Pacific Locomotive Association / Niles Canyon Railway Museum
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About Pacific Locomotive Association / Niles Canyon Railway Museum
Ride a piece of the first transcontinental railroad through Niles Canyon between Sunol and Fremont's Niles district. The Pacific Locomotive Association runs round-trip excursions from the 1884 Sunol depot on the second and third weekends of March through October — diesel-hauled Saturdays, steam on spring and fall Sundays — plus the festive Train of Lights each holiday season, with a snack-bar commissary car on every train.
📍 SUNOL, CA 94071
History
The Niles Canyon Railway preserves the 1866–1869 alignment of the first transcontinental railroad, among the earliest rail lines built in California and the state's first rail connection between San Francisco Bay and the rest of the nation. The original Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870) sent 500 Chinese laborers to grade the line into the rugged canyon before financial disputes stopped work; the Central Pacific, whose subsidiary absorbed the Western Pacific, finished the route in 1869, building four major timber Howe truss bridges over Alameda Creek and Arroyo de la Laguna. Southern Pacific finally ceased operations through the canyon in 1984 and deeded the corridor to Alameda County. The Pacific Locomotive Association leased the right of way and began rebuilding track in 1987, running its first passenger train from Sunol on May 21, 1988, and reconnecting Sunol with Niles on April 9, 2006. On October 13, 2010, the railway and its structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District, with a period of significance spanning 1865 to 1958 and 108 contributing resources.
The Trains
As of 2022 the Pacific Locomotive Association rosters 10 steam and 13 diesel locomotives along with more than 40 pieces of rolling stock, which the all-volunteer group preserves, restores, and operates in public demonstration service. Saturday excursions run behind diesel power with a mix of open and enclosed passenger cars, while Sunday trains go out behind steam in spring and fall (diesels fill in over the summer); every consist includes a commissary car selling refreshments. The year-end Train of Lights stretches over 1,000 feet, with sixteen decorated enclosed and open-air cars — two cabooses among them — and one of the railway's historic diesels coupled to each end. In 2021, plans were announced to bring Southern Pacific steam locomotive 2479, plus a water tower, roundhouse, and turntable, to the property from the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation.
Nearby
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