area would need to be vacated by February 2006, as it was turning the site over to the city. The museum moved its collection of 12

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s and over 25 pieces of rolling stock to

Sunol, California Sunol ( es, Suñol) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Alameda County, California. Located in the Sunol Valley of the East Bay, the population was 913 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the location of the Sunol Water ...

, home of the

Niles Canyon Railway The Niles Canyon Railway (NCRy) is a heritage railway running on the first transcontinental railroad alignment (1866, 1869) through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

operated by the Pacific Locomotive Association (PLA); some of the collection was sold or donated to other historical rail sites, including the

Western Pacific Railroad Museum The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad and archives that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves docu ...

(WPRM), operated by the Feather River Rail Society (FRRS). FRRS and PLA participated in the GGRM's big move, with FRRS loaning road-worthy engines and crews to facilitate the move. In exchange, GGRM donated several locomotives and cars to WPRM. In January 2017, GGRM announced it would be moving to

Schellville, California Schellville is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, United States. Schellville was named after Theodore L. Schell, who lived on a ranch nearby. The community is located in the vicinity of the junction of California State Rout ...

, on the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a regi ...

. The GGRM's new Schellville yard, near Victory Station, was fenced in late 2018, and the move to Schellville commenced in March 2020. Preparations to move the fleet included replacing obsolete brake valves on passenger cars, fixing air leaks, and replacing wheel sets. The offices of GGRM are in

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a po ...

. The museum performs restoration work on its collection, which it showcases for special events.

Collection

The collection of the GGRM is centered around the equipment used by

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

for its

Peninsula Commute The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California and San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula. This service ran as a ...

operation along the

San Francisco Peninsula The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Mountain View, south of Palo A ...

between San Francisco and San Jose.

In popular culture

In the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

of the television show ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...

'', the episode "Peeing on the Third Rail" was filmed at the original location in Hunters Point.

References

External links

Home page
* * {{authority control Museums in Alameda County, California History of San Francisco Railroad museums in California Museums established in 1975

History

Collection

In popular culture

See also

References

External links