A Visit to the Orange Empire Railroad Museum - Perris, CA

[threestooges]

At the request of some people who knew of this trip, I thought I would share a few of the pictures from one of the local railroad museums.

The museum has a collection of streetcars from both the LA railway and the PGE Red Car line

First thing that caught my eye when I entered the car barn were two MOW (Maintenance of Way) cars for the LA line. The first one is a self propelled crane car with a 5 ton boom capacity:


The second is one for working on the overhead wires. The tower in the center can raise and lower for easier line access:


The light in the barn wasn't doing the cars justice with or without the flash, but fortunately they had one out and running on their lines:


The lighting in the barn with the Red Cars was a bit better:


Interestingly, some of their collections also served other purposes during their lifetime... like cheap housing:


In addition to streetcars in various stages of restoration, they have a steam locomotive: a 2-6-2 Prarie. It was a freight engine for the Ventura County Railway. They were just bringing it out to prepare for operations tomorrow:




The museum is one that operates its equipment, and this is the engine that had pulled the Prarie out. It's really interesting walking within feet of such massive things when they are operating. they do a good job keeping an eye on the folks milling about, but it's pretty obvious things are moving around here. If you get hit, well, you should've looked around better. In all seriousness though, great experience:


Aside from MOW streetcars, they also have a few mainline cranes in their collection. They're a bit on the scruffy side, but it's just a matter of time and money until they hit the restoration list:


Their main motive power consists of diesel engines. They had a Southern Pacific U25B in the "bloodnose" paint scheme:


The other one (which was running on the mainline and pulling passengers was a Santa Fe FP45 with the classic "Warbonnet" scheme:


They also had some narrow gauge pieces on display. First was this little 0-4-2 thing by the name of Chloe (named for Ward Kimball's daughter). This style was a common design for Hawaiian sugar plantations (which is where this one originally came from before entering Kimball's collection):


The second is the Emma Nevada. A 2-6-0 that used to run on Ward Kimball's Grizzly Flats line that dates back to 1881 and the Nevada Central Railway:

[jpj_starfleet]

Great pictures Threestooges!  I am originally from So-Cal so I used to go there every year during the Trolley Festival, haven't been there in like 4 years 

[rooker1]

Hey Matt,

These are great pictures.  So this is what you were talking about the other day.  Do you have any more pics?

Robin 

[threestooges]

I was out there again this Saturday volunteering on some of their restoration projects. I didn't have my camera with me when I was working, but I know there are pictures (which I will try to track down). I did take advantage of being there through to get a few shots though.

Last time I was there, they were bringing their operating steam engine out to prepare it for running. This time, it was up and running for a day on the mainline when I took these. Incidentally, contrary to popular myth, steam engines do not belch smoke (if it is, it's not getting a very efficient burn on the fuel) and the only smoke comes from the smoke stack, everything else that might hiss out of it is water.





One thing about being a volunteer (or perhaps someone who asks nicely, they're friendly folks up there) is you get access to places you otherwise wouldn't, like the cab of the aforementioned steam engine (which is about 20 degrees hotter than outside... but it's a dry heat).

A classic out-the-window view.


So, you want to go forward?


Lastly, for now at least, here's a pic as the put some final touches on one of their PE Red Cars in preparation for painting.

[Alfred.Jones]

These are awesome pictures Matt.

I'm a huge train fan as well and I always love going to train museums.
Although there isn't many near where i live

Looking forward to more Matt

[threestooges]

Glad you liked it Al. Hopefully you'll like these then:

The museum had its annual Rail Fest last weekend. In addition to some pics that I took (that I'll hopefully post here sometime soon), I also got some video clips (not bad for an 8 year old digital still camera) of some of the equipment in operation. For those who are interested:

Videos:
Pacific Electric Red Car

U25B diesel engine - SP Bloodnose colors

And (generally) everybody's favorite: VC #2 - a 2-6-2 Prarie steam locomotive

Hope you all enjoy.

[meinhosen]

Awesome pictures!  Glad to see another train-fan around here (now where's Bernard/Nardo when we need him?).   I'm envious that you've got such awesome chances to see operating steam locomotives.  You're just making me more and more antsy to see all the stuff that's coming together this year in Owosso, MI    (http://www.trainfestival2009.com/event-attractions.php)

[threestooges]

Heh heh, I may be making you antsy, but you're making me jealous. That looks like an excellent event packed with some of the heavy hitters of rail history. The cross-country SP 4449 trip sounds amazing. If/when you go, I hope you'll post some pics, I'd love to see what all goes on out there. Have fun at it, and I'm glad you've enjoyed this stuff here. Hope you liked the videos too.
-Matt

[Jmouse]

Matt, I'm so glad you posted some pix of the railcars- and very good ones at that! We used to have an annual display of vintage aircraft east of Dallas which fueled my son's interest in flying. He had already served in the Air Force refueling jets in midair by then and went on to get a pilot's license.

Anyway, it's wonderful to know there are people who care enough to preserve these "blasts from the past" for future generations to enjoy!

Later...
Joan

[Pat]

Matt those pics are simply stunning there wow!!! 

Chris that festival looks real sweet there and I wonder If I could find a ferry route to cut my drive time in half hmmmmmm???